VoIP News: October 2008

Companies are using communications technology for meetings rather than travelling, according to research. Figures from the Business Travel Coalition's October 2008 report showed that a quarter of businesses surveyed had introduced emergency cutbacks on their travel budgets because of the financial crisis. Nearly 12 per cent said they were now asking their travel management firms to find technological alternatives to flights, while 8.

Commuters could save enough money to buy 17 turkey crowns in the run up to Christmas by using technology like VoIP phones to work from home, research has suggested. An Aastra-commissioned study found that working from home one day a week could save £174 for people who do 50-mile round trips by car to get to work - amounting to £19. 36 a day.

VoIP phones have caused a shift in online behaviour, a study into worldwide internet traffic has found. Network provider Sandvine found that VoIP phones, along with other applications like social networking and gaming, make up most traffic in the peak hours between 18:00 and 23:00. It was discovered that the use of these programs increases by up to 50 per cent per subscriber during these times.

A government effort to create a UK-wide fibre network would reduce the "digital divide" and help the economy, one industry commentator has suggested. Michael Cross, writing in the Guardian, explained that there has been a "remarkable consensus" about the fact that something can, and should, be done about digital exclusion. He also noted that Alistair Darling, the chancellor, has said that Britain must follow a Keynesian method of economics to deal with the slowing economy - namely by spending more on public works.

WiMAX will "outpace" Long Term Evolution (LTE) to become the dominant 4G technology, according to a research company. In-Stat said that the two were the only real contenders in the race, after ultra-mobilebroadband (UMB) was "left publicly by the roadside" this year. LTE Advanced and 802.