Nestlé chooses Alcatel in global telecoms upgrade

Nestlé has decided to standardise its voice communications worldwide on telecoms equipment from Alcatel based on the Internet Protocol (IP) standard. The deal is the French vendor's largest voice over IP (VoIP) contract, worth tends of millions of euros.

The five-year agreement will see Alcatel's OmniPCX Enterprise technology used by many of Nestlé's 1,500 locations around the world, ultimately replacing around 200,000 voice lines.

The companies claim the migration to a system that uses IP - plugging in to the food maker's global IP network - will mean reliable interoperability, reduced costs and easier network management.

IP-centric corporate telecoms equipment is a growth area for the industry, with Alcatel fourth in the list of leading suppliers behind Nortel, Siemens and Avaya. However, analysts forecast a mixed future, with hybrid PBXes - combining traditional telephony and IP - the norm for years to come.

Based in Switzerland, Nestlé is one of Europe's largest companies, employing over 250,000 staff and reporting revenues of CHF64.6bn (£28.4bn) in the first nine months of its last financial year.