Hi,

It was encouraging to see that the Ministry of Information have followed the Prime Minister's offices direction and implemented an ISDN number.  This is a direction in the right direction and we are forward to a maintained momentum.

None the less I would to clarify to the ministry, based on their advertisement in the press, that Telkom Kenya's main exchanges went digital over 10 years ago and that the POTS numbers that the Ministry had were already digital.  ISDN has also been in existing for an equally long period the deference is that unlike POTS ISDN can offer multiple voice channels 2 for BRI and 30 for PRI all over either 1 or 2 pairs of copper.

There is a common misconception that ISDN is synonymous with VoIP telephony, this is far from the truth, from the CISCO IP phone heads in the advert would indicate that the ministry has the same misconception. Being the ministry responsible for information and technology this is very concerning.

What is required in the government is a change in attitude in how they deal with their clients, you and me, which to me is not a technology issue.  The issue was the single phone line that was connected to the PBX and never picked or even if it was we never got assisted, adding 29 more concurrent calls to the same receptionist will not improve service delivery, if anything, it will most likely reduce.

In addition the provision of direct internal dialing (DID) within the ministry will increase personalization of interactions with the ministry staff so it is my hope that the implementation of the ISDN service is a conclusion to a defined problem and solution.

We know hope that the same pilot number will be used across the various ministries as prelude towards a consolidated contact center.  I definitely will not be holding my breath on this issue as the prime minister's office number is different from that of the Ministry of Information which indicates that the silos are not moving even though we have a coordination minister aka prime minister.

Its a step forward and it would be wrong for me not to give credit where it is due.

Regards
 
Robert Yawe
KAY System Technologies Ltd
Phoenix House, 6th Floor
P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200
Kenya

Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696