Local companies will soon be able to communicate using new voice and video technology.

Operations such as doctor's offices, taxi firms, take-out restaurants and even Government departments, will be able to put an end to customer frustration by adapting the new technology, known as GroupWare, and a product called Lotus Notes, according to a local computer expert.

Mr. Jamie Thain, a network specialist at The Computer Centre on Bermudiana Road, said that a Lotus Notes application called Phone Notes would enable public inquiries to be dealt with at any time.

The computer can update information so that clients can access it at any time without speaking to another individual.

This reduces the burden on the receptionist, claims Mr. Thain, and allows clients to get information much faster.

"There will be no shuffling with paper,'' he said. "Instead a customer will provide a claim number, for instance, and a birthdate so their identity can be verified. Then, up-to-date information will be provided by the computer about the progress of the claim.'' Mr. Thain recently attended a conference in the US entitled "Lotusphere 1993'' and said he came away "very excited'' about the new products that The Computer Centre would be testing in the next few months.

Although business systems in Bermuda that have accounting and general ledger uses are "generally sound'', Mr. Thain said businesses tended to still rely on manual form-filling.

The workflow, the factory-like sequence of events that most companies employ to carry out business, could be speeded up by this new technology, said Mr.

Thain.

The new applications can't be used in transaction-based business, such as banks and trading rooms, although the back-up internal services can be aided by the technology, said Mr. Thain.

Another Lotus Notes product allows instructions to be given by video and voice, rather than just by reading text from a screen. "People find it more natural to interface with a voice,'' said Mr. Thain.

Document imaging would also allow paper documents to be stored and recreated on a computer screen.

"The life of paper is not as long as an optical disk,'' explained Mr. Thain.

"This application allows us to store the original image if it is still needed. Paper wears out.''