Schools bolster student safety: secure converged network puts an IP phone in every classroom and staff office

Communications News,  Feb, 2008  

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By leveraging funding from the federal E-Rate program and utilizing the extensive IT expertise of its contractor, San Jose's Franklin-McKinley School District (FMSD) has been able to keep pace with national and state technology standards--in spite of its budget-constrained constituency. The K-8 school system linked its facilities in the mid-1990s with a Gigabit Ethernet LAN/WAN and has invested heavily in educational and administrative software to support every aspect of its daily operations.

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After upgrading the FMSD's phone network to a 3Com NBX platform, Franklin-McKinley realized that adding IP telephony to its planned 3Com network upgrade was the most practical, affordable answer to its needs. According to Tim McClary, deputy superintendent of business services for FMSD, an IP-based phone system would easily support converged applications like unified messaging, automated attendants, and E-911 for higher productivity and security. IP telephony would also leverage the existing data infrastructure, allowing the district to install classroom telephones without the expense of installing additional wiring.

"The federally backed E-Rate fund was created to ensure that all eligible schools in the United States have affordable access to modern telecommunications and information services," says McClary. "Economically disadvantaged schools can receive discounts of up to 90 percent on telecommunications services, internal connections and Internet access. This is the backbone infrastructure that enables a school to provide the very best in services both for students and staff. Our district has been very fortunate in leveraging these funds to hire excellent support contractors to provide the design, technology and personnel to implement and improve our total campus operations network."

Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, FMSD has long recognized the value of using advanced technology. Consisting of 16 individual campuses, including the district's administrative offices, FMSD provides curriculum and classes for its schools serving grades K-8, and supports more than 9,800 students and in excess of 1,000 teachers, administrators and staff.

Integrator PWT-IT Solutions worked with Delma Jaurez, FMSD information technology director, and 3Com to upgrade the entire campus network, replacing more than 1,100 phones with 3Com VoIP sets.

"My department is responsible for the installation, operation and maintenance of all networks, databases, equipment, peripherals, telecommunication and associated technology infrastructure at FMSD," says Jaurez. "PWT-IT designed and implemented our VoIP network and data overhaul in real time with no disruptions to our daily business."

To meet internal efficiency and safety standards, FMSD now has a phone in each individual classroom and in every relevant staff access area across all campuses. The new phone system enabled the district to eliminate costly landlines and run the entire network through a consolidated trunk system, saving significant hardware and physical line costs.

"In addition to the equipment upgrade, our engineering teams were able to help FMSD actually repurpose switches within their system racks, moving older non-power switches to less priority assignment," says Allison Darin of PWT-IT.

With the new converged system in place, FMSD staff and students are now never more than a few steps from a telephone with internal four-digit dialing, allowing them to contact administrators swiftly when needed. Enhanced 911 now alerts emergency personnel that a call for help originated in a specific location, speeding response time when seconds count.

Unified messaging consolidates all voice mail and e-mail messages for easy retrieval, prioritizing urgent calls, so staff members know which to answer first. In addition, top administrators and department heads continue to use the 3Com NBX system's find-me/follow-me capabilities at night and on weekends to guarantee they can always be reached in a crisis.

Hunt groups and auto-attendants at the central office have allowed the district to eliminate a receptionist for annual savings of $ 80,000. Additional auto-attendants at individual schools further streamline daily tasks, allowing parents and students to check lunch menus, report an absence or reach the school secretary without delay. With 400 hours of voice-mail storage and up to 1,500 individual voice mailboxes, the 3Com NBX solution ensures every staff member gets his or her own calls, while built-in conference calling, group paging and group voice mail disseminate information across schools quickly and accurately.

The NBX solution's Web-based administration tool, NBX NetSet, allows Franklin-McKinley's technicians to rapidly perform moves, adds and changes. Moreover, the NBX NetSet software's call detail reporting and account code functions simplify the school district's system of monitoring phone use.

"For the first time, we can easily import data on outgoing calls into other software, such as Microsoft Excel, to create custom reports," says Juarez. "This makes billing by site and department, spotting inappropriate use, and allocating funds much more efficient."