VoIP phones used in American election

VoIP phones were used as part of John McCain's bid to become the next president of the USA, one of his campaign managers has revealed.

Gentry Collins, regional manager for the mid-west area, revealed that the technology helped in the process of 'getting out the vote', despite the eventual loss of Mr McCain to Barack Obama.

Mr Collins explained to the Daily Telegraph that the Republican party identify potential supporters using a range of data, such as magazine subscriptions or voting patterns from the past.

Volunteers then contact these people and use VoIP phones to relay information back as soon as they have finished talking to them.

"Micro-targeting and VOIP, like other tools, get better over time and we have applied some changes," he told the newspaper.

"These are unquestionably powerful tools."

Despite the use innovative use of new telecoms technology, Mr McCain eventually lost the election to his Democrat rival after the vote on Tuesday.