Science - January 13, 2005

Internet phone changes

Accommodation office SSHW informed its tenants last week that it will not be offering a shared internet (VoIP) telephone for student corridors, although it had previously said it would.

According to SSHW it is not feasible to offer shared phones because of high costs and technical difficulties. A new VoIP service will however be introduced to solve the current problems. When internet phoning was introduced last year, SSHW cancelled its shared phone connections through KPN, except those that were transferred to tenants. Most corridors did not choose for this option, but went over to individual VoIP connections or decided to wait for the shared option, which in the end did not materialise.

The recent problems with the internet telephone, which were caused by a server being hacked, will soon be resolved. The telephone company Tell-Me will offer a new prepaid VoIP service, Com4tel, that will not use the old provider Vocalis. The new system will no longer include a monthly subscription rate, but users will pay a higher rate for the calls they make. SSHW is currently working out a transfer arrangement for current users. / JH