The city of Mandaue has decided to install IP phones for its offices, replacing an older landline system that became too costly. The savings from the new phone system are expected to be so great that they will pay for the new VoIP phones in a little over two months.

Mandaue is located on the island of Cebu in the Philippines and has a population of about 330,000. With an average of 34,000 people per square mile, the city is more densely populated than New York City.

The Mandaue city government had been using a dated landline phone system through the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company that cost about $5100 monthly. With the new phone system, the new monthly bill will be about $870, a monthly savings of over $4200. With this savings, it would take about two months and four days to recover the $9000 cost of 70 new IP phones.

The cost savings from the new phone system is part of a bigger plan to help the city become more prosperous. Jonas Cortes, the Mayor of Mandaue, emphasizes integrity in government and improving the area’s business climate. The city recently built 2.3 kilometers of drainage lines to alleviate flooding and repaired 2.8 kilometers of roads with longer lasting concrete. An emergency management center known as the Bantay Mandaue Command Center recently began operations.

Cortes claimed in an August address that more than 1,700 businesses have been added to the area within the last year. Cebu has done well with growth in tourism and IT. Call centers employ about 45,000 workers and back office support is another outsourced service commonly found on the island.

Any government can benefit by modernizing to a VoIP phone system. Cities by their nature tend to have numerous facilities in many different locations within their limits. A VoIP phone system can easily be set up wherever there is an Internet connection. Although you have to be careful not to take everything a politician says at face value, Cortes’ claims about the area’s prosperity seem to be accurate. Continued improvements should help Mandaue attract more businesses and prosper even more.