The road to convergence

There's been a lot of talk in the marketplace about network convergence, the idea that data, voice and video traffic will one day travel over a single network.

Several organisations have been laying the foundation for a converged network, while others are already at implementation stage.

In this special report, we look at how Mount Erin Secondary College's converged network is driving a learning revolution by enabling new forms of collaboration among 1600 students on two campuses.

Although the two campuses aren't geographically far apart, the idiosyncrasies of Telstra's network infrastructure meant it was impossible to get a direct fibre connection between Frankston South and Somerville. Instead, Mt Erin ended up installing a 100Mbps microwave service between the two sites to provide a seamless Ethernet link that would carry voice and general network traffic. Both sites were configured with an ISDN failover service to ensure continuity of phone service in the event of a network outage.

The new network has provided Mt Erin with an easily manageable, full featured phone system that spans the two campuses and has relieved the considerable frustration staff experienced with the previous system.

AFL premiers the West Coast Eagles have no plans for a converged network yet but after embracing IP telephony, the stage has been set.

With Brownlow medallists amongst its ranks and 16 finals campaigns, the club had no choice but to upgrade an ageing telephony system to meet the needs of fans and members.

The system is still a work in progress but one that has won the hearts of club members, fans and employees.

It started with a simple VoIP rollout, but Mount Erin Secondary College's converged network is driving a learning revolution by enabling new forms of collaboration among 1600 students on two campuses. David Braue reports.

Eternally tight budgets mean government schools haven't been traditionally noted for their early take-up of technology. At Victoria's Mount Erin Secondary College, however, an investment in a new Voice over IP (VoIP) phone system has paved the way for a dramatically improved converged network that has helped the college's new campus hit the ground running in its first year.

Several years ago, administrators at Mt Erin got fed up with a phone system that had long operated at its 1200-student campus at Frankston South, 40km south of Melbourne. -When the principal slams the phone on the desk and says 'this phone system is stuffed', you know you're in trouble," recalled network manager, Mark Humphries. -We then talked about the new technology, including VoIP, and that's where the ball started to roll."

Good things start with VoIP ...
Within months, exploration of the market options led the college to systems integrator Dimension Data, which worked with Mt Erin to plan an infrastructure that would use Cisco Systems VoIP gear to replace the college's archaic phone system. Cisco CallManager and IPFX for Call Manager, paired with appropriate IP handsets, would provide a fully managed VoIP environment across Mt Erin's network.

Seeking to make the most of the partnership, the college also took the opportunity to set up a presence as a Cisco Training Academy, delivering a progressive training program that has since allowed many students to leave school with formal networking qualifications as well as their VCE (Victorian Certificate of Education).

Although it was clear that VoIP would deliver a much better phone system, it also soon became clear that the college's existing network cabling was not going to support the kind of bandwidth necessary for VoIP to work properly. The scope of the project was quickly expanded to incorporate a major network upgrade which, it was realised, would also support greater use of Internet, voice and video based learning technologies -- -future-proofing our infrastructure", said Humphries.

The college's new network backbone incorporated a Cisco Catalyst core switch and 13 edge switches that distributed 100Mbps Ethernet connections throughout offices and classrooms around the college. Although the original design had called for just five edge switches, Humphries said -we only deal with around 80 handsets and knew we weren't going to be pushing the system very hard at all". The additional switches were added to provide a more reliable, scalable infrastructure that would also support a subsequently announced strategic expansion.

That expansion would see Mt Erin constructing a second campus at Somerville, some seven kilometres to the east, with an additional 400 students and 30 staff teaching students in years seven through 10. With its network rollout in full swing and VoIP already providing much improved phone services within the Frankston South campus, Humphries realised the establishment of the new campus would pave the way for novel learning capabilities that far transcended the simple delivery of VoIP.

