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As engineers experimented with streaming audio online in the early 1990s, instant messaging (IM) evolved as a convenient communications tool. While IM lacks the presence and the power of the human voice, it carries urgency and the ability for users to express their individual tastes and styles. As offices connected themselves to broadband Internet pipelines, IM shifted from being a fun distraction to a business necessity at many companies.
Meanwhile, VoIP engineers tackled the problem of replacing an aging phone infrastructure with services that transmitted sounds as data packets in real time. The distributed nature of the Internet that served IM well made it hard for streaming audio, especially two-way conversations between users. In addition, packets of IM data could disrupt VoIP communication, making it hard to use both services simultaneously. As more end users invested in high-speed Internet connections, VoIP services no longer had to compromise audio quality or worry about service interruptions.
Today, many users successfully use VoIP and IM together over broadband connections. Critics of "multimodal" communication suggest that users might be less effective in this kind of environment. However, younger users who grew up with the ability to text and talk at the same time often feel comfortable blending voice and chat. -
Today's VoIP services feature high-quality sound transmission, along with low connection costs. In office environments, many users prefer to use a traditional telephone handset while sitting at their computers. VoIP and IM allow some users to multitask their conversations, speaking to one colleague on the phone while communicating to another in text. Using advanced IM features, office users can share files, such as photos and documents, which they can reference during their telephone conversations.
Since this type of interaction can happen with traditional phone connections, VoIP providers are researching ways to make multimodal communication easier and more effective for users. IM providers, such as AOL, Yahoo! and Skype, have bundled VoIP protocols into video and voice chat software, making it easy for customers to click a single desktop icon to enable a multimedia conversation. Customers can even use a standard Bluetooth headset on many computers to enable hands-free calling. -
As VoIP and IM become intertwined in many offices, service providers look for new ways to differentiate their offerings. For example, some providers have brought innovation to conference calls by integrating online presentation, collaboration and desktop sharing. Participants can see and hear each other while engaging in side channel chats. Voting and instant feedback tools can show presenters the mood of a group, so they can adjust tone and content. While conference call services once charged as much as 50 cents per minute, per caller, VoIP and IM can cut the cost of collaboration to almost nothing.
For many VoIP and IM users, the next frontier for collaborative calling is on wireless phones. As mobile networks start to test 4G networks capable of handling massive amounts of data, technology industry analysts forecast the demand for highly adaptive devices that replicate the desktop experience on cell phone-sized devices. VoIP and IM services on wireless phones particularly appeal to international business travelers who would prefer cheaper online phone services to expensive global roaming plans.
