Birmingham Council targets cost savings with VoIP roll-out

Birmingham City Council is current evaluating the possibility of investing in a new telephony system powered by VoIP, it has emerged.

During a meeting to be held on March 16th, council leaders will discuss plans for a £5 million VoIP upgrade of the ten-year-old, 17,000 handset phone-system.

The council hopes that the new Cisco-based system being considered will increase the mobility of staff, enabling them to make and receive calls from wherever they are based.

Paul Tilsley, deputy leader of Birmingham City Council, said: "The rapid rate at which technology has evolved means we are now able to introduce a telephony system that is very simple yet massively effective."

He added: "Our existing equipment doesn't let staff carry out their work easily from several locations, which ultimately affects the way they serve citizens and therefore the overall quality of everything we do."

Mr Tilsley also said that he is "firmly in support" of technologies such as VoIP which can modernise their systems and enable the council to deliver "world-class levels of customer service".

If the council approves the plans, then work could begin in April with a view to the system being up and running in 2010.

Jenny Boyce recently told the Independent that the deployment of VoIP proved vital during the development of her new communications business.