The Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) technologies that Harvard may adopt for phone communication in the future are so new that no university currently relies on them.
In interviews last week, experts on the technology said VOIP is a vastly more efficient alternative to traditional telephone service.
But they say it is still in its infancy. While VOIP is being tested by corporations and telecommunications companies around the world, few have begun to implement it.
Reached on his VOIP phone--one of eight that University Information Services (UIS) is testing--Leo D. Donnelly, a UIS senior technical consultant, says the technology is not yet perfect.
"No major company that I know of is replacing everything," says Leo D. Donnelly, a senior technical consultant for UIS. "It's too soon. The hardware's changing rapidly, the software's changing rapidly."
If it occurs, Harvard's transition to VOIP is still years away--Verizon Communications' contract to run the machinery that routes calls on Harvard's telephone network does not expire until 2003.
However, Harvard has begun to purchase equipment from Cisco Systems to roll out VOIP to selected users on a trial basis.
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