... and end with convergence
The Somerville campus network was set up as a mirror of the Frankston South environment, with eight Cisco Systems switches providing full network coverage and some services replicated to increase redundancy and availability. During this time, the Frankston South campus was set up with full wireless LAN service during the Victorian Department of Education and Training's recent state-wide WLAN initiative, but setting up a WLAN on the Somerville campus will be done later at Mt Erin's own expense.

Although the two campuses aren't geographically far apart, the idiosyncrasies of Telstra's network infrastructure meant it was impossible to get a direct fibre connection between Frankston South and Somerville. Instead, Mt Erin ended up installing a 100Mbps microwave service between the two sites to provide a seamless Ethernet link that would carry voice and general network traffic. Both sites were configured with an ISDN failover service to ensure continuity of phone service in the event of a network outage.

-The basic infrastructure design at Frankston South and Somerville are mirror images of each other, so that when we have to manage it we don't have to think too hard," said Humphries. -This was all part of the original design structure."

The new network has provided Mt Erin with an easily manageable, full featured phone system that spans the two campuses and has relieved the considerable frustration staff experienced with the previous system. Transparent call routing between both sites is handled through a single shared receptionist, and use of unified messaging allows voicemails to be retrieved from Microsoft Outlook. Calls can be easily forwarded to follow teachers between campuses, with remote retrieval and online directory access making the new system light-years ahead of the old one.

The power of networked teaching
Where the network investment is really providing additional value, however, is in the new applications that have become possible for both Mt Erin teachers and their students. For example, TeamBoard Interactive Whiteboards recently introduced at the college combine computer projection with interactive mark-up capabilities that let students on both campuses collaborate during lessons.

-Part of the challenge is how to keep modern-day kids interested and wanting to learn," said Humphries. -You've got to encourage the kids to be involved. The Cisco Training Academy was a huge buzz for them, because they could put their hands on the technology and feel it. With the electronic whiteboards, the kids are asking when they can have lessons with them."

The new network is providing benefits in other ways -- particularly in supporting innovative uses for video within the teaching curriculum. For example, a project is now underway to digitise the school's extensive collection of videotapes and make them available over the network as on-demand video. This could eventually be expanded into a multicast situation where content can be pushed to multiple PCs across the network.

Increased access to videoconferencing facilities between the sites is also expected to deliver significant benefits for the school's Deaf Centre, which provides hearing-impaired students with access to qualified teachers and sign-language interpreters. The Somerville campus will gain several hearing impaired students next year, but AUSLAN qualified teachers are quite difficult to come by. With qualified teachers concentrated at Frankston South, network videoconferencing will let hearing-impaired students at the Somerville campus access the same resources as their peers.

Video is even proving useful for relatively esoteric applications. For example, networked videoconferencing units run constantly in the teacher's lounge at both campuses, fostering community spirit by allowing the teachers to communicate casually, as if they were in the same room. -One of the biggest issues with multi-campus schools is this us-and-them syndrome," Humphries explained. -We're trying to lessen that as much as possible by using technology."

AFL premiers West Coast Eagles can be described as a victim of its own popularity. With Brownlow medalists amongst its ranks and 16 finals campaigns, the club had no choice but to upgrade an ageing telephony system to meet the needs of fans and members, IT manager Digby Moullin tells Luke Anderson.

When Chris Judd won the Brownlow Medal in 2004 as the best and fairest player in the AFL (Australian Football League), all hell broke loose at the West Coast Eagles.

The phone wouldn't stop ringing and a near meltdown ensued as the footy club, at the time, was also in the finals.

"That first got us thinking about phone systems and we were also looking at different functionality and what-not.

"We upgraded our existing phone system, which was just your traditional keystone analog system, hoping that would resolve the issue," recalls Eagles IT manager Digby Moullin.

But the following year, with the club in the grand final and Ben Cousins clinching the Brownlow, capacity issues reared its ugly head again. The demand resulted from a combination of calls from the public, members enquiring about ticket sales, and punters sniffing around for information on the team's condition.

By then, it was time for another upgrade. "We wanted a quality system that was stable," says Moullin.

