|
siptel deploys VoiP in forward-thinking education sector
A prominent school has been designated one of the first Business and Enterprise Specialist Schools in the UK. The school is becoming increasingly well known for some of its great work in vocational training and teaching in science and business. Their strength as a provider of business education has long been recognised and they boast some of the finest facilities in the area. The 1,500 students also enjoy the many links they have with local, national and international businesses.
A Business and Enterprise school means that the State provides funding, and then approaches local businesses for further investment. Consequently, it means that the school can often benefit from all the latest technologies through business sponsorship, whilst developing the business and enterprise skills of the students.
The school decided to dispose of their legacy analogue PBX which was proving costly to maintain and support, and deploy a new IP solution on their existing HP ProCurve LAN infrastructure (which was capable of delivering Voice over IP). They initially obtained quotes from three suppliers, including siptel, who were subsequently chosen to implement their new IP solution, based on their prior knowledge and expertise of IP technology.
The biggest challenge faced by siptel was to work around the school’s multi-building campus, ensuring that there was enough bandwidth and not too many constraints between all of the buildings on the campus. siptel made recommendations for the deployment of VoIP to complement the existing LAN design. By consulting on the design of the LAN, siptel were able to ensure that the current LAN design was all in good operating order to allow them to integrate VoIP with it.
siptel chose the feature-rich Avaya Communications Manager IP solution, which also enables call logging and voice mail. They wanted the staff to have the flexibility to log in to voicemail with an extension code and PIN number from wherever they are on the large campus - the Avaya product enabled them to do this. They were also given the practical feature of account codes because, being a school, they have numerous cost centres and it is very useful to allocate costs to each one at the touch of a button. Another impressive feature of the Avaya IP solution is that phones can be unplugged and plugged in again anywhere on the network, allowing convenience and flexibility when performing Moves, Adds and Changes.
siptel had to implement the IP solution out of hours and they project managed it very carefully, with meticulous planning, to ensure that all the testing was completed out of school hours. siptel not only project managed and implemented the new IP solution, they were also asked to provide training for staff on the new system and they currently support it too.
The Deputy Headmaster, said: “We are very happy with the new technology. Obviously, as a Business and Enterprise school it is important for us to remain at the forefront of business and technology. I would have no hesitation in recommending siptel as I have been very impressed with their professionalism and the extent of their technical knowledge throughout the project.”
There is also talk of possible expansion in the future within the larger campus; siptel have deployed the IP technology in such a way that it would not be difficult to simply add on to the existing IP network.
