Alcatel Guides Robert Morris College Into the 21st Century With Extensive Network Upgrade

Business Wire, April 30, 2001

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

CALABASAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 30, 2001

Distance Learning, Online Services, and High-Bandwidth Applications

Prompt 5-Year Network Infrastructure Upgrade Plan

Alcatel (NYSE:ALA) announced today that Robert Morris College, a leading private institution in suburban Pittsburgh, Pa., has selected Alcatel to upgrade its networking infrastructure and strategically plan for its high-tech future.

With over 4,500 students at the main campus and a second location 21 miles away, Robert Morris College moved from a disparate infrastructure of individual buildings and offices to a centralized infrastructure using Alcatel's OmniSwitch, OmniSwitch/Router and OmniStack.

The network upgrade was prompted by the need for greater bandwidth and intelligence for applications such as online registration, grade accessing and payment, as well as for software engineering, manufacturing logistics and graphic arts programs.

In addition to providing greater speed, the network upgrade enables the college to offer distance learning. Many of Robert Morris' students are non-traditional in that they have full-time jobs and attend classes on a part-time basis. With the quality of service (QoS) features in Alcatel's networking products, reliable distance learning has become a viable option for these students. The College plans to enhance its program with IP telephony components.

"Building upon our current distance learning program, which consists of full motion multimedia video and data convergence, we are exploring IP telephony and Net Meeting components to enable students to become active participants in lectures," said Chuck Kohl, director of telecommunication services at Robert Morris College. "With Alcatel's data products, our students will be able to watch lectures in their own home as well as interact with instructors."

Robert Morris College is also deploying VLAN technology inherent in Alcatel's data equipment -- allowing traffic to be segmented on the network. VLANs enable students, teachers and administrators to have appropriate access to information, such as registration, grades and financial information.

"As colleges advance into the 21st century, they must keep pace with technological innovation in order to remain competitive," said Tom Wilburn, senior vice president of Alcatel's North American enterprise division. "With Alcatel's data solutions, Robert Morris College has deployed an advanced network infrastructure that can be expanded upon and adapted to support future applications and requirements."

As part of its 5-year technology plan, Robert Morris College plans to explore wireless technologies for its mobile faculty and students, convergence of voice and data, and QoS at the backbone to regulate traffic more efficiently.

About the Omni Family of Convergence-Ready Network Solutions

Alcatel's award-winning Omni family of networking solutions meets the needs of enterprises converging voice and data networks. Alcatel's Omni family of data switches and Secure VPN solutions provide the network foundation that supports the quality of service, security, and management requirements of converged networks. Based on a client/server UNIX architecture, the Alcatel OmniPCX 4400 is a hybrid IP-PBX that supports scalability from 50 to 50,000 users, innovative Reflexes telephone handsets, 99.999 percent reliability, one-number mobility, unified messaging and voice-over IP networking.

About Robert Morris College

Robert Morris College, founded in 1921, is a private, four-year institution with an enrollment of approximately 4,800 undergraduate and graduate students at its Moon Township campus and downtown Pittsburgh Center. The College offers more than 35 undergraduate major degree programs and 12 masters and doctoral degree programs. An estimated 22,000 alumni work and live in western Pennsylvania.

About Alcatel

Alcatel builds next generation networks, delivering integrated end-to-end voice and data networking solutions to established and new carriers, as well as enterprises and consumers worldwide. With 130,000 employees and sales of $29 billion (EURO 31 billion) in 2000, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. For more information, visit Alcatel on the Internet: http://www.alcatel.com