This June, you won’t need to mess with all sorts of agrotourism information or worry about not being able to find someone who knows where you could find the farm products you have been looking for. The Council of Agriculture EZcall adds Kaohsiung and Pingtung to its network, giving people a chance to access information by Internet telephony either from their home or while on the go.

Internet telephony (an inter-computer communication system using Voice over Internet Protocal, VoIP) is a new tool that allows people to use a business or home phone to make calls. It also costs less. The Council of Agriculture has set up the EZcall kiosk at selected train stations and tourist centers. People could use these platforms to look up local agrotourism information. They may also use free Internet phones to make calls, place orders, make reservations, order tickets or call a taxi.

The Council began to promote nature and agrotourism through a concerted effort to improve service quality. Farmers and community organizations cooperate with ezTravel.com to provide more advanced travel information. Besides helping travelers, this system also gives an opportunity for farmers to increase their profits. The plan includes:
(1) Presentation of local leisure farming information resources;
(2) Provision of diversity in leisure and tourism sources;
(3) Multimedia tourism browsing;
(4) Assistance with integration of and promotion of local tourist service centers; and
(5) Increased participation by local agrotourism providers.

Besides the 100 original listings for Yilan County and Rueifang, Taipei County, 180 listings from Miaoli County, Taichung City, Taichung County and Tainan County were added in 2005, providing localized information on agrotourism and special agricultural products. This year, The Southern Farmers’ and Fishermen’s Associations information. Center set up a new service center in anticipation of the addition of Kaohsiung and Pingtung regions.

The Council of Agriculture said that it has set June for the Internet and VoIP services to go online, so that people using the Internet from their homes may call providers directly from their computer. The system is compatible with Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) standard Internet telephony businesses. You just need to connect to Taipei City IPOX association and the EZcall could be made available there too.

The Council of Agriculture has mapped out the plan for agrotourism, hotels and guesthouses. The contact information for their production and marketing divisions and monthly specials have been included. The necessary information may be found on the EZcall online or at the EZcall kiosk in train stations and tourist service centers. They may also place a phone call to tourist centers. The Council welcomes everyone to come to the tourism convention from June 15 to 19 at the World Trade Center Hall 2 to see a demonstration of the EZcall platform.

The Southern Farmers’ and Fishermen’s Associations Information Centers will hold three demonstrations to speed up the promotion process. Businessmen interested in the Pingtung Regional plan may contact Mr. Lin Shih-Huei. Kaohsiung and manager of the Center.(telephone: (07) 743-9121 extension 19.)
EZcall platform: http://ezcall.coa.gov.tw