Small businesses in London to get a boost from reduced cost Internet telephony

In a move designed to help London-based SMEs innovate and embrace new technology through working with the knowledge base, Kinitron Total IT Care secured funding from the LDAís Jumpstart programme to develop a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony system which will substantially reduce the cost of making telephone calls.

The Kinitron VoIP system allows telephone calls to be made over the Internet for as little as 1p per minute, or even free between any two business locations deploying the same technology. It is set to herald a telecoms cost-saving revolution for small business users, claims Kinitron Total IT Care.

ìAt its most basic, users of the Kinitron VoIP telephony system will be able to eliminate the need, and the cost, of the installation of a second BT line and will be able to make outgoing calls to landlines in the UK, Western Europe and North America for just 1p per minute their broadband,î comments Dr Xeno Andriopoulos, Managing Director of Kinitron.

ìIn addition users will enjoy free teleconferencing facilities and if they are calling a business or an individual who is also VoIP enabled then the telephone calls will be completely free. Users will also be able to route multiple phones via a single broadband connection and a ëvirtual switchboardí can be used to play recorded messages to callers if the user is away from their desk or already on the phone.î

Sarika Patel, Director of Innovation and Sector Development at the London Development Agency said: ìThe LDA is working hard to raise the level of innovation and collaboration across the capital. The Jumpstart programme is critical to maintain Londonís international competitiveness and will be of significant benefit to the capitalís SMEs.

ìThe LDA is proud to have supported Kinitron on their Telephony project and hope that the project will put them in good stead to contribute more to Londonís economy and will serve as an inspiration to other SMEs to put their innovative ideas into sound business ideas.î

Start up costs for the Kinitron VoIP system are attractively low. For 110 Kinitron will supply the VoIP phone, configure your network, and complete and test the installation. Additional phones can be installed later.

Kinitron will also provide training on the system and for a small monthly service charge will provide full back-up and support including the provision of itemised billing of call costs ñ most of which will be just pence!

Imperial Collegeís Department of Computing acted as consultant to the project.