A college in the US is to switch its phone system to one based on a business VoIP model, as part of a major modernising and cost-saving exercise.
The Northland Pioneer College (NPC), in White Mountains, Arizona, has received approval from its district governing board to upgrade a network which encompasses 700 phone extensions across ten different sites to the new VoIP (voice over internet protocol) system.
The NPC’s proposed business VoIP project has been made feasible through the recent installation of an enhanced broadband network across its sites; high speed broadband being an essential prerequisite for any internet protocol (IP) telephony development, including business VoIP.
It is anticipated that the new VoIP system will enable the college to improve the operational efficiency of its telephone network.
It is also hoped that the VoIP system will help facilitate distance learning opportunities for students; it is well known that IP telephony can often enhance the communication process by permitting the sending and receiving of large, complex data packages; and that it can also enable sophisticated communication participation experiences such as video conferencing that much easier to realise.
The new VoIP system is also expected to help trim NPC’s phone costs; one of the main incentives for firms adopting business VoIP in recent years has been the avoidance of relatively expensive telephone company call tariffs.
These charges have usually not only been made on outgoing calls, but also on calls made within the same organisation or institution, simply because different departments are based in different geographical locations. One of the advantages of business VoIP is that any costs remain the same regardless of where a call is made.
The college community will be provided with business VoIP handsets which are very similar in style and handling to standard telephone handsets; and which will therefore help the VoIP system quickly gain acceptance among users.
