Case Study: VoIP Implementation Shows Netsync is the Top Solutions Provider for Higher Education

The Challenge

It may seem ironic that a major university known for its engineering, research and computer science schools was utilizing technology that was ushered in at a time when punch cards and giant mainframes were considered the high tech of the day. The university was using over 500 analog phones to serve over 6,500 users. They knew they’d needed an updated system for years but hadn’t found a technology partner that had given them the confidence to believe that the time to change was “now.” That changed the day they met Netsync.

Netsync has successfully deployed cutting-edge solutions that have transformed educational institutions.

With over 15 years of experience serving school districts and higher ed, Netsync has successfully deployed cutting-edge solutions that have transformed educational institutions and ensured they’re getting the very best that technology has to offer. The client selected Netsync to bring that same level of innovation and success to their organization. They weren’t disappointed.

Upfront Interviews, Workshops and Assessments Pave the Way

Netsync conducted discovery workshops with key stakeholders within the university’s IT department. Technical requirements were validated and interviews were conducted to fully understand the university’s network addressing, QoS, 911 call handling, and public-safety answering point (PSAP) connectivity. Netsync knew exactly what the university needed—a unified communication solution from its trusted partner Cisco.

Over the years, Netsync’s solutions architects and engineers have deployed hundreds of Cisco Unified Communication (UC) solutions. Cisco UC is an IP-based communications system that integrates voice, data, video, and mobility devices and applications. It enables more secure and effective communications and has transformed the way hundreds of thousands of Cisco customers communicate.

Cisco Services—Enhancing Productivity and the User Experience

Cisco UC formed the foundation on which Netsnc deployed the following Cisco services:

Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) is the core of Cisco’s collaboration platform, making it easy for one person to communicate with another by voice, video, messaging on any device, or on any operating system.

Cisco Unity Connection (CUC) lets users access and manage messages from an email inbox, web browser, Cisco Jabber, Cisco Unified IP Phone, smartphone, or tablet.

Cisco Instant Messaging and Presence (IM&P) is a standards-based enterprise platform that brings people together in and across organizations in the most effective way. 

Cisco Unified Contact Center Express (UCCX) is a secure, available, and sophisticated contact center solution for up to 400 agents and IVR ports that’s simple to deploy and manage. 

Cisco Emergency Responder (CER) enhances the existing emergency 9-1-1 functionality offered by Cisco Unified Communications Manager. It assures that Cisco Unified Communications Manager will send emergency calls to the appropriate Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) and that the PSAP can identify the caller’s location and return the call, if necessary.

Cisco Expressway–C and Expressway–E offers users outside the firewall simple, highly secure access to all collaboration workloads, including video, voice, content, and IM. 

Cisco WebEx is the leading enterprise software solution for video conferencing, online meetings, screen share, and webinars.

Cisco Spark is an app-centric cloud-based service that provides a complete collaboration suite for teams to create, meet, message, call, whiteboard, and share, regardless of whether they’re together or apart.

Cisco Attendant Console Standard can help ensure that teams can handle all calls efficiently and professionally. Cisco UACs pair with Cisco Unified IP Phones and are supported on Cisco Unified Communications Manager and Cisco Business Edition platforms.

Esna Cloudlink for Cisco seamlessly integrates Cisco Collaboration solutions with cloud-based productivity applications, such as Google Apps, Salesforce, Jive, IBM SmartCloud, and Office 365. It makes it easier for users to find, connect and collaborate live with others.

Cisco Hardware—Designed with Optimization in Mind

In addition to the aforementioned services, Netsync configured and deployed the following Cisco hardware: 4 Cisco Business Edition 7000 Series switches, which deliver a comprehensive Cisco NX-OS feature set and open-source programmable tools for software-defined networking (SDN) deployments; 2 Cisco 4000 Series Integrated Services Routers (ISR) to protect branch sites and prepare them for the future with a digital-ready platform; Cisco VG Series Analog Voice Gateways, which allow users to utilize the IP telephony solution with traditional analog devices while taking advantage of the productivity afforded by the IP infrastructure.

Netsync Transform a University’s Technology Issue into an Innovative, Scalable Solution

The university’s new communications solution more than meets its current needs, and will easily scale to address future ones. And while this may surprise some, it’s no shock to any organization that has worked with Netsync: the entire project was completed ahead of time and provides significant hard and soft cost savings to the university. Now, it can focus on what it was founded to do—educate students.