VoIP has plenty of mainstream appeal for business, but many companies have yet to discover the perks of IP phones. In fact, research firm In-Stat found that while total IP phone annual shipments will grow from 10 million units in 2006 to 164 million units in 2010, only 40 percent of IP PBX (Private Branch eXchange) seats are configured with IP phones.

Certainly price is one factor keeping businesses at bay. IP phones, after all, are often the highest cost component in migrating from a traditional phone system to VoIP. Promising to help companies get more bang for their buck, however, are a whole host of special features included in most IP phones. The challenge is identifying these key attractions and ensuring that employees make proper use of them.

While key features can vary from phone to phone, here are the ones that can make your employees’ lives better:

CMC (Client Matter Code): Having trouble keeping track of your billable hours? An IP phone can help. Professional services companies, from law offices to accounting firms, can now associate inbound and outbound VoIP calls with specific billing or tracking codes. Specified by a system administrator, CMC can track factors including the length of calls for each client – information that can later be packaged into detailed reports for accounting and billing purposes.