Remember those episodes of “The Jetsons” where all the characters can video chat using their wristwatches? How about all those bulky communicators the crew of the USS Enterprise used to talk with each other? These kinds of communications technologies have captured people’s imaginations for decades. But the fact is that, while flying cars and robot maids may not be as accessible as we would like (unless you count Roombas), the science fiction writers of yesteryear couldn’t even dream up the technological world we live in. Not only are Internet-based phones and videoconferencing possible, they’re cheap and available to businesses big and small.
Captain Kirk could have used VoIP
If you’ve seen the original run of “Star Trek,” you know there’s a plot device well that the show draws from time and time again: Those darn communicators just aren’t reliable. Seemingly every time Captain Kirk and Spock got themselves into a sticky situation on some weird planet, guess what? Their early versions of mobile phones were either out of range or started malfunctioning.
Your office probably isn’t aboard a spaceship (and if it is, are you accepting résumés?), but it isn’t hard to get better communications technology than the whole Enterprise combined. Since VoIP telephone systems function over the cloud, you don’t have to worry about bad reception or sudden, plot-advancing glitches. And with mobile VoIP technology advancing, you can boldly go where no man has gone before (or just Taco Bell) with your IP telephony access intact.
Meet George Jetson – in a videoconference
As a kid, I wanted to have real-time conversations over a watch-based video camera so badly, I completely overlooked the implied calamitous event that forced humanity to live in the clouds. I also overlooked how silly it would look for everyone to be staring into their watches every time they needed to make a call.
Turns out, it’s a lot easier to video chat over phones, tablets and laptops than gigantic wristwatches, and in better quality. And whereas the conversations in “The Jetsons” were always only two-person shouting matches, VoIP-based videoconferencing allows for any number of people to talk with one another, each with different kinds of devices.
If that doesn’t satisfy you, every tech company on the market is seemingly coming out with wearable devices soon, so wristwatch video chats may be a reality in the not-so-distant future. And these watches look a lot cooler than George Jetson’s hunk of metal, too.
To see how VoIP systems can carry you into a future more advanced than the Jetsons could imagine, don’t hesitate to contact a Fonality specialist.