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Dunraven School in Streatham had been 'making do' for some time with an old
system until the building of a new Sixth Form Block prompted a review of the
whole network. Unfamiliar with what systems were available and, more
importantly, how much they cost, the school decided to go to tender. There was
an allocated budget but unfortunately it seemed this wasn't enough to replace
the whole system. GP Telecom had the solution - a new Toshiba CTX670 system
would be installed directly into the new Sixth Form Block. This would provide
extensions throughout this building and for key users in the main school
building. The two systems were linked enabling communication between all
extensions, whatever system they were connected to.
The school had a large number of single analogue lines coming into the site -
some of these hadn't been used for some time whilst others were for rarely used
faxes and modems. GP Telecom carried out a study on the number of lines
actually required by the school and the numbers which needed to be retained and
advised the school to have ISDN30 installed. They then managed this
installation, along with the transfer of critical numbers from the old analogue
service, on the schools behalf. The schools ongoing line rental was immediately
reduced by 15%.
There were a few key requirements which the system had to meet As Dunraven
share some teaching resources with another local school, it was felt the best
way to maximise this was with the provisions of some Video Conferencing.
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This would enable a teacher to deliver a lesson to pupils at two locations
simultaneously. Rather than install separate ISDN2 lines, GP Telecom connected
a SBus card which would allocate sufficient channels, from the ISDN30 to the
Video Conferencing, as required. The other main issue was that, whilst the
initial financial outlay was acceptable, they didn't want ongoing costs and
further upgrades to 'break the bank'. Fortunately, the CTX670 is a modular
platform ensuring expansion is a straightforward process. When users on the old
system need to be migrated, extensions can be upgraded in blocks of 8 or 16
without causing any downtime to the system. Furthermore, the system has the
added advantage of a built in modem for a speedy response to faults and requests
for reprogramming, as well as 'Win-admin' - software for the school to make
their own changes as required. This reduces the costs of engineering visits to
make simple alteration.
All in all, GP Telecom met the brief of one supplier overseeing the installation
of the communications network. They installed the Cat 5 Cabling Network in the
new building, supplied and configured the Toshiba CTX670, connected the old with
the new, managed the installation of the ISDN30 whilst ensuring the School had
the benefit of extremely good call rates. There were, of course, other
contractors involved but GP Telecoms attention to detail and flexibility ensured
everything went smoothly.
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