Voice over IP Pilot Project for the new Simulation Center

Accomplished Projects 2007-08

Information Technology Department

 

The construction of the new Simulation Center presented Cal Maritime with a unique opportunity to integrate “Voice over IP” with its PBX system.  Voice over IP (or VoIP) uses computer networks to route phone calls and conversations.  According to Steve Frazier, Chief Information Officer at Cal Maritime, this pilot project was well warranted given the strategic value of VoIP to both the campus and the telephone industry.

Cal Maritime’s new VoIP system went live in June, 2008 with fifty-seven VoIP phones with displays installed in the Simulation Center.  With built-in capacity to service 450 phones, the new system has plenty of growth potential.

The expected useful life of the campus’s existing Fujitsu PBX telephone switch is another four to seven years.  However, VoIP is now the strategic direction of the phone industry.  Fujitsu PBXs are no longer being manufactured and there are some other brands that are now unsupported.  Therefore, Cal Maritime’s IT Department sought to preserve the campus’s investment in the existing PBX while leveraging the capabilities of VoIP.  Avaya provides an interface to seamlessly accomplish this and was the vendor of choice (see http://www.avaya.com/gcm/master-usa/en-us/home/index.htm)

While the voicemail system currently used with Cal Maritime’s PBX is actually older than the PBX itself, it is still supported.  By acquiring a new voicemail system in the future, however, VoIP will provide opportunities for convergence of voice mail with email and other services.

Voice over IP adds hundreds of additional features beyond those that are currently provided by the PBX.  Some advantages that VoIP offers include those discussed below.  Not all of these features have been fully activated yet.

• VoIP can extend the campus phone system to any part of the world where there is a network drop available.  By using a softphone (a simple graphical interface on a PC or laptop screen), faculty, adjuncts and staff will be able use notebook computers as soft phones to access the campus phone system as though they were on campus.  This capability could eventually be extended to an offsite building or be used for business continuity during a pandemic.

• VoIP can eliminate the need for faculty and staff to give out their cell phone numbers.  When a forwarded cell phone receives a call, the user’s desk phone also rings.  By providing one number portability, there are no more missed calls and people can seamlessly switch between phones in mid-conversation. Voice mail can go to a VoIP system instead of the cell phone provider’s service. 
• With Follow-Me-Follow-Me features, employees need not miss calls while traveling or moving about the campus.

• VoIP can provide telecommunications disaster recovery capability by providing backup communication capability for our existing PBX or failing over to sister institution’s system for handle calls.

• Conference calls can be set up and people invited to dial into the conference.

• VoIP eliminates time involved in moving phones.  Occurrences of this may be limited on a small campus, but saved time can be redirected to other initiatives such as Web support.

Avaya equipment in server room while still under construction.