AFP information services network engineer, Mark Barrett, said after going from standard analogue phones to IP phones with high-function screens, staff were initially concerned, but quickly discovered the benefits of unified communications.

"We haven't tried to force-feed people the capabilities, [but] have a whole bunch of really easy wins on the board like dialling from (Microsoft Corp.'s) Outlook contacts," Barrett said at this year's Avaya Inc.'s Avaya Connect conference on Thursday in Sydney.

Another benefit is Outlook journaling, which gives Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Police (governed by the AFP) an easy way to keep records of interactions with the public.

"ACT Police love the new system because, when they make phone call it's logged into Outlook journal," he said.

Since not all AFP staff have PCs, Barrett - who has also worked for tech giants Cisco Systems and IBM Corp. - also talked up the benefit of corporate directory access from the handset, because "everyone has a phone" and "we give the same phone to everyone".