This is a case study which shows how Voorhees College implemented a revolutionary communications solution based around a service-orientated Unified Communications architecture from NEC to provide students, faculty and staff in five locations with software-based voice and desktop communications tools to achieve a 40 percent savings over its previous traditional telephony solution.
Case Study
Voorhees College
Decades ago, historically black colleges such as Voorhees, Howard and Tuskegee largely competed with each other for top-quality students and faculty members. Today, these colleges routinely vie with top-tier state and private four-year institutions and must use every available strategy to distin-guish themselves in a hotly contested marketplace. A defining moment in the 111 year history of the college was the decision to use technology for strategic advantage.
In 2006, Voorhees decided to replace its traditional telephone system and Centrex service with the UNIVERGE Sphericall IP solution from NEC CustomerSphere Communications, Inc. (formally Sphere Communications, Inc.) The . Voorhees College, USA college was able to dramatically cost reduce while improving productivity on Industry its four campuses. Tim Kentopp, Voorhees chief technology officer (CTO) . Higher education says, "Having the lowest-cost, world-class IP telephony solution with the Challengesmost advanced unified communications feature set certainly gives us an . High total cost of ownership (TCO) edge, and we are putting all the money we have saved to very good use.". Expensive, proprietary equipment. Difficult-to-manage system. Inter-campus, long-distance toll charges ChallengesSolution® Prior to 2006, when Voorhees had a digital switch, its telephones were . Communication framework: UNIVERGE 360 analog so students, faculty and staff had few features. As a result, . Communication system: UNIVERGE Sphericall decision-latency and telephone frustration were rampant. Thanks to its . UC applications: UNIVERGE Sphericall Desktop Centrex service and outdated copper infrastructure, the college was . WLAN connection: Sprint MPLS network paying a high price and receiving minimal value.. Media gateway: UNIVERGE Sphericall BranchHubT. Terminals: Off-the-shelf IP phones In 2001, the college's regional Bell operating company (RBOC) installed a . Management: Sphericall Manager fiber optic network throughout the main campus, solving its outdated-Resultswiring problem. The school also had a dependable Ethernet network . 40% reduction in TCO (new system pays for itself ) installed. Recurring costs were out of line, however. When Kentopp arrived . Time savings with four-digit dialing at Voorhees in 2002, "We were paying $20,000 per month for telephone . Improved employee productivity with popular UC service, and that did not include Internet or long distance," he says.applications. Reduced decision latency Kentopp began finding ways to trim costs and improve services. However, . Disaster recovery as the college established continuing education campuses in other cities, . Failover longdistance toll charges escalated out of sight. "As well, we could not . Easy system management transfer inbound calls between campuses."
http://www.nec.com/Voorhees College
Challenges (Cont.) "We have far more features, far fewer telephone frustrations, less deci-Another challenge was proprietary equipment: "Aside from the added sion latency, and we have a state-of-the-art telephony system with expense, we were dependent on our RBOC for moves, adds and advanced unified communications (UC) features," he says. Kentopp changes." The situation came to a head in 2006 when the RBOC said it mentions popular UC features:would no longer support the legacy switch. ®. Rich presence provided by Windows Outlook calendaring integrated into UNIVERGE Sphericall's Desktop presence. Solution "You know where they are and when they will be available."After investigating numerous solutions, Kentopp concluded, "UNIVERGE . Unified messaging that allows users to drag-and-drop a Sphericall gave us everything anyone else could at about half the price!" voice message to a folder or forward a voice message to Kentopp was particularly impressed with UNIVERGE Sphericall's value- someone else. "This is phenomenal!" says Kentopp.approach to licensing. "You pay one combined application license," he . Instant messaging between desktops over UNIVERGE says. "Everyone else has separate licensing fees for each application so Sphericall Desktop client. "That is a hit, especially with you pay far more." Campus Security, Residential Life and our administrative assistants."In 2007, Kentopp had the UNIVERGE Sphericall solution installed. It is . Campus-wide address book. "The faculty loves the fact currently providing service to 29 buildings on five sites-about 1... [download for more]
