VoIP network to link UK academics

The country's academic institutions could be linked via VoIP as part of plans to encourage more remote telephony and conferencing.

Ukerna (the UK Education and Research Networking Association) which currently oversees the successful Janet academic network is planning to introduce VoIP to around 750 institutions across the country and reach around 18 million potential users, reports Computing.

It is hoped that the Janet Talk initiative will help academics to reduce call costs as well as encouraging greater cooperation by utilising the facilities already in place.

John Robinson, head of services management at the Joint Information Systems Committee, explained: "A central voice service will allow communication and collaboration across the joint network and will be a valuable research tool."

He added: "We have invested in the £29 million SuperJanet5 network and this is a good use of technology to exploit that investment."

The new VoIP system is expected to be functioning in time for the start of the forthcoming academic year.