Treasury reroutes phones over internet

By RICHARD PAMATATAU


The Treasury has dipped its telecommunications toe into the VoIP (voice over internet protocol) pond as it looks to cut costs and make better use of its IT infrastructure.

Brian Smith, manager of knowledge and infrastructure services, said the VoIP move was part of a refurbishment of the Treasury's computing systems brought about by changes in the way the building was used.

VoIP carries voice calls over data circuits, circumventing traditional - and far more expensive - phone networks.

Police and the Ministry of Social Policy are also going down the VoIP route.

Smith said that because accommodation for the Treasury's 300 staff was being revamped, it was a good time to look at improving IT.

A new PABX (private automatic branch exchange) was needed, so the department decided to push ahead with a VoIP trial, he said.

It has just bought a Definity Avaya PABX.

The budget for the VoIP system and related switches, supplied by American company 3Com, is not being revealed.

The IT refresh also includes new rack-mounted servers from Hewlett-Packard and new staff personal computers.