He looked into IP telephony solutions from major vendors including Cisco, Toshiba, NEC and Nortel, and what small- to medium-sized businesses were using. In the end, Avaya was selected based on functionality, price and the overall solution.

"We did a lot of research into the Avaya product and particularly [reseller] Exabit, because it's a pretty big installation and process to get it all up and running so we wanted to be really comfortable with who we were going with."

Moullin says the decision to go with Exabit was its proven track record and the fact that it's a local company (in Leederville, about 10 minutes from the Eagles' base at Subiaco Oval).

Avaya's IP Office IP406 was the solution of choice and currently supports 80 extensions (which can be expanded to 120 extensions in the future). Thirty analog extension ports are used for faxes and EFTPOS.

For handsets, Avaya's IP Office 5410 was chosen for its large screen, functionality and affordable price, Moullin says. The handsets are powered via existing telephone lines and, in the event of a power failure, approximately 30 minutes of UPS back-up is available.

Handsets were placed beside existing ones to get users familiar with the look and feel of the new phones. "It was important ... so people didn't just rock up on Monday not knowing what the phone was all about and how to use it. All that training which went on for about a week, all happened prior to installation," Moullin says.

With a two-man IT team, including himself, Moullin was able to save a considerable amount of time with the entire process since the equipment was programmed and tested at the reseller's site prior to installation. Exabit also completed the documentation for the existing setup.

"The actual [whole] process of implementation was amazing smooth, from the time we placed the order, through to staff training and implementation," he says without revealing the amount spent.

The club allowed three days for implementation, but it only took half a day. "You always have little teething issues to work through but apart from that there were no issues whatsoever, which is quite amazing [and] can be attributed to the documentation we did previously, the training and also Exabit's communication -- how thorough they were," Moullin says.

Flying high
2006 marked the 20th season for the Eagles in the AFL, which has included 16 finals campaigns; the highlights being the 1992, 1994 and 2006 premierships. As well as having a successful history on-field, it's one of Western Australia's strongest brands and a growing presence around the country.

Since deploying the Avaya system in May 2006, there's been no turning back. "The system has been very stable. In September, we had an issue with the company that does all our ticketing at the oval here [Ticketmaster], and hence we had probably about 4,000 calls to the club and the system handled it beautifully," Moullin says.

Avaya's Softconsole (version 3.1.17) client was installed on four computers in the reception area, allowing staff to redirect calls to other extensions. This has increased the club's ability to handle calls and is one of the key benefits of IP Office.

"If our reception is inundated we can add another two receptionists instantly to handle the volume of calls ... providing a better service to our members."

Other benefits include the ability to receive meaningful reports and statistics from the system to determine if the club is understaffed or overstaffed, or to identify any problems. This is particularly useful for staff during the busy membership renewal period this month.

The recording feature in IP Office has also been useful in situations such as when telephone interviews are conducted with players.

For the moment, no major cost benefits have been derived, but Moullin expects to see a reduction in call costs "as we direct traffic out via our VPN to the Melbourne office". The Eagles plan to implement an IP system at its Melbourne location in the near future.

"Once the Melbourne office is online, it will enable us to direct all our Perth-based calls to them in the morning and vice-versa [with our Melbourne office] in the afternoon so it increases your opening hours [by] an hour at each end," he says.

Back at Subiaco Oval, Avaya's IP Office Phone Manager Pro (version 3.1.17) was installed on each computer, enabling calls to be made and received with a PC and headset through the network. This provided flexibility to the club's employees who could make phone calls from their laptops through the VPN.

Convergence may be a while away but the club is laying the foundation now.

For starters, it's important to choose your IP telephony system carefully, Moullin says, but just as importantly, the people who install it. "There is a fair amount of work involved in installing it and also after sales support, so you want to be pretty comfortable with who you use.

"We're still fine-tuning it and still learning how to get the most out of it but today it's been a very smooth and easy process and one that everybody here has embraced," he adds.