Kanbay cuts costs with Alcatel VoIP deal

NEWS Global systems integrator Kanbay has signed a deal to use an Alcatel-based network which it reckons will save it $28,000 per month in the US alone. The Chicago-based firm, keen to cut down on non-essential business travel, will use Alcatel OmniPCX Enterprise network equipment for voice over IP (VoIP) telephony, using IP phones at offices around the world. Around two-thirds of the savings will come from lower overheads for long-distance and international calls and the rest from avoiding external conference services, now handled in-house. Mark Livings, Kanbay CIO, said in a statement: "Running voice over the existing wide area network allowed toll-free international calling between sites. We observed expected cost savings immediately by bringing the conference facility in-house." A value on the contract has not been disclosed but Kanbay said it is now looking at deploying Alcatel softphones, for its staff to communicate on the road, for example using a laptop connected to the network. There is some concern VoIP leads to unreliable sound quality for voice calls. However, Kanbay said end users have reported improved voice quality.