School system finds new measure of security

For a school system, a new level of security came in the form of converged voice and data.

The school was one of the first school systems to embrace Cisco's Connected Learning for Schools Blueprint. It upgraded its wide area infrastructure to 2Gbps fibre, with the goal of providing voice, data, and video in every classroom, in addition to adding Wi-Fi. Its previous phone system was based on an ageing PABX that severely limited simultaneous calls to and from any of its schools. The school also had no control over where and when employees could make phone calls, and therefore struggled with astronomical phone bills, according to CIO Bijaya Devkota.

When it decided to upgrade to Cisco Call Manager Servers and IP phones, Cisco brought along partner LiteScape to demonstrate its LS ServicePoint for Education KIDS (Knowledge Information Delivery) application. Devkota was sold. Now when anyone makes an emergency call, an alert containing exact location information is immediately sent to school administration officials and the local police office via e-mail, pager, or mobile phone, depending on which preferred device the user has chosen. Many administrators have Wi-Fi-enabled IP phones so they can be reached even when they're not at their desks. If the emergency call is a mistake, the caller can reach a central number to notify security officials.

The broadcast feature also allows the principal to send information to a select group, such as all biology teachers, via voice mail. Teachers have on-screen access to the student database via their XML-enabled Cisco 7940G or 7960G IP phones, which helps keep current students' emergency-contact data. In the past, this information was not always up to date.

The district also uses Cisco MeetingPlace videoconferencing capabilities to provide instruction to multiple locations. And the administration holds meetings with all its principals using Web/videoconferencing. "We couldn't do all of this without that 2Gbps bandwidth," Devkota says.

A Cisco Unity server links into Microsoft Exchange and provides unified messaging, so that voice mails are sent to Exchange inboxes. The old limitations on simultaneous calls have disappeared, and Call Manager allows the administration to apply rules to each individual phone to limit inappropriate calls. "We can prevent certain staff from calling California," Devkota says.

The whole project has taken about two years. The most time-consuming part was the individual wiring of new phones from classroom to classroom, and from building to building. The biggest surprise was the sudden realization that there would have to be a major power upgrade at the sites. Still, officials are pleased with the results. "We've barely scratched the surface of what we can do with this system and bandwidth," Devkota says.

Credit union won't compromise convenience

Following a merger in 2003, Vantis Credit Union wound up with six of its branches concentrated in a quadrant of the Canadian city of Winnipeg while its two other branches were in the country's remote northern areas and were not staffed to provide a full array of banking services. When officials learned that Manitoba Hydro, one of Vantis' largest membership groups, was moving its main office from the southwest quadrant to downtown Winnipeg, they wanted to move fast to provide Manitoba Hydro and the rest of its Winnipeg and remote customers with a full array of convenient banking services.

Michel Audette, president and CEO, initiated a solution that swiftly addressed the issues: distributed Web-, VoIP-, and video-enabled banking kiosks that provide full banking services and live face-to-face contact with call centre reps, tellers, and customer service agents. The technology came from MTS Allstream, Manitoba's regional communications utility, and Nortel Networks, with help from Vantis' IT department.

Vantis started with four pilot kiosks -- two in an MTS building and two in its branches. Each sits in an enclosed room and consists of a built-in screen, hardened PC, Nortel IP phone, Web cam, scanner, printer, electronic signature pad, keyboard, and trackball. On the back end is a Nortel Communication Server 1000 IP PABX, call centre servers, and a cluster of Nortel Multimedia Communication Server 5100s, the latter of which provide SIP-based Web conferencing, videoconferencing, and document sharing, along with presence and instant messaging features. The whole system is tied into Vantis' banking Web site and links indirectly with back-end applications via an intermediary data store.

Now, when members need to talk with a credit union representative, they just click a button and, using the system's presence features, choose an available agent from the resulting screen menu. The system has the built-in intelligence to route the appropriate banking function to the reps with the right expertise. Users can even see whether a rep they have previously spoken with is available to take their call.

The Communication Server and IP PABX then launch a video/Web/document-sharing conference in which the call agent and member can see each other, speak live, and together fill out Web-based loan applications or other necessary documents on-screen. The member can sign forms using the electronic signature pad and scan in any necessary documents. Call agents may be located at Vantis' IP-based call centre, or they may log in to the call centre remotely over IP from a bank branch with some downtime. "The last thing we want is a long customer queue," Audette says.

Audette says all the planned kiosks will cost considerably less than a single new branch. Down the road, it will be possible to get all of these services from home. "In three to five years, every financial institution will be offering this type of service to its clients," he says.