VoiceIP Solutions was asked to create a telephone system proposal for a school campus consisting of 6 buildings that were connected by an existing Ethernet data network (Fiber-optic and Wi-Fi Links). The customer has been using an Executone system to provide paging and phone service to most of the school’s classrooms and offices. But the school was expanding and needed a modern phone system that was more flexible and cost effective than their existing PBX.
The client required a cost effective telephones for classrooms and feature rich (but user friendly) telephones for administrative offices. As the system was to double as a paging system for the school, internal paging support was also a requirement.
VoiceIP solutions proposed an Asterisk based VoIP server with Polycom SoundPoint 301 phones to serve the classrooms. Administrative staff received Polycom SoundPoint 501 phones that feature a full-duplex speakerphone and the ability to handle 8 calls on three line appearances. By using VoIP, VoiceIP Solutions was able to leverage the school’s existing data network infrastructure, which greatly reduced installation-wiring costs.
Voicemail features were of concern to the client as they had a number of offsite users. The system installed by VoiceIP Solutions allowed for delivery of voicemail messages as email attachments (unified messaging). This feature allows teachers to receive their voicemail from any place they have email access. An offsite voicemail retrieval phone number also allows users to check their messages from offsite via a standard telephone. Unlike proprietary PBX systems, the Asterisk PBX uses Open Source software. Because of this, the school is not charged additional licensing fees to add more voicemail users or access advanced unified messaging features.
In addition to many standard PBX features, VoiceIP Solutions was able to customize the client