VoIP News: VoIP Hardware

Organisations that have introduced VoIP hardware into their operations to boost efficiency will find that virtualisation can help. Ian Osborne, project director at Intellect, said that virtualisation allows businesses to create more flexible environments which allow them to scale their application services up and down. "Virtualisation is very popular as a way of [making] more efficient use of resources.

Specialist stores could reap the benefits of using Twitter to communicate with their customers, according to one expert. As well as using VoIP hardware, director of the Centre for Retail Research Professor Joshua Bamfield suggested niche retailers can benefit from social media to tell people about "new products, extensions of ranges and new shops" and create communities of like-minded individuals.

Businesses in Essex that use VoIP solutions could see a significant boost to their operations, as plans for a £1 million investment in broadband infrastructure are being discussed. The East Anglia Daily Times reported that more than 100 representatives from parishes across the county gathered last night (July 18th) to find an answer to the slow broadband speeds experienced by homes and companies in northern villages.

Chief information officers are overpaying for IT services by as much as 40 per cent, new research has shown. According to data from Compass Management Consulting, unnecessary customisation, redundant capacity, unconstrained consumption and restrictive contracts are the main drivers behind the trend. While efforts to cut IT costs - which could include implementing VoIP solutions to save on communication expenditure - have largely worked, greater reductions are possible.

Businesses must separate essential tools such as VoIP hardware and important communication devices from technology which is desirable but not critical to their operations. That is according to Andrew Boddington, director of marketing at Return on IT, who noted that this is one of the key area companies should focus on when trying to make the transition to becoming a more environmentally-friendly organisation.