Ministry buys into internet phone system

By RICHARD BRADDELL

The Ministry of Social Policy has attained the Holy Grail of telecommunications.

This month it has tossed out 130 PBX phone systems in use at Social Welfare, Work and Income, and Child, Youth and Family Services and replaced them with a new internet protocol-based system that joins voice with data.

Ministry chief executive Dame Margaret Bazley says that combining phone and data systems provides significant benefits, including lower phone call costs, simpler network administration and support, and increased flexibility to meet expanding telephone and computer network needs "well into the future."

National calls will now cost the same as a business local call.

The project accounts for possibly 40 per cent to 50 per cent of the Government's non-call-centre phone use and is the largest voice-over-internet deployment outside equipment vendor Cisco's own internal system.

Cisco Systems, of San Jose, California, is a worldwide leader in networking for the internet.

Although the number of telephones in the ministry's three business units has jumped from 6000 to 8000, operating costs remain unchanged.

This is helped by the fact that the only onsite equipment required is the new internet-enabled telephones, which also double as data ports for computer connections.

Because of its simplicity, the new system also makes for ready expansion when new offices are opened.

Deployed as part of a $9.4 million infrastructure upgrade project that began in April last year, the telephone side has cost $2.83 million.

The ministry's IT systems co-ordinator, Neil Miranda, is credited with driving a break-neck implementation that took less than six months from system design and testing.

Logical New Zealand undertook systems integration and Clear Communications is providing the telecommunications network.

Except in remote areas, where connections are at 96 kbps, the network uses Clear's 155 mbps ATM backbone and frame relay.

Telecom provides the last-mile connection in some areas.