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Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Background
From day one — when the school was but an ambitious concept and a heavily wooded area —
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering*
has depended on Nortel for a solid, two-way partnership and top-notch technology. Nortel continues to help Olin chart its unique path to educational excellence with a fully converged network that leverages the benefits of unified communications.
Customer Need
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering needs included meeting the demands of its students — including supporting the variety of tools and devices they arrive with — do so in a secure environment, and do it all with limited IT resources. It is essential to assure every dollar invested is wisely spent while helping advocate an open, user-friendly environment.
Nortel Solution
- Olin College deployed a converged, end-to-end IP network that allows its students, faculty and staff to communicate in a collaborative fashion across the campus and into the broader community.
- The college deployed Nortel
Ethernet Routing Switch 8600s
, the
Communication Server 1000
, the
Multimedia Communication Server 5100
and a Nortel
VPN Router
solution.
- Most recently, Olin has deployed a Nortel wireless security switch and
WLAN Access Point 2332s
so that students, staff and faculty can be productive anywhere on campus.
- The college is now preparing for a Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) rollout and integration with Exchange and will be upgrading its Communication Server 1000 to version 5.5, with plans to go to 6.0 when it becomes available.
Resutls & Benefits
The Nortel solution, which embraces the Unified Communications framework, has allowed Olin to meet its considerable ambitions for a collaborative, student-centric approach to no-boundaries communications while saving in both the initial investment and operating costs. The college estimates that it saved $670,000 by deploying VoIP instead of a TDM network, and in-house conferencing saves thousands more each year.
The Communication Server 1000 is supporting 1,000 users; all students now have an MCS 5100 soft client available for their laptops, offering conferencing, instant messaging and presence for enhanced collaboration; and VPNs are providing access to campus portals, allowing students to upload completed assignments and download study and research materials.
With the Nortel Solution, Olin College has achieved:
- Being able to attract and retain top-notch students
- Standardized & open platform
- Campus mobility
- Secure network
- Reliable & durable communications network
- Cost savings
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