TMCnews Featured Article
January 06, 2011
VoIP Reseller Advises School District on Proper Power Solution
By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor
The prospect of moving to VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is an attractive one for many organizations as the platform can significantly reduce communication costs. The challenge for these organizations is that making the switch from legacy platforms and integrations to a completely all IP environment to support VoIP is a time-consuming and expensive proposition.
When working with the right VoIP reseller, however, the process can be much easier to swallow.This recent BSM Info piece examined the challenges faced by two high schools, two middle schools and six elementary schools within the Andover Public School District. Located just 15 miles east of Wichita, Kansas, it is the second-fastest growing district in the state and currently has about 5,000 students and 700 faculty and staff. The district had recently upgraded its voice and data communication system to a VoIP platform, but power was a concern.
The district’s Technology Director, Rob Dickson, wanted to implement reliable power protection for the servers and switches that connect the district’s 900 IP phones. His ultimate goal was total power protection for the district’s mission-critical VoIP network from downtime, damage and data loss as a result of power outages. Dickson wanted to implement long-term battery backup in the data center to deliver continued operation in the event of a failure that knocked out power for the long term.
Dickson noted that every school in the district was configured for VoIP so that they would finally have one unified system that could support 900 telephones. Prior to the upgrade, each school support its own PBX (News - Alert) digital phone system that differed from those found in the other schools. As the district’s communication system is critical for everyday operation of voice and data functions, the IT group maintains roughly 42 servers in its Support Services Center. If a loss in power were to occur, all voice and data functions in the district would be immediately crippled.
While the district had relied on APC (News - Alert) products in the past, all of its products had gone down at one point or another. And, with a newer and more complex VoIP platform in place, the district couldn’t afford to risk inexpensive downtime for its voice and data systems. Dickson followed the advice of a VoIP reseller and spoke with Roger Eason, Tripp Lite (News - Alert) District Sales Manager for the Mid-Central Region.
Eason then visited the district headquarters and performed a free Power Audit so he could then offer a solution. He then presented the district with the option of the Tripp Lite to deliver a reliable and cost-effective solution to safeguard the district’s new VoIP system and data center against any kind of power failure.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Juliana Kenny
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