LGS Turns Up First VoIP IMOD Installation

The first complete VoIP system under the Army’s IMOD program is now up and running. LGS Innovations did the installation at Fort Leonard Wood in Herndon. Va. It involved nearly 1,000 Avaya LSC VoIP instruments to support unified communications.

LGS Innovations announced it had won a $14.1 million award to update the Army base’s network in March of 2013. At the time the company said the Avaya LSC solution would be replacing the facility’s Nortel SL100 solution.

The new Avaya solution, LGS said at the time, provides “a resilient, distributed network of gateways with analog, digital and IP-based communication devices” and PBX features that are highly reliable, scalable, and support multiple protocols. This UC solution also comes with conference calling, contact center, E911, and mobility functionality.

LGS Innovations in its more recent announcement said the deployment also entailed new fiber infrastructure, installation of cable in new shelters, and new cabinets and racks for data and voice gear.

If you’re not familiar with LGS Innovations, you’re not alone. But its former parent company should ring a bell. The company is a former Alcatel-Lucent subsidiary. And it is a reseller of Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent solutions.

IMOD stands for Infrastructure Modernization program. It’s a U.S. Army effort focused on combining and updating voice, data, inside and outside cable plant, and transmission products and services into integrated communications systems.

The GovTribe website indicates LGS Innovations LLC of High Point, N.C., has the biggest share of the IMOD spend to date, at $55.9 million. Next are Nextiraone Federal LLC with $34.2 million, AT&T Government Solutions Inc. with $32 million, EPS Corp. with $30.1 million, and Siemens Government Technologies with $29.5 million.

As for Fort Leonard Wood, it’s a Department of Defense training facility. It provides education to chemical, biological, radiologic and nuclear first responders;

for civil support, earthmoving, and truck driving; and houses a CRN School, the Army Military Police School, and the 4^th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade. Between 85,000 and 90,000 people train there each year.

Edited by Mandi Nowitz