March 2005 — Special Reports
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Integrating Voice Into the School Network: Benefits of Wireless VoIP
The key to a successful wireless VoIP installation is selecting a VoIP gateway, wireless access points, and phones that are compatible with the school’s existing PBX system. Wireless VoIP can also help schools reduce their capital and operational costs by eliminating the need to install new wiring or upgrade an existing network.
Making Campus Communications More Accessible for Higher Ed
Like K-12 schools, most colleges and universities still have a traditional voice system. This system typically provides basic phone service to the administrative buildings and faculty offices. Unfortunately, traditional phone systems do little to facilitate the growing communications needs of a modern-day university. Since faculty spend a significant amount of time traveling around campus to classrooms, lecture halls and other locations, they need to be reachable wherever they go. While cell phones are one possible solution, they have proved problematic for most institutions because they are expensive and it is difficult to regulate faculty usage of them for nonwork-related calls.
Thus, the combination of VoIP and wireless technology is the ideal solution. Most higher education institutions can leverage their existing network to add voice services, which saves the expense of adding more voice lines. With wireless technology, faculty and staff can be reached anywhere on campus, maintaining their connectivity to the network throughout their “mobile” workday.
For large campuses, the geographic distribution of buildings can also be a problem for deploying traditional voice lines. However, with wireless VoIP, a school can combine its existing wired links with wireless connectivity between buildings to add coverage. Finally, for schools that have students living on campus, VoIP is a cost-effective way to give students phone access while reducing the school’s expense for providing such services. Most important, by adding voice as another application to the IP network, colleges and universities can improve their return on investment.
Conclusion
Implementing the proper communications infrastructure is critical to the smooth operation of K-12 and higher education institutions. The use of wireless VoIP lets schools reduce their network costs significantly, while providing an ideal foundation for the institutions’ evolving needs. Although integrating voice into the school network can be challenging, the combination of VoIP and wireless technology removes many of the previous obstacles to deployment. It can also result in numerous benefits for faculty, staff and students.
Key Wireless Access Point Features for Supporting Wireless VoIP
1. Wi-Fi Certification - Ensures interoperability with other Wi-Fi certified products.
2. Tri-Mode Support - Access points that support multiple radios allow data communications over 802.11b/g while supporting voice over 802.11a.
3. Quality of Service - Allows toll-quality voice communications.
4. Load Balancing - Regulates the bandwidth needed to ensure clear call quality.
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