Schools opting for Wireless VoIP
Wireless VoIP can help schools reduce their capital and operational costs by eliminating the need to install new wiring or upgrade an existing network.
With wireless technology, faculty and staff can be reached anywhere on campus, maintaining their connectivity to the network throughout their “mobile” workday.
Wireless VoIP helps school to combine its existing wired links with wireless connectivity between buildings to add coverage. Also, for schools that have students living on campus, VoIP is a cost-effective way to give students phone access while reducing the school’s expense for providing such services. These two examples clearly indicate the growing popularity of VoIP in schools and colleges.
Dartmouth College, located in the Connecticut River Valley in Hanover, N.H., was one of the first to deploy a campuswide wireless network a few years ago. Now, it’s adding voice services also. The plans are to distribute the softphone clients in rounds of 200, with all 1000 first-year students expected to have the software in about two weeks. Ultimately, the school intends to extend the service to the entire community of 13,000, including faculty and staff. For the initial rollout, Dartmouth is using Cisco IP Softphones,
Rateliff, network administrator for the Lakeville School District in Minnesota, rolled out a $600,000 VoIP system to the massive 10,000 student-, 1,500 staff- member school system.