education success story adrian college...

EDUCATION SUCCESS STORY

Adrian College Graduates to a Unified Communications Solution and Chooses ShoreTel

CHALLENGE:

• AdrianCollegeneededamorereliabletelephonesystem,andithadthefiberopticcabletosupportanewsystem.AfterevaluatingIPUnifiedCommunicationsmarketleaders,AdrianCollegechoseShoreTel.

SOLUTION:

• ShoreTelprovidedanend-to-endIPtelephonysystem,includingShoreGearIPvoiceswitchesandShorePhoneIPtelephones.

BENEFITS:

• Richfeaturesethelpsimproveproductivityandcallerresponsiveness.

• Emergencycallsto911providecruciallocationinformationthathelpsemergencyresponsepersonnelquicklyandeasilylocatethecaller.

• ThecollegesavesthousandsonlinechargeswithShoreTel’sPRIsupport.

• WithShoreWareDirector,managementissimplifiedandhandledin-house.

Foundedin1859inAdrian,Michigan,AdrianCollegeisaprivate,co-educationalcollegeofliberalartsandsciencesrelatedtoTheUnitedMethodistChurch.With1,250studentsandastudent/facultyratioof13:1,AdrianCollegeisatraditionalfour-year,residentialcollegethatfocusescompletelyonundergraduateeducation.Thecollegehas21buildingsincludingresidencehallsthatfeaturevoicemail,internetandcableTVaccessinallstudentrooms,aswellasa24-hourstudentcenter,aplanetarium,anobservatory,theMerillatSportandFitnessCenter,andtheShipmanLibrary.Adrian’sfacultyisdedicatedtoteachingexcellence,and88percentholdthehighestdegreeintheirfield.

Inearly2006,AdrianCollegewassaddledwithanoutdatedPBX-basedtelephonesystemthatwasunreliableandofferedverylittleinthewayoffeatures.Thecollegealsohadcopperlinesthatweregettingoldandplansweretoutilizesomefiberopticcablethatwasconnectingallofitsbuildings.“We

wantedtofindasolutionthatwouldtakeadvantageofthedarkfiberthatwasalreadyinstalled,”saidSteveStempien,DirectorofInformationSystemsforAdrianCollege.“IknewwecouldimplementvoiceoverIPonthenetworkandthatitwouldbeeasytomaintainfromin-house.”

The SearchStempienissuedanofficialRequestforProposal(RFP)andreceivedsolutionproposalsfromanumberofvendors,includingCisco,Nortel,andShoreTel®.Heandateamofcolleaguescloselyevaluatedallofthesolutions,hearingvendorpresentations,talkingtocustomerreferences,andworkingwitheachofthesystems.Withpriorityplacedoneaseofmanagementandtheuseofexistinginfrastructureequipment,AdrianCollegechoseShoreTel.StempiendescribesShoreTel’sinterfaceas“elegantlysimple.”

“Ciscowaspushinghigh-endgeartogowiththeirVoIPsolution,whichincreasedthecomplexityandcostoftheirsolution,”saidStempien.“Also,Ididn’tcarefor

ShoreTelIPTelephonySystemImprovesResponsiveness,SavesMoney,andSimplifiesTelephoneSystemManagement

ShoreTel and Adrian College PAGE 2

Nortel’smaintenanceinterfaceandfeltthatitwouldhavebeendifficulttotrainnewISstaffonsystemmaintenance.”

“ShoreTel,initspresentation,talkedaboutfeatures,whileothervendorsstressedcompanybackground. ShoreTelhadallthefeaturesweneeded. Itwasimpressivewhentheyputademoonthetableandhaditrunningin10minutes. Also,ShoreTeldidnotrequireaspecificvendor’sswitches,sowewereabletodeploytheirsolutionusingourexistingandnewlessexpensiveswitches.”

The SolutionTogether,ShoreTelanditsreseller,AmeriNet,providedAdrianCollegewiththreeShoreGear®T1,12ShoreGear60,fourShoreGear40,and38ShoreGear120voiceswitchesconnecting42ofitsbuildings.Inaddition,avoicemailserverisalsodeployed,aswellas320ShorePhone™IPtelephones.StempienappreciatedtheeaseofimplementationoftheShoreTelIPUnifiedCommunicationssystembecauseitallowedhimtomeetanaccelerateddeploymentschedule.

“Wehaveover1,235extensionlicensesinuse,includinganalogphonesandIPtelephones,”saidStempien.“ThisenablesustoallowstudentstobringtheirownphonestocollegefromhomeandtheycanbehookeddirectlyintotheShoreTelsystem.”

