September 2005 — Applications
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Flexible Network Infrastructure Helps Meet District’s Changing Needs
The new IP telephony system is improving public safety for the local community as well as the school population. Frederick County is about an hour from Washington, DC, and in the event of a national emergency, its schools would be designated as shelters. Because schools are connected to the county WAN, network administrators were able to install two IP phones at local government offices. If a situation caused traditional phone lines to be tied up, county and school officials would still be able to communicate via the IP network.
Empowering School Administrators
After AAC upgraded three of the district’s sites to IP telephony, administrators at Frederick County felt confident enough to handle new deployments on their own. Since then, the district has been steadily replacing all of its PBX systems, and had 600 phones in 10 locations by the end of 2004. Because the phones are just an extension of its network, the district no longer has to rely on outside contractors and service agreements to change or expand its voice system. About 30 percent of two IT staff members’ time is dedicated to keeping the IP phone system running smoothly.
The new network also is saving money and freeing up school administrators to focus on other tasks. In addition to the dramatic labor savings in daily attendance procedures, the district benefits from more accurate records, increased security, and improved communications between parents and teachers.
The new IP telephony system lets schools use their phones more flexibly as well. Instead of requiring a static number of dedicated phone lines for each school, the network lets multiple campuses share phone lines over the network, which reduces overall phone charges.
In addition, before each deployment, the Frederick County IT staff carefully checks the site’s telephone system, to bring any specialized features onto the new system. Equipping new buildings with IP telephony is easier because phones can simply be added to the district network.
A Process of Continual Improvement
The Frederick County district is steadily moving forward with its IP telephony initiative. Its goal is to deploy the system in all of its 22 buildings within three years, for a total of 1,300 phones.
With a sophisticated multiservice network in place, the district can also accommodate new applications to enhance public safety and learning. Plans are underway to install IP-based security cameras that can provide live video feeds back to administrative offices or the district headquarters. Connected to a P'E switch, the cameras will be much less costly than dedicated video systems, as well as easier to manage and maintain. Students at every school can access the Internet over the high-speed network, and the district uses a growing variety of instructional applications and courseware.
New AAC PhoneTop applications are under consideration, too. A telephony-based hall pass application will eliminate the need for handwritten hall passes. And AAC’s AMBER Alerts application will enable the district to send missing child information, as well as National Weather Service alerts, over the IP phones. The district is also working with AAC to develop an XML-based time clock application that would enable faculty to check in from an IP phone in the classroom, rather than manually signing in at a school’s administrative office.
The versatility and intelligence of its new network infrastructure helps ensure that the district can continue to tailor its network to meet changing needs of students, administrators, and the local community.
Robert Yost is the director of Information Technology for the Frederick County Public Schools system, headquartered in Winchester, VA.
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