The performance of the current telephony system is not good enough and is falling short of reasonable expectation. The Parliamentary Digital Service is working hard with our suppliers and technology partners to bring the level of service up to an acceptable standard. A new solution has been procured and will be implemented later this year. I apologise to the right hon. Member and all colleagues for the inconvenience they are experiencing.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1493", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Charles Walker"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Broxbourne"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Sir Charles Walker"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-04-26", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-04-26T15:18:15.107Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "18"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "House of Commons Commission"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "House of Commons Commission"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-04-16", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "House of Commons: Telephone Systems"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, what assessment the Commission has made of the level of performance of the Polycom phone system.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/318", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for John Spellar"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Warley"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "John Spellar"} ], "uin" : "21872"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1671791", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "House of Commons Commission"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1671791/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The telephone system on the parliamentary estate is the subject of a transformative programme called the Voice Programme, and a new telephony system is due to be implemented in 2024. Modernisation of the telephony system to full Voice Over Internet Protocol is also required in preparation for the decommissioning of the analogue service provided through the Public Switched Network.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1493", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Charles Walker"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Broxbourne"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Sir Charles Walker"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2023-11-27", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2023-11-27T18:37:29.34Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "18"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "House of Commons Commission"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "House of Commons Commission"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2023-11-21", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "House of Commons: Telephone Systems"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, what assessment the Commission has made of the adequacy of the telephony system on the parliamentary estate.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/318", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for John Spellar"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Warley"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "John Spellar"} ], "uin" : "2756"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1078712", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "House of Commons Commission"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1078712/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Parliament\u2019s telephone system was installed in 1985 and \u2013 like much of the Palace of Westminster\u2019s core infrastructure \u2013 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>
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\u2019s 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>
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>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/151", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Tom Brake"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Carshalton and Wallington"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Tom Brake"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-03-12", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-03-12T12:05:36.827Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "18"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "House of Commons Commission"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "House of Commons Commission"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-02-27", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "House of Commons: Telephone Systems"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what estimate the Commission has made of the cost to the House of the recent installation of new phone systems in the House of Commons.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/338", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Keith Vaz"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Leicester East"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Keith Vaz"} ], "uin" : "226529"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 3, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }