Answering IP telephony's call; VoIP solutions enhance education communications - Telephony/CTI

Communications News, March, 2002

With nearly every new semester, students, faculty and staff are on the move, switching dorm rooms, classrooms, laboratories and offices. In addition, colleges and universities continually build new facilities, creating challenges for personnel who support the academic institutions' network infrastructures.

Such is the case at Wittenberg University, Springfield, OH--a nationally recognized college for the liberal arts and sciences. Wittenberg responded to the challenge, deploying IP telephony to meet its continual need for maximum flexibility on campus.

"IP telephony will speed up the relocation process and streamline operations, while adding greater voice capabilities for our end-users," says Joseph Deck, Wittenberg University's director of computing services.

To support its 2,100 fulltime students, Wittenberg built out an extensive network infrastructure. The Ethernet-based LAN consists of a collapsed backbone with dedicated fiber to each of its 27 buildings. For desktop connectivity, the university uses 10/100 switched Ethernet to users.

To maximize design versatility, Wittenberg leverages virtual LANs (VLANs) extensively. Some of the switches feature trunked ports with native VLANs and voice VLANs. Users can leverage their computers to collaborate and communicate from almost anywhere on campus. The extensive use of VLANs has given Wittenberg the ability to easily add, subtract and change the status of users on the LAN.

To expand the capabilities of its voice system. the university installed IP telephony. First, Wittenberg's Computing Center went live with an initial deployment of 30 Cisco 7960 IP phones (www.cisco.com), with five of its Catalyst 3524-PWR XL switches in two buildings. Another Catalyst 3524-PWR XL supports the company's Call Manager software, as well as its Unity voice mail and unified messaging. In addition, the installation includes one AS5300 Access Server and one VG200 Voice Gateway. The system is secured by Cisco's PIX520 Firewall and one 7206 Router, which is used as an internal firewall.

Today, Computing Center personnel use IP phones for all their calls. The installation has delivered the capabilities and the dependability Deck expected. Voice calls are made as reliably as using analog phones. Moreover, the software has made the addition and deletion of users and devices intuitive, quick and easy.

Wittenberg recently tested a key application of IP telephony: IP-based conference calling. "The board of directors was very pleased with the clarity of the call and the ease of use," says Deck. "This feature will be widely used in the future."

Deck expects the system will enhance collaboration and productivity by allowing easy conference calling at the touch of a button. Users can listen to their e-mail over the telephone, check voice messages from the Internet and forward faxes to any fax machine. Students and personnel also will enjoy integrated caller ID and an easy-to-use directory service.

Wittenberg plans to construct several buildings over the next few years, which will feature Cisco IP phones. Eventually, IP telephony should entirely replace the school's analog system.

As the system continues to roll out, Deck expects to integrate IP technology with the campus' extensive wireless network. As a result, students will be able to use computing devices, such as hand-held computers, to make IP calls, and access their e-mail and voice mail from anywhere on campus. "Students are always on the go," says Deck. "With this capability, their location just won't matter anymore.

"Eventually, IP telephony will be a technology that almost every college will implement," concludes Deck. "We're just getting to that future a little bit before the others."

Circle 260 for more information from Cisco