The City of White Salmon, a US resort area near Portland in Oregon renowned for its water sports activities, has announced the deployment of a large-scale internet protocol (IP) telephony network serving all the area’s main municipal buildings.
The new IP telephony system is reported to involve the deployment of a single business VoIP (voice over internet protocol) phone network connecting buildings such as the police and fire departments, as well as the main city hall.
The business VoIP system is understood to be heavily feature-laden, with the incorporation of state of the art facilities – including voicemail, automated call attendance, the capacity to reroute calls, and convenient connections between centres via the use of four-digit extensions.
The new system also has the advantage of enabling users to access their phone connection at any location, thereby increasing opportunities for staff mobility. It has also enabled key workers to access their calls via their mobile device.
In addition, it is understood that, where considered appropriate, the IP telephony system has even been capable of permitting the reception of voice mail messages in email format.
A further advantage reported regarding the new system is that it is completely scalable and adaptable, easily accommodating any future network growth, and likely to prove compatible with any emerging communications innovations.
On top of these administrative and operational advantages for the authorities in the City of White Salmon, the new IP telephony system has also proved to be more economical to run, with both lower service and running costs reported.
The ongoing take-up of IP telephony and business VoIP in the US, the UK and the rest of Europe has been attributed to many of the advantages cited by the City of White Salmon scheme.
The technology has also been made more accessible to smaller businesses through hosted business VoIP provider and VoIP reseller schemes.
