Voice over Internet protocol and human-assisted e-commerce

By fostering the finalization of open standards and the convergence of voice, video, and data, the Internet protocol provides an ideal driver for the definition of the infrastructure for new multimedia and advanced communications applications. Voice over IP represents not only the chance to achieve cost-effective real-time voice communication over IP-based networks, but also the opportunity to build an integrated and open communications service delivery infrastructure. Developments of Web-based information systems and IP telephony in order to enable future e-commerce applications are summarized.