Western rolls out its VoIP911 location application this weekend, allowing each VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephone so far installed in 16 campus buildings to be uniquely identified during a potential emergency.
Director of Information Technology Services Debbie Jones says more than a dozen buildings have been converted to VoIP technology, with the VoIP911 location application being rolled out this weekend. All other campus buildings are scheduled for completion in 2011.
VoIP is a new initiative of the university that uses a broadband Internet connection for routing telephone calls, instead of a regular analogue phone line. The result is higher efficiency and lower cost for communication.
Most importantly, the new application ensures a more precise emergency response on campus.
“When an emergency call is made, it is linked into the network scanning system where it will find the port it is calling from and pull that information up on the screen for police,” says Debbie Jones, Director of Information Technology Services (ITS).
The biggest change for VoIP telephone users will be noticed in name display – from First Name, Building Room to First Name, Last Name.
The only reason for the new VoIP911 location application is to ensure that even when a phone is moved to a different jack, the user’s name and current location will still be accessible to emergency personnel. Current phone systems will not work at all if removed from their originating room.
This latest safety measure is only possible because of the rollout of VoIP across campus. With 16 buildings now converted, the remaining locations moving to VoIP will depend on emergency response planning as well as renovations and construction of new buildings. Still, all faculty and staff will be converted to the new VoIP infrastructure by the end of 2011.
One interesting aspect of the technology is that, for the user, no large-scale infrastructure is required. It’s all about combining the functionality of the Internet and a conventional phone into one single service with minimal software and hardware support.
While there is an initial cost for VoIP, Jones says it is wise when accommodating campus growth to invest where possible in new/current technology rather than end-of-life technology. The university’s current telephone system reaches its so-called ‘end of life’ in 2011.
“We knew we had to move forward with our systems and this was the way to go,” she says, adding Western is near the middle of the university pack in using this latest technology.
“It has allowed us to look at other institutions, and what they had done, and learn from their mistakes.”
The new system will also allow for additional display services such as mass notification, access to Western Directory and visual voicemail.
VoIP equipped buildings
The following buildings use VoIP technology. All other buildings are scheduled for conversion by 2011.
· Support Services Building
· Material Sciences Addition
· Thompson Recreation & Athletic Centre
· Robarts Research Institute
· Advanced Facility for Avian Research
· Kresge Building
· Molecular Biology Laboratory
· Dr. Don Rix Clinical Skills Learning Building
· Siebens Drake Research Institute
· Medical Sciences Building
· Health Sciences Addition
· Biotron Building