RE: [egov] Groups - London Oasis E-gov conference added

["Paul Spencer" <paul.spencer@boynings.co.uk>]

> Technology is comming to our aid. Today I spent 10 Euro on a SkypeOut
> account (www.skype.com) and I participated in an one hour teleconference
> using the UBL conference line. It cost me 1,13 Euro and the sound quality
> was fine. This was my first experience with IP-telephony but
> certanly not my
> last. The cost of participating in teleconferences should not be a barrier
> in the future.
>
>
> Best regards
>
> Mikkel Hippe Brun

Quite. I use a cheap a telephone provider that means I pay 2.5p/min to the
USA from the UK. It has actually ended up costing me more as it is no longer
worth billing clients for communications costs when a 2 hour conference call
costs £3 ($5.30) :-) It is actually far cheaper than having to call a UK
0870 number that people tend to use here. Now that services like Skypeout
and Vonage are available (they weren't when I started using my current
provider and I haven't bothered to switch yet), it is even cheaper for
people. There is also plenty of software available that makes video
conferencing cheap and effective over broadband if the conference facility
has a broadband connection. Not as good as a dedicated videoconferencing
system, but better than voice only.

Regards

Paul Spencer
Director
Boynings Consulting Ltd
http://boynings.co.uk