When the Peace Wapiti School Board of Grand Prairie, Alberta, began looking for a replacement for the aging PBX system at head office, they quickly realized that they had a unique opportunity.

Until then, the 28 schools administered by the Board had each made independent decisions about their communications needs. As a result, there were almost as many different systems as there were locations - and like the system at the Board itself, some of them were reaching the end of their useful lives. Not surprisingly, in the words of Jim Grotkowski, the Board's Director of IT, "the schools had to go through some complicated things just to talk to each other."

Internal communications were also a cause for concern. The schools were still using basic intercom systems to communicate between the office and classrooms. Conversations could not be private - and if there was ever a need to warn teachers of a security threat on school premises, it could not be done without alarming students or alerting intruders. In fact, security has become so important an issue that some provincial governments are introducing legislation requiring their schools to install more advanced communication capabilities.

The Peace Wapiti School Board of Grande Prairie, Alberta
The Peace Wapiti School Board employs 2,600 people and administers 28 schools, from Grovedale to Ridge Valley and from Hythe to Bonanza and EagleSham.

Faced with so many simultaneous telecommunications needs - and with the potential for large capital expenditures on new solutions for the Board and some of the schools - Jim Grotkowski turned to IP telephony.

He knew that an IP telephony solution would position the Board to take full advantage of new technologies such as the Alberta SuperNet. This unprecedented endeavour by the Provincial Government will provide affordable high-speed network connectivity and Internet access to all universities, school boards, libraries, hospitals, provincial government buildings and regional health authorities throughout the province.

IP telephony would mean the Board would only have to manage a single network for both its voice and data communications. And it would enable the Board to standardize communications across all of its schools, while also meeting the need for more secure communications within the schools themselves.

The School Board created detailed specifications of the solution they wanted and put out a request for proposals. After consulting with a number of vendors - including one that had previously installed an IP telephony solution at one of the schools - the Board decided to embark on a partnership with TELUS. Grotkowski's research convinced him that TELUS had the best blend of data and telephony experience and expertise and would be able to deliver the solution he and his colleagues were looking for.

Now, thanks to its new TELUS IP telephony solution, the Peace Wapiti School Board is able to function as what Grotkowski calls "our own mini-Telco" to its schools.

The Board can port the functionality of its head office system to the schools, replacing their need for stand-alone PBX systems. What's more, IP telephone sets in the classroom can replace the old-fashioned intercom systems - and in a security situation, teachers can receive silent alarms on the phone set screen, advising them of the situation and, if necessary, ordering a lockdown.

An "awesome" experience
To say that Jim Grotkowski is thrilled with the new solution would be an understatement. "The whole experience was awesome," he says. "It's amazing that it went in as smoothly as it did."

Grotkowski is already able to point to savings, in both money and time. "In sales presentations, the word is that IP telephony ends up saving you money on moves, adds and changes," he says. He points out that in the Board's Central Office, staff can move from one office to another and the system can be updated easily and quickly, with none of the "black mystery" that used to require calling in a technician to make any changes to the older system.

Features that users use
Another major benefit of the new solution is the sheer functionality it makes available to users. On the old system, a phone might have had 30 buttons on it, with people generally knowing how to use four or five of them. With the new system, the phones are easy to use and the functions are clear. Add to this the ability for any user at any location to access features and functionality on a Web page, and everything is extremely user-friendly. Because of this, people actually use the features available to them.

For example, one of the school's managers migrates between two offices. Without guidance from Grotkowski or any of his other technical staff, the manager's assistant has started saving the manager's voicemail as a file with his e-mail application. This means he is able to check his e-mail and voicemail quickly in one place, no matter which location he is at. He can even check his messages from third-party locations, as long as he has Internet access.

A future that looks assured
As more and more of the schools replace their own older key systems, they will connect to the Board's system at Central Office. When this happens, the intercom system in the classrooms will be replaced with IP telephones, providing the discreet and reliable communications needed to ensure the safety of students, teachers and support staff.

"I can see now that IP telephony is where the world will go - and that in 5 to 10 years, we won't see much twisted-pair cabling anywhere," Grotkowski says. "It's really exciting to be part of this enabling, not just for us, but for our users.

When it comes to his experience with TELUS, he is just as enthusiastic. "We've had a long-term relationship with TELUS," he says. "It's working out better than I could have expected."