Converged Communications to benefit home, work and school

Converged communications such as VoIP can enable a "wealth of applications" to benefit business, home and education users, a leading expert claims.

According to a report conducted by Wainhouse Research, IT giants Microsoft, Cisco and IBM are all investing heavily in unified communications products and services.

The Joint Westminster eForum & Westminster media forum recently discussed the future of digital technology and convergence in the UK.

Speaking at the event, the University of Warwick's Dr Chris Doyle said: "Services are coming together - all the networks - and they are sharing the same network infrastructures."

"These networks are coming together and enabling a wealth of applications to be drawn upon by consumers and commercial users, both mobile and stationary content," he added.

Dream Cheeky has unveiled a Star Trek-style retro communications device which features built-in VoIP functionality.

Due to be launched in April, the communicator features a speakerphone and volume controls, and is compatible with Windows XP, Vista and OS X Tiger.