Tiscali adds quality of service to DSL

Tiscali has enhanced its business broadband offerings with the introduction of quality of service (QoS) for applications such as voice over IP running over its DSL broadband services.

The ISP said that by offering guaranteed QoS over DSL its customers can video-conference, make VoIP calls and create virtual call centres at home offices and small branches.

According to Tiscali, the technology can be used to create virtual call centres where the staff are actually working from their homes but taking calls and receiving data via DSL.

This could be used to create extra capacity to deal with peak call loads more cost efficiently than having full-time staff.

Previously the only way of offering these services would have been via a leased line, which can cost around £7,000 a year, the firm said. In contrast, costs for a QoS DSL line start at £849 per year.

Lance Spencer, UK product director at Tiscali, said: "The reason people have been talking about virtual call centres for years is that the technology has been there. The question has been how to do it without it costing a vast amount of money. With QoS over DSL we know it can be done."

Tiscali has been trialling the technology for the past six months and is now rolling it out to customers including retail chains.

Spencer said that deployments were often driven by the need for connectivity for one service, such as chip and pin for retailers. The customer then activates the QoS features and starts using the network for voice calls as well.

"This will be a big enabler of voice over IP," he concluded.