IP communications benefits lauded

IP communications benefits lauded

The benefits of IP communications have been highlighted by recent events affecting the emergency services.

At a base in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, a construction crew accidentally cut through the fibre optic cables serving the city's public safety answering points (PSAPs), putting them out of commission. But thanks to the earlier decision to convert to a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) system, the service was up and running at an alternative location with a lapse of just 30 minutes.

VoIP is often highlighted as a cost-saving solution for businesses, but this incident emphasises the other benefits of the service; namely the speed and flexibility with which it can be operated.

As the existing technology in PSAP centres reaches the end of its lifespan, many organisations are starting to think realistically about upgrading to VoIP.

To start with, it offers the benefit of an increased level of portability, which, Keith Lee, deputy director for the emergency calls department at Spartanburg County, explained to Government Technology: “As long as the IP address is identified, [ensures] that central office information can be relayed to us anywhere.”

In addition to this, the service is significantly more flexible when it comes to expansion and can even allow smaller organisations to team up and share their operations if required. Governmental departments could find this solution particularly advantageous as pressure to cut expenditure continues to mount.

The recent spate of bad weather across the UK is likely to prompt people to take downtime solutions into consideration when looking at communication solutions as well. The option to reroute services through VoIP will certainly help provide an alternative when weather issues make one location inaccessible.

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