Academic institutions across the country are to be linked via voice over IP (VoIP) in one of the UK’s largest implementations of the technology on a private network.

The UK Education and Research Networking Association (Ukerna) which manages the Janet academic network, is to install a centralised voice service covering 750 institutions and 18 million potential users.

Janet Talk will reduce call costs and enable remote telephony and conferencing, but will not replace traditional phone services.

‘A central voice service will allow communication and collaboration across the joint network and will be a valuable research tool,’ said John Robinson, head of services management at the Joint Information Systems Committee.

‘We have invested in the £29m SuperJanet5 network and this is a good use of technology to exploit that investment,’ he said.

The system will be installed in time for the new academic year in September. Institutions will be able to register on a central database and communicate with peers around the country.

Collaboration tools such as audio conferencing, desktop sharing, chat and video will deliver huge savings for institutions that need to share research.

Ukerna technical voice specialist Arron Bowley says academic bodies will be able to reduce the amount of money they spend on conferencing services.

‘Janet Talk will offer conferencing facilities to members from the core of the network freely available to its users,’ he said.

Gartner research director, Scott Morrison, said: ‘A rollout to as many as 18 million users is trailblazing in terms of its size. It will reduce overall costs through the use of shared infrastructure, maintenance and support.’