Pub chains make jump to VoIP

The owner of pub chains Walkabout, Old Orleans and Jongleurs has made the switch over to VoIP communications.

The group, called Regent Inns, has begun using a hosted VoIP service across its 100 sites in the UK which can use existing broadband data connections.

Other features which are available to the employees of the retailer include web-based conference calling and location-wide paging which calls all the phones in an enabled area for calls that are very urgent.

Hosted VoIP is still in its infancy in the UK but take up is expected to increase rapidly as the potential cost savings and benefits of ease of use and functionality become clear.

Regent Inns has been able to approach the installation of its new VoIP system as a trial of the service as there was little disruption to its traditional phone system, which also meant there had been little interruption to the normal business of the pubs.