James Passingham, Technical Director at Foehn, has boldly claimed that 'the future of the phone system has well and truly arrived'.

He stated: "The revolution in the technology and the benefits it brings to businesses is comparable to the UK's Digital TV Switchover. Digital Television signifies a step change in television as we know it and requires consumers to get to grips with new technology to improve their viewing experience. A similar thing is happening with businesses and their phone systems."

He also believes that the channel opportunity is 'huge': "Because IP Telephony represents a way to consolidate the investment in existing IT infrastructure, realise costs savings through single suppliers, lower maintenance and call costs, IP Telephony is a particularly strong sell in today's current economic conditions.

"It most importantly enhance business by providing enterprise grade telephony features that help bring companies closer to their customers which is often initially overlooked given the compelling cost benefits."

From a technology platform perspective Passingham says that IP Telephony is itself an 'embracement' of common open standards as a means of streamlining technology to substitute old hardware techniques.

It is therefore not surprising, pointed out Passingham, that over the past few years open source software has gained considerable acceptance and the open source community has become keenly focused on the telephony market.

"For Foehn, open source technology means that we can add new features and add-ons quickly and know that if a client wants something customised, it can be performed reliably and cost effectively."