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<p>Parliament’s telephone system was installed in 1985 and – like much of the Palace
of Westminster’s core infrastructure – is at the end of its supported life; at significant
risk of failure; and growing increasingly difficult to support. Replacement parts
for the system are no longer made and the organisation has been buying second hand
parts for the last ten years. There are no longer providers in the market place that
support the corresponding software. If our legacy system were to fail we could not
reliably restore the service.</p><p>Given this situation, a project was initiated
in 2014 to examine the options to replace our legacy telephone system, whilst also
meeting the needs of Parliament’s mobile workforce and the impending estates challenges
associated with the restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster. That project
identified Skype for Business as the most suitable solution to meet these needs.</p><p>The
total implementation cost for rolling out the system across Parliament (House of Commons
and House of Lords Members and the Administrations) to February 2019 is £3.9 million
(revenue) and £1.4 million (capital). It is forecast to spend in total £5.5 million
(revenue) and £1.5 million (capital). The total revenue cost per user is £611 and
the total capital cost is £166 per user. The cost is shared between the House of Commons
and the House of Lords on a 70%:30% ratio.</p>
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