Medical university finds a cure for messaging limitations - Internet/Web/Online Service Information

Communications News, Nov, 1999 by Carren Bersch

One of the Nation's first medical centers (founded in 1824) with more living graduates than any other medical school in the country, Thomas Jefferson University (TJU), welcomed back its 2,600 students this fall with a messaging utility for their use, as well as for faculty and staff. United Messaging, Inc. of Malvery, Pa., provided consulting and network services, including design, installation, integration, training and support, and maintenance services for the university' s communications utility.

TJU encompasses three academic divisions--Jefferson Medical College, the College of Graduate Studies, and College of Health Professionals--as well as University Services. More than 25,000 inpatients and 300,000 outpatients are treated at the academic health center every year.

"As with most educational institutions, we do not have the resources to manage and maintain a 24x7 e-mail utility in house, and our existing terminal-based e-mail was difficult to use and had limited functionality," explains Don Johnston, TJU's director of the office of information technology.

The service initially consists of approximately 3,000 mailboxes and will grow as new students attend the university. United Messaging is providing open, Internet standards-based clients running on a POP3 e-mail server with simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) to provide users with the ability to access their e-mail from the Web. As a result of the LDAP standards directory, the university can easily communicate to target groups of students.

"United Messaging' s service complements the university's business model, which emphasizes the importance of building and maintaining relationships with students and alumni. Our new messaging service allows our students to keep their e-mail accounts with the university after graduation and enables the university to continue its relationship with alumni. The system enables us to integrate messaging into other university applications, such as financial aid and student activities, automating many of the university's workflow processes."

Circle 265 for more information from United Messaging, Inc.