Public Sector VoIP
A number of public sector bodies have chosen to add their names to the growing list of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) subscribers of late.
Royal Victoria Hospital Emergency department became one of the names on the list when it installed VoIP in its buildings in 2007, helping it provide a more efficient service to both staff and patients.
VoIP technology is ideal for public sector bodies as they often have large faculties spread over a large area, sometimes as large as cities, regions or even countries.
The benefits of the technology are numerous and begin with the provision of a familiar communications system across all areas of the faculty.
This means that a doctor working in part of a hospital or health trust can make the technological transition to another part of it relatively seamlessly.
It also has the added benefit that staff can share both voice and data-based information from anywhere in any of the hospital buildings, using the same system and therefore cutting the amount of time that information takes to transfer.
The usefulness of this does not stop with the health service as local government can use the technology to have every site under its wing reading from the same proverbial hymn sheet.
This allows smoother communication between departments and also has the added advantage of providing a familiar interface with which the public can communicate.
Supplying this interface helps offer a more user-friendly communications system, meaning that public users will find it easier to find and communicate with the relevant department.
The beauty of VoIP for public service bodies, and private companies too for that matter, is that it is entirely scalable, meaning that as the organisation expands or contracts, so too can the technology that services it.
A statement from the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust explained that the technology has helped improve patient care at the Royal Victoria Hospital.
"The advantage for us is having a system in place to continue the progression and patients are seeing better service as a result" the statement read.
"Through the use of technology our staff can do their jobs more efficiently."
And while the Belfast health body found patient care improvements to be the main benefit of a VoIP rollout, Fife Council depute leader Elizabeth Riches believes the flexibility of the technology to be its greatest virtue.
"The hard work of the project team means that all our staff can now be more confident in their workplace, knowing that there is increased flexibility in the communications system," she explained.
Installing VoIP can also take a strain off of the IT department, reducing the need for fire-fighting and allowing them to concentrate on improving the organisation's technological capabilities.
An added benefit to both the organisation and its staff is the freedom VoIP gives to work from home or on the move.
For staff, flexible working is always an advantage as travel expenses and time are eradicated, while for organisations the need to provide costly desk space is removed from the equation.
The cost-effectiveness of VoIP doesn't stop there though, as hot-desking becomes a possibility for staff, meaning when one member is out on the road or at home another can put the office space to use.
The technology can help with business continuity in the event of a disaster too.
Only last month, Fife council experienced a fire at one of its sites in Glenrothes.
Fortunately, thanks to the VoIP technology it had in place, the 60 affected staff were able to be relocated to another building and continue to function as normal
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