AmeriNettrainedStempien’sstaffandendusers,offeringvarioustrainingsessions.Stempien’sITstaffalsopostedtutorialsontheAdrianCollegewebsitetohelpusersbecomemorefamiliarwiththeShoreTelIPUnifiedCommunicationssystem.“ShoreTeliseasytolearnandmaintain,”saidStempien.

Savings and Improved Responsiveness and ProductivityShoreTelIPUnifiedCommunicationssystemsareeasytouse,simpletomanage,flexible,andreliable.WiththeShoreTelsysteminplace,allAdrianCollegeemployeesarenowonthesamephoneandvoicemailsystemandevendialingco-workersbyname.AdrianCollegealsoutilizesShoreTel’sHuntGroupscapability,whichmakescertainthatallcallsintoaspecificgroupareansweredbyalive

personratherthanvoicemail,whichhelpseliminatefrustrationforcallers.WithHuntGroups,acallintoanAdrianCollegedepartmentringsextensionsinaspecifiedsequenceorringsmultipleextensionsatonce(dependingonthecollege’spreference),ensuringcallersreachsomeonewhocanhelpthem,withoutnavigatingthroughmenusorbeingforcedtowaitinaqueue.

“WehaveHuntGroupssetupforadmissions,academicaffairs,thebookstore,thechaplain,financialaid,thepresident’soffice,andthehealthcenter,”saidStempien.“ShoreTelHuntGroupsensurethatcallsarepickedupbyrealpeople.Wewanttoensurethatcallersreachaliveperson.”

TheShoreTelsystem,withShoreWare®PersonalCallManagerintegratedtightlywithMicrosoftOutlook®,providesintegratedmessaging,suchasdirectorydialing,contactscreenpop,andcalendarintegration.WithPersonalCallManager,userscanquicklytypeinaname,bringupanumber,andmakecallsfromlocalonlinedirectoriesorMicrosoftOutlook—allwiththeclickofamouse,rightfromthedesktop.Inaddition,PersonalCallManagerindicatestoanemployeeifthepersontheyintendtocallortransferanincomingcalltoisalreadyonthephonebeforetheydial,savingtimeinvestedinmakingcalls.

“PersonalCallManagersimplifiestelephonyforourusers,”saidStempien.“Callsintothewrongdepartmentcanbeeasilytransferredtotherightplacewithasimpledrag-and-drop.Also,callsintothecollegeoftengotoseveraldepartmentstoaddressanissue,andPersonalCallManagermakesiteasytotransferthesecallerstotherightpeople.Theinformationweseeregardingaperson’savailabilityfurtherensuresthatacallerwillreachtherightdestination.Beforewe’dhavetotransfercallsblindly.Nowwecantellifsomeoneisavailable,onthephoneoroutoftheoffice.”

WithShoreTel’se-mailintegration,AdrianCollegeemployeescanmanagetheire-mailandvoicemailactivitycentrallyandefficientlyrightfromtheirdesktop.Voicemailmessagesarestoredintheindustry-standardWAVAudiofor

“ShoreTel had all the

features we needed. It was

impressive when they put a

demo on the table and had

it running in 10 minutes.”

Steve Stempien

DirectorofInformationSystemsAdrianCollege

ShoreTel and Adrian College PAGE 3

Windowsformat,allowinguserstoplaythemonmultimediaPCs,attachthemtoe-mailmessagesorembedtheminotherdocuments.TheabilityoftheShoreTelIPUnifiedCommunicationssystemtotrackphonecalls,exportanddistributeoriginalvoicemailmessagestoonepersonoragroupofpeopleandkeeparunninghistoryofcallsintoeachnumberishelpfulincontinuallymonitoringandimprovingcallerresponsiveness.Also,desktopcallcontrolallowsenduserstomanagehowtheirphoneswork,andfeatureslikeFindMeallowthemtohavecallstrackthemdownwherevertheyare—attheirdesk,ontheircellphone,orathomeiftheychoose.

“WithShoreTel,it’seasierforsomeonetogoonvacationandhaveanotherpersoncovertheircalls,”saidStempien.It’seasytohavecallsfollowsomeone,re-routecalls,andsendvoicemailmessagestomultiplepeoplesoissuescanberesolvedquickly.”

Simplified AdministrationShoreWareDirectorisShoreTel’sbrowser-basedmanagementinterface.Fromanylocation,anAdrianCollegeinformationsystemsadministratorcanlaunchaWebbrowserandgainaccesstoShoreWareDirector.Throughthisbrowser,everysiteandfeaturecanbemanaged,includingvoicemail,automatedattendantanddesktopapplications.Addinganewusersimplyentailsclicking“addnew”andenteringtheuser’sname,whichinturnupdatesthecentralizeddatabaseandnotifieseveryShoreGearvoiceswitch.Oncetheuserisentered,amailboxiscreated,theautomatedattendantdial-by-nameandnumberfeatureisupdated,andonlinedirectoriesareupdated—allwithinseconds.

