Avaya IP Telephony Solution Helps Clayton State University Accommodate Rapid Growth18 October 2005
To provide communication services for a rapidly growing student body, Clayton State
University in Atlanta, GA, under the leadership of President Thomas K. Harden, installed a new Internet Protocol (IP) telephony solution from Avaya Inc. (NYSE: AV), a leading global provider of business communication applications, systems and services.
"The Avaya IP telephony solution provides the University with a very cost-effective way to accommodate growth and will yield a Return on Investment (ROI) in five years," said President Harden.
Clayton State has a national reputation for technology leadership. It is one of the first public universities in the U.S. requiring all students and faculty to use notebook computers for teaching and learning. Clayton State also has a wireless infrastructure for laptop computers that will enable the University to expand voice capabilities over a ubiquitous WIFI network.
"Voice over IP is revolutionizing telephony, and it really was a no-brainer for us to make the jump," said Dr. John Bryan, Vice President for Information Technology and Services. "We already had the network infrastructure, and now we've added 21st century telephony applications that run over IP. We looked at all the major systems on the market, and Avaya's solution offered the best functionality for the lowest cost."
To meet the University's demand for growth, the new communication system supports the current population of 6,200 students and will easily scale to handle rapid growth.
The new converged network is based on the industry leading Avaya Communication Manager IP telephony software -- hosted by an Avaya Media Server and by Media Gateways that distribute advanced telephony capabilities across the University campus.
A number of Avaya mobility features complement the University's wireless learning environment: key staff and faculty use WiFi handsets; an easy-to-use softphone application is available for making and receiving calls from laptop computers; and Avaya's Extension to Cellular capability enables cell phones to become extensions of a desk phone and cell phone -- ringing simultaneously so that important calls can be answered, even when a staffer is away from the campus.
Delivery of efficient and effective service to the citizens of Georgia is made easier with a new 50-seat Avaya Call Center with Interactive Response capabilities serving critical, high call volume departments -- admissions, registration, financial aid, student affairs and alumni relations.
"With our previous Centrex solution, call center capabilities were expensive and time-consuming to implement," Bryan said. "Avaya builds call center functionality into the base phone system, so it's a tremendous value to us. Now it's up to our imagination and creativity to configure it so it serves us best."
Security features that are a cut above
Security features were extremely critical as Clayton State selected an IP telephony vendor.
"What we've learned post-911 and in the wake of hurricanes like Ivan and Katrina is that communication is critical during emergencies and disasters," Bryan said. "The phone must work. But today viruses and hackers are a fact of life. Unless you have encryption and security built in to a VOIP system, you will experience outages, and you will not be happy with your system. The security features Avaya offered were much better than the competition and were a major distinguishing characteristic of their solution."
Bryan said Avaya was the only vendor the University evaluated that employed full encryption of voice conversations and one of the few to provide e911 capabilities to track and report the location of an IP phone or softphone -- an important feature for a campus that stresses staying in touch while on the move.
As an additional protection, the University's network is monitored around-the-clock by patented Avaya remote monitoring tools that are designed to diagnose and repair problems before they escalate and impact service.
About Clayton State University
Clayton State University, located in Morrow, is a state university of the University System of Georgia serving the Metro Atlanta region.
About Avaya
Avaya Inc. designs, builds and manages communications networks for more than 1 million businesses worldwide, including over 90 percent of the FORTUNE 500(R). Focused on businesses large to small, Avaya is a world leader in secure and reliable Internet Protocol (IP) telephony systems and communications software applications and services.
Driving the convergence of voice and data communications with business applications -- and distinguished by comprehensive worldwide services -- Avaya helps customers leverage existing and new networks to achieve superior business results. For more information visit the Avaya website: www.avaya.com.
/Web site: http://www.avaya.com /
For further information: Media Relations - Deb Kline, +1-908-953-6179, klined@avaya.com; or Investor Relations - Matt Booher, +1-908-953-7500,
mbooher@avaya.com, both of Avaya
Source: NewsWire
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