US city set to save $21k a month with VoIP solutions

A US city government is set to save $21,000 (£13,500) a month following the introduction of VoIP solutions.

State-owned buildings in Aurora are set to be fitted with the new technology in a bid to save costs and simplify regional telephone operations, reports suburbanchicagonews.com.

The Illinois-based city will run the $8 million (£5 million) VoIP system across the fibre-optic cable network it installed between 2006 and 2008.

Following the switch, the local authority will no longer have to pay $21,000 a month to lease telephone lines from a telecommunications operator.

Furthermore, internal calls between government departments in the area will be free, although a small fee will still be charged for external calls.

The move will also simplify the city's phone system, as every contact number for a government department will start with the same three digits.

There are currently more than ten different prefixes used for different departments in Aurora.