IP SYSTEM TOP OF THE CLASS AT SELBY

PHILIPS IP TELEPHONY SYSTEM IS TOP OF THE CLASS AT SELBY COLLEGE

- Further education institution expects to save £10,000 per year as it starts first phase of migration to a fully converged network -

Selby College, one of the top ten further education establishments in the UK has installed a hybrid IP telephony system from Philips Business Communications in order to improve the efficiency of call management and customer service throughout the college, as well as to future-proof its network infrastructure.

In an order valued at £40,000, Philips Business Communications (PBC) switched Selby College to its SOPHO 2000 IPS system, which is capable of supporting both packet-switched IP and circuit-switched traditional (TDM) telephony. The SOPHO 2000 IPS system will support a mixture of analogue lines for basic phone requirements and digital lines for more advanced features such as caller identification, call re-routing and auto-dialling, whilst offering peer-to-peer IP telephony capability between the main site and its five local community outreach centres in the surrounding areas.

Mike Pilling, IT Manager at Selby College, explains, “The SOPHO 2000 IPS system gives us the ability to replace separate voice and data links between our main college and our five outreach centres with a converged VoIP communication infrastructure which presents significant cost savings. However, we also wanted to maintain a TDM telephony environment at our main college site and therefore it was essential that the new system could function within and support a hybrid network, with traditional digital and analogue switching capabilities.”

He continues, “The SOPHO 2000 IPS gives us the flexibility to design the architecture of our telephony infrastructure in a way that most appropriately suits our current requirements, whilst still being able to lay the foundation for future networks. This means that we can migrate towards a fully converged network at a pace which suits us.”

The College’s success depends on the number of course places filled and therefore it is of great important that it can act efficiently and effectively to handle enquiries. Direct dial numbers for each extension, plus a user-friendly voicemail system, will improve service levels to new and existing students as well as provide improved communications between staff and departments. With guidance from PBC, the College has opted for the most cost-effective system to bring together its communications network, enabling calls to be passed between locations easily and at minimal cost, which will be particularly useful during the College’s busy enrolment periods.

The system, which will service up to 150 line extensions, includes a fully integrated PC-based operator’s application – the SuperVisor 60E operator console – which enables quick and efficient call handling, and easy access to the central directory database. The entire network is managed by the Philips’ SOPHO system management application, which operates as an integral element of the telephony infrastructure. This application not only simplifies such tasks as moving, adding or changing user and extension details, but also provides comprehensive management reports of the call traffic and associated costs throughout the network.

Pilling comments, “We’ll have the ability to track the calls that are made by each phone extension throughout the college and bring all 5 Outreach centres onto one system and subsequently make significant cost savings. We expect to save in the region of £10,000 a year.”

Selby College has chosen to work with PBC to replace an out-dated Siemens system. PBC won the business ahead of Siemens, Alcatel and Kingston Communications.