South Yorkshire Police adopt VoIP

South Yorkshire Police force has replaced its legacy PABX system with a new internet telephony system.

A Siemens SIP-Based Unified Communications softswitch, hosted at two sites in Sheffield, will converge voice and data network applications to a total of 5,500 users at 90 sites in South Yorkshire. The system is designed to be scalable for up to 100,000 users.

The new system is expected to significantly reduce communications costs, as well as improving efficiency. It will run over a private network, rather than over the internet, in order to ensure security and quality of service.

It will make it easier for members of the public to contact individual members of the police force, no matter where they are located, by allowing numbers to be diverted automatically to any terminal, or to a mobile phone.

The new network will also provide a videoconferencing facility, which should help reduce travelling time for officers.

The new system will be rolled out this summer.