Canadian Colleges Update – Dec 2009 Session 8 OCS Case Study

Session 8 – |OCS Case Study – Cambrian College, Sudbury, Ontario (Michael Alloy, CIO Cambrian College and Mauro Lollo, CTO UNIS LUMIN)

Business Situation – before

• Nortel PBX with CallPilot
• Novell Groupwise
• Employees sharing phones
• limited phones in classrooms

Needs

• increase classroom phones
• enhanced distance ed program
• add more phone extensions
• greater integration between communication and collaboration tools
• future proofing & innovation

Challenges

• cost
• features and flexibility
• lack of integration

Approach – engaged a consulting firm that specializes on Unified Communications

The Solution for Cambrian

• OCS on premise Web conferencing – content sharing with audio and video
• OCS Edge infrastructure – remote access
• High Fidelity recordings
• Integration with 3rd party video and conferencing equipment in the classroom
• OCS Voice
• Integration with existing Nortel PBX
• Optimized for OC softphone endpoints for staff – headsets and USB phones
• Office Communicator Phone Edition IP phones in the classrooms

Cambrian is facing significant revenue pressures and the implementation of UC is seen as strategic to the future of the college.

Results and Benefits

• 20 to 1 cost savings
• reduce travel between satellite campuses – $40K annual savings – support staff retired and position did not need to be filled
• remote support with desktop sharing and integrated audio and video
• enhanced communication and collaboration
• fault tolerant
• shared services

Discussed the Virginia Tech Shootings scenario – April 16, 2007 – how can UC help?

• talked about a Response Management Portal using SharePoint (Sheridan College) integrated to telephony, social media, audio visual devices
• implement pre-defined workflows for various crisis situations
• allows security and emergency responders to focus on the crisis not on how to communicate

Cambrian College also leveraged the Roundtable conference devices to enhance communications.

Related posts:

1. Canadian Colleges Update – Dec 2009 Session 7 Unified Communications Overview
2. Canadian Colleges Update – Dec 2009 Session 2 Exchange 2010
3. Canadian Colleges Update – Dec 2009 Session 6 Microsoft Learning
4. Canadian Colleges Update – Dec 2009 Session 3 Office System Futures
5. Canadian Colleges Update – Dec 2009 Session 4 Windows 7 and the Optimized Desktop