Tanllan wrote on May 31
st, 2007 at 3:20pm:
Modest and inexpensive hardware and broadband.
At this time it cannot be guaranteed that all post holders have broadband at home, and those who wish to receive calls whilst at their workplace may not have access to it there or approval to use it for that purpose. With some there would be an element of technophobia or ineptitude, which would both impair their performance and create a burden of technical support on the organisation. I wouldn't want potential post holders to be made ineligible for election, co-option or appointment for those reasons (the skills we seek for most posts are not technical) so I imagine that for the immediate future 03 numbers will suit us best. Having said that, I don't think we have been advised of the costs yet. But I have little doubt that a SIP solution will become appropriate in the not too distant future, in the same way that it is now generally accepted that post holders should be able to communicate by e-mail. Nine years ago we issued laptops to twelve post holders to enable this, and one of these was returned unused about three years later when a post holder retired. Now I don't think we need to provide any. Thanks for the suggestion though.