Council uses VoIP to back hotdesk plan

Tower Hamlets Council is using a voice over IP (VoIP) system and hotdesking technologies to reduce the desk space needed for employees by 25 per cent.

The London council is installing the technology to operate its new Anchorage House offices in the East India Docks complex on the edge of Canary Wharf.

Jim Roberts, Tower Hamlets’ service head for IT, says the aim of the new system is to alter how the council works.

‘The new accommodation is designated as a hotdesking environment, and IT’s role has been to support that in a number of different ways,’ he said.

‘We are giving the 1,800 staff in the new office roving profiles so they can log in at any desk, and IP telephony so they can take calls at any phone in the complex.’

The council plans to extend the VoIP technology across all its offices by the end of the year covering 5,000 staff.

Tower Hamlets has set itself ambitious targets for the move to the new office, and for implementing the IT to go alongside it, says Roberts.

‘It’s all about making the most appropriate use of the desk space, making sure all the desks are occupied all of the time, because the council has lots of people whose work takes them away from their desks at least part of the time,’ he said.

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