Phil Hochmuth and Tim Greene

Some companies operate finely tuned environments with network packets humming along at a disciplined pace; others operate at a halting cadence on shared media and cabling from the 1980s. Whichever camp you're in, check out these tips from corporate IT veterans and industry experts for kicking the network up a notch.

If you're seriously considering making the voice-over-IP plunge, you no doubt have loads of questions ranging from the technical to the financial to the political. Can VoIP traffic traverse firewalls? Can it really save us money? What is the best way to get IT and telecom staffs to work together? We've taken a crack at answering a few of those questions.

If you're seriously considering making the voice-over-IP plunge, you no doubt have loads of questions ranging from the technical to the financial to the political.

Last month

While firewalls are the IT pro's favorite security tool, they can be troublesome for companies trying to deploy IP telephony over the Internet as many firewalls offer little or no support for voice-over-IP protocols.