Flexible Network Infrastructure Helps Meet District's Changing Needs: IP Telephony System Improves Student Safety and Staff Productivity of Northern Virginia District
Robert A. Yost · T.H.E. Journal Technological Horizons in Education · 2005
Student safety is a top priority for school administrators, now more than ever. In an emergency, schools must be able to communicate with students, parents, and local government, quickly and reliably. But ensuring student safety and keeping the lines of communication open can be more problematic in rural school districts, where even cell phone service can be spotty. To meet these growing challenges, a school district in northern Virginia is upgrading its network infrastructure to support innovative new telephony applications. Headquartered in Winchester, VA, Frederick County Public Schools serves more than 11,700 students. Its 18 campuses provide K-12 education and include two specialized learning centers. However, the district's steady expansion over several years had resulted in a jumble of phone systems. By 2001, the district supported 11 different private branch exchange (PBX) systems from five different vendors--and expensive annual maintenance contracts for most of them. Two events that compromised the safety of students convinced administrators that it was time to reassess the district's communications technology. On the morning of a severe snowstorm, buses had already delivered some students to school, with many others in transit, when the administration cancelled classes for the day. As parents called schools to verify the closures and locate their children, the calls overwhelmed the phone systems and most callers received a busy signal. Even worse, administrators at the district's central office were unable to reach many of the schools by phone. The phone system was simply not dependable under very demanding conditions. The second event was a security audit report, which found that three schools did not have two-way communications from the classrooms to the school office. The district developed a proposal to add a two-way PA system to the buildings, and funds were allocated. However, after reviewing the plan, the IT department determined that a better approach would be to migrate the sites to an Internet Protocol (IP) telephony system. Because the network would carry voice and data traffic, the system would provide not only PA features, but could grow to serve as an intelligent communications foundation for the entire district. Plus, migrating multiple school phone systems to a single converged network would greatly simplify network management tasks and make voice communications more reliable and easier to control. An Intelligent New Phone System After evaluating proposals from four vendors, Frederick County selected AAC Inc. (www.aac.com), a Cisco Systems IP Telephony Specialized Services Partner and reseller based in Vienna, VA. AAC was unique in its ability to provide not only network equipment, but specialized telephony applications that handle attendance, emergency alerts, and administrative tasks. The district was already using Cisco (www.cisco.com) equipment in its existing data network, so additional IT staff training would be minimized. As planning began, a key concern was ensuring that the district's network had the capacity and intelligence to support both voice and data. By upgrading the Cisco Catalyst switches at the district office to support the advanced quality of service (QoS) that voice service requires, the district's Cisco network was able to handle the expected voice traffic. Another Cisco Catalyst switch at the central office provides connectivity to the district's wide area network (WAN), so sites can communicate with one another using Gigabit Ethernet over fiber. AAC installed servers running Cisco CallManager software to perform call handling and offer support for Extensible Markup Language (XML) telephony applications and messaging. In each classroom, Cisco IP phones feature LCD display screens that can support XML applications. An integrated hands-free speakerphone lets the phones function as a two-way PA system for public safety and announcements. …