“NoneoftheISstaff—andtherewereonlyfourofthem—hadanyformaltelephonetraining,andtheywereabletohelpmepulloffamassiveprojectinalittleoveronemonth,”saidStempien.“TheyallobtainedtheiradministrativetrainingontheShoreTelsystemafteritwasupandrunning.ThisshowshoweasyitistoimplementtheShoreTelsystem.”

Essential Information Made AvailableWiththeShoreTelIPUnifiedCommunicationssystem,ifafacultyor

staffmemberdials911,crucialinformationispassedontotheemergencycenter.Withtheoldsystem,therewasnowaytoknowwherethecallwascomingfrom.WiththeShoreTelsystem,theemergencyresponseteamgetstheexactlocationofthecaller–downtothebuilding,floor,departmentandactualphone.

“Withtheoldsystem,ifsomeonedialed911,itwouldonlyshowtheemergencyteamthatthecallwascomingfromAdrianCollege,”saidStempien.“NowtheShoreTelsystemshowswhichresidencehallandroomnumberthecalliscomingfrom.That’sahugesafetybenefit.ShoreTelalsoeliminatesanentirestepbecausestudentsinthepasthadtocallcampussafety,whichwouldinturncall911.Nowstudentscall911directly,minimizingthetimetoreachtherightresourcesinemergencysituations.”

WiththeShoreTelIPUnifiedCommunicationssystem,everybodyhasCallerID—includingstudents,aslongastheirphonesarecallerIDenabled.Thishelpsstudentsidentifyprankphonecallsandhasessentiallyeliminatedthatproblem.

SavingsWiththeShoreGearT1voiceswitchesinplace,AdrianCollegesavesonleasedlines,reducingthenumberoflinesby41.WithafixedratePrimaryRateInterface(PRI),they’repaying$1,200permonth,versus$1866withtheoldsystemandmorelines.

“Iestimatewe’llsaveabout$8,000peryearonlinecharges,”saidStempien.“Inaddition,theShoreTelsystemprovidesuswithin-depthreportssowecansimplifyaccounting.”

AdrianCollegeisalsoabletoextendcapabilitiesevenfurtherwiththeShoreTelsystem’sPRIsupport.“OurmonthlyPRIrateincludesunlimitedcalls,localandlong-distance,whichaddstooursavings.”saidStempien.

Path to the FutureAdrianCollegeappreciatesthesimplicityandrobustfeaturesoftheShoreTelIPUnifiedCommunicationssystem.“It’sgreattoknowwecandoanumberofthingswiththenetwork,suchasimplementingwireless,andtheShoreTel

“With ShoreTel, it’s easier for

someone to go on vacation

and have another person

cover their calls.”

Steve Stempien

DirectorofInformationSystemsAdrianCollege

WORLD HEADQUARTERS 960 Stewart Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94085 USA. shoretel.com and shoretelsky.com

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About ShoreTel

ShoreTel is a provider of business communication solutions whose brilliantly simple unified communications platforms, applications and mobile UC solutions promise a new rhythm of workforce engagement and collaboration. With costly complexity eliminated by design from its award winning, all-in-one IP phone system, UC and contact center solution, and its industry leading hosted business phone system, workers enjoy a freedom and self-reliance that other providers can’t match. Users have full control to engage and collaborate, no matter the time, place or device, for the lowest cost and demand on IT resources in the industry. ShoreTel is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and has regional offices and partners worldwide. For more information, visit shoretel.com or shoretelsky.com

systemwillsupportthesechanges,”saidStempien.“Growthisalsosimplified.WewereabletobringuptheShoreTelsysteminourstadiuminjustacoupleofhours.Thecollegejustpurchasedafewnewbuildingsaroundcampus,andwithShoreTel,itwillbenobigdealtotietheseintothesystem.”

StempienisaverysatisfiedShoreTelcustomer.“MyfirstimpressionoftheShoreTelsystemwasthatit’selegantlysimple,”saidStempien.“NowthatI’vehadachancetoexperienceitmore,Ican’tsayenoughaboutit.Executives,students,facultyandstaffareallhappywiththethingsthey’reabletodowiththesystem,andIlookforwardtoevenmorecommunicationimprovementswithShoreTelmovingforward.”

“The college just purchased

a few new buildings around

campus, and with ShoreTel, it

will be no big deal to tie these

into the system.”

Steve Stempien

DirectorofInformationSystemsAdrianCollege