Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. Telecommunication Systems Division

Eddie Henderson, Redding branch manager, and Peter Kley, installation engineer, both of ATS Communications, recommended that Feather River College move to a Toshiba Strata® CIX™670 business communication system.

Nick Boyd, director of Facilities for Feather River College, wanted a converged system with both digital and IP telephones. He wanted a single Toshiba system at their main building with all other buildings on IP telephones connected via the college’s existing wireless and fber network. He wanted to run all the applications on a single server and use computer-telephony integration software to manage incoming calls.

He also wanted to centralize their voice mail for all users, add Unifed Messaging, fax-to-the- desktop, and three-digit extension dialing between employees. Critical to the college was improving the dependability of its telephone system, including call clarity, and eliminating crosstalk.

Solution: Toshiba VoIP System Met the College’s Goals
Designed by the ATS Communications team, the school’s solution consists of a Toshiba Strata CIX670 VoIP communication system located at the main building, which also houses Toshiba’s Stratagy® Voice Processing solution and its Strata MicroMAS media application server.

The system’s 148 ports comprise 100 digital telephones in the seven upper campus buildings and 57 IP telephones in the 12 lower campus buildings. All of the buildings on upper campus are connected to the Strata CIX670 via copper wiring, while lower campus buildings are connected via the wireless and fber network. The school also has Unifed Messaging, which allows users to email voice mail messages.

Boyd said, “Toshiba has a strong reputation for having the most reliable, durable business telephone systems in the world, which is a big reason why we chose Toshiba. We also wanted a converged system, giving us the ability to mix- and-match digital and IP telephones as it made the most sense to our system layout. Toshiba and ATS Communications delivered an affordable yet robust system that met our goals.”

Result #1: Secure, Reliable Telephones With No Crosstalk
As with all schools, the college’s telephones are essential to communication with students, faculty and parents and for emergency communication. ATS Communications also set up a one-button paging system over the telephones for emergency use. “Having a dependable telephone system is essential in a school environment for everyday communication as well as emergencies, and Toshiba has given us unbeatable reliability,” Boyd added.

Feather River College was home to more than 1,000 frefghters during recent wildfres in the area. A testament to the reliability of the Toshiba telephone system is that it stayed live and functional the entire time, allowing both school offcials and the frefghters to communicate effectively by telephone.

Moving to the Toshiba telephones also eliminated the crosstalk and distortion the college’s users had experienced with their old telephones and brought a new clarity and security to their conversations. In addition, the college’s receptionist uses Toshiba’s Net Phone™ on a computer console to handle the hundreds of incoming calls the college receives each week. Net Phone gives her extensive desktop call control, outbound dialing from any application, Microsoft® Outlook® Calendar integration and much more

Result #2: In-House Administration With eManager
Boyd uses Toshiba’s eManager ® to administrate the entire system from his desktop PC, including setting up restrictions for telephones that are in classrooms. He said, “Using eManager, I can facilitate adds, moves and changes as well as other administrative tasks for the telephones in all our buildings. eManager has eliminated the need for me to call a service technician for simple fxes that I can do quickly and easily without having to leave my desk.”

Toshiba’s eManager program gave Toshiba the advantage over competitive systems, according to Boyd. “Toshiba’s system was priced right and met all our requirements. The self-administration capabilities of eManager sealed the deal.”

Result #3: Converged IP and Digital Phones on a Single System
Boyd wanted to use IP telephones where it made sense while keeping digital telephones at the main location. He said, “We wanted the best of both worlds — IP and TDM. Toshiba’s converged system allowed us to have a mix of IP and digital telephones on a single system. The Toshiba telephones are all easy to use and completely intuitive, making it an easy transition for our users.”

The college has 57 IP telephones on its lower campus, all connected to the Strata CIX670 at the main location by wireless fber. The other buildings are connected via copper. Boyd said, “Since all of the telephones have such tremendous clarity, our callers and users simply cannot tell which telephones are IP and which are digital or which are connected via fber or via copper.”

Result #4: Toshiba Delivered the Best Price, Warranty, and Investment Protection
By being able to install a converged IP and TDM system utilizing the existing fber network, the college estimates it saved about $25,000 over installing new wiring. Eliminating the telephone lines for those 12 buildings also eliminated the monthly telephone bills.

Boyd also appreciates Toshiba’s seven-year warranty, which gives him the peace of mind that the college’s system will be covered for years to come. “Toshiba is a smart fnancial choice as it has the industry’s longest warranty backed by a solid company, plus it has unbeatable product dependability,” Boyd said. “Toshiba also gives us investment protection since we can migrate to new Toshiba platforms or add to our system as we grow, while keeping our existing equipment.”

Bottom Line: Toshiba’s Converged System Delivers Affordable, Robust Converged System
Toshiba and ATS Communications provided Feather River College with a converged IP and TDM-enabled voice communication system that met the college’s goals of being affordable and dependable, taking advantage of its existing fber network, and providing a long warranty with investment protection.

Toshiba exceeded Feather River College’s expectations by delivering a converged system that provided the fexibility to have a converged system with virtually no limitations to system growth. The system delivered an immediate cost savings of $25,000 by re-using the existing wireless fber network and a $1,000 annual savings by eliminating telephone lines. As the college grows, it will also save money by being able to re-use its existing equipment.

Boyd said, “Together, Toshiba and ATS Communications have given us a highly reliable, application- rich voice communication system that allows us to work smarter, better and more effciently. Toshiba scores Straight A’s with Feather River College.”