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SD2 get upgraded phones at lower cost
Jul 01, 2009 (Billings Gazette - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Billings Public Schools will have all new phone numbers beginning at 1 p.m. today.
The new system is designed to save the district money on its monthly bills, bring all 1,750 phones in 34 buildings into one system and add security features in schools.
The changes probably most noticeable to callers are that all SD2 phone numbers will begin with 281 and there will be consistency in automatic answering across the district, said Karen Palmer, the district's director of technology.
Billings School District 2 trustees voted in February to enter the five-year contract with Bresnan Communications for telephone and Internet services. The district started looking for a new system about two years ago, Palmer said. But technology staff was careful not to assume that one would be affordable to the district. "The investment was scary given our financial situation," she said.
This system reduces maintenance costs and allows the SD2 staff to do more of the maintenance, which is another savings. For example, on the old system, moving a phone required a service call, which had a fee, but with the new system staff can make the changes.
The district hasn't received final notification, but it should qualify for a 54 percent discount on its phone bill because the district is eligible for a federal e-rate.
Under a program funded by the Universal Services Fund, the government helps pay for schools and other agencies to have reduced-cost telephone and Internet access. Eligibility for schools is based on the number of students who receive free and reduced-price meals.
The monthly phone bill of about $18,500 will be more than cut in half with the e-rate.
On the old system, the district paid around $15,000 a month for phone service and around $45,000 a year in maintenance costs, Palmer said.
The Bresnan contract includes the equipment and a five-year warranty. Those were benefits, Palmer said, because the district didn't have a capital outlay for equipment, and anything that breaks will be replaced without cost.
In 2006 the district installed a fiber-optic network that links its buildings. That infrastructure allows the new system to work.
The system, which includes phones in every classroom, includes caller identification and the ability to record calls. Staff is being trained on laws about recording calls.
"If a threat is coming in, we have the ability to record that," Palmer said.
The phones can be turned off so calls don't disrupt classes. However, that function can be overridden in an emergency. Speakerphone capabilities allow a teacher to push a button during a classroom emergency and speak to all phones in the office. The reverse also works as administrators can make announcements over the intercoms. In a case such as an intruder alert, that means to classrooms could be notified and locked down without notifying the culprit.
Another staff benefit is that now all teachers will have voice mail, something the elementary teachers did not all have, Palmer said. And, they can access voice mail from computers. Calls may also be transferred, so a principal away from her office monitoring halls can take calls on a cell phone or a teacher at home sick can still receive his school calls.
One of the benefits is that the district has four-digit dialing and calls can be transferred between buildings, which will be a courtesy to callers, Palmer said. The system will track incoming, outgoing and missed calls so the district has a "record of what's going on with the system," Palmer said.
Palmer and her staff are able to program the automated answer functions of the phones, something they had to paid to have done on the old system. One of the goals is to make the systems consistent among schools and to always give callers an out from the automated menus, Palmer said.
"You can always get to a person if you need to," she said.
The system uses Voice over Internet Protocol. Some people are leery of VOIP, which uses the Internet to make calls and can stymie locations for 911 calls and use a public band for communications, Palmer said. This system is recognizable by emergency communications centers and is secure because it is on an internal Bresnan Internet system, she said.
"Our calls are not floating freely over the Internet," Palmer said.
It also uses a separate line for data so telecommunications don't bog down Internet capabilities in classrooms and district offices.
The system has the latest technology and features available in the nation, said Ted White, regional vice president of commercial and advanced services for Bresnan.
"This network would be considered impressive anywhere in the country and is the largest and most advanced in Montana," White said.
The new system replaces one that is 14 years old and was getting close to impossible to maintain, Palmer said.
"You know it's getting bad when you start look on eBay for parts," Palmer said.
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http://www.billingsgazette.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Billings Gazette, Mont.
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