Productivity Commission flags VoIP plans

Australia's Productivity Commission is the latest government agency to signal it will migrate at least some of its telephony infrastructure to a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solution.

The commission this week called for vendors to pitch for work replacing legacy TDM PABX telephony systems with Internet Protocol (IP) alternatives.

The agency bills itself as the nation's principal review and advisory body on microeconomic policy and regulation. Its objective is to raise national productivity and living standards. The commission has around 200 staff.

The commission's assistant commissioner of its Corporate Services branch, Brian Scammell, told ZDNet Australia IP telephony would be installed as a replacement solution in the agency's Melbourne office, as well as in a new Canberra office currently under construction.

Tender documents released by the agency said the two sites would be linked with an existing wide area network connection.

The VoIP move had come as a result of a review conducted by external consultancy ADX2, according to Scammell

"We went out and sought some expert advice, and a number of options were canvassed in the report," he said, noting a move to VoIP was the recommended direction.