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Deer River Public Schools

Categories: Voice Solutions

Voice over IP — 3 Site Network

Deer River Public Schools

The Challenge

Deer River Public Schools was using a 25 year old obsolete phone system that had very limited capabilities and needed service two to three times per week. The system had no ability to transfer calls or voice mail. Mark Adams, Superintendent for Deer River Public Schools, wanted to improve the communication between their teachers, staff, coaches, parents, and students by implementing a communications system to make them as efficient as possible.

The Solution

When Mark started to research options for a new system, he counted on a company he had come to trust over the years—Marco. “I really felt strongly that I wanted to work with Marco,” said Mark. “I have worked with Marco on projects in other districts over the past eight or nine years.”

Marco helped the District implement a Mitel 3300 Voice over IP three site network to connect their three schools. “Our big plan was to build our network to allow for future capabilities,” explained Mark. “As this new Voice over IP technology was coming to the surface, I was seeing future capabilities for the District such as video. This technology has become much more cost effective.”

Mark and the District’s Technology Coordinator, Mark Curtis, met with Marco to discuss system options and review the communications plan. Marco also helped restructure the District’s network to support the new Mitel Voice over IP system. “After Marco assessed our network and offered recommendations,” Mark continued, “We let them know what we needed. Together we went through each building with great detail and came back with any issues that needed to be addressed prior to system installation. I see real advantages to having the proper infrastructure in place. We have been involved in every step of this process.”

The first step in the implementation was to rebuild their network and then install the communications system. Marco replaced the data switches and routers at each of the District’s buildings to support VoIP and improve their data performance. All cabling was inspected by Marco’s cabling specialists and verified to meet specification requirements. A T1 connection was installed between the district administration office/high school and the elementary schools. With the implementation of the VoIP system, the District’s entire T1 bandwidth is used for data and voice through IP trunking, thus improving their network performance. According to Mark, “I thought the implementation was very methodical and laid out so we didn’t have many glitches.”

The installation of the Mitel system took place mid school year 2004 and went very smoothly. Mark commented, “The process was great because Marco set up timelines very concisely. I give Marco a lot of credit—they worked around our needs educationally and adjusted their schedule to the priorities we had here. I was very pleased with the customer service and entire planning process Marco provided.”

The Benefits

Deer River Public Schools is taking advantage of the many benefits of their upgraded network and Voice over IP system:

		Voice communication between the District's buildings and staff is done through simple 4-digit dialing
		Parents have access to teachers and administration as needed
		Allows for future video over IP, which will save travel time and improve communications
		All users are on one voice mail system, which improves their efficiency—for example, they can record one message and send to all or select voice mail groups
		District-wide voice mails and announcements can be left and accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
		Remote management via a Web browser allows the District to manage all three sites from anywhere
		Increases mobility for the teachers and administrative staff—they can take their Mitel IP phones anywhere they go throughout the building; this also saves the District time and dollars spent on adds, moves, and changes
		System provides caller ID to each desktop that has a display phone

“The implementation of the system has been great!” expressed Mark. “Our staff has made really positive comments about the new phone system. We’re definitely prepared for the future!”

He added, “It’s been a great relationship with Marco from start to finish! Throughout the project, Marco’s staff was very accommodating and flexible. There were no surprises.”

Pictured: Mark Adams
Superintendent
Deer River Public Schools

Company Background

Deer River is a modest sized community, located in northeastern Minnesota, where there is a high priority placed on the quality of education and the success of students throughout the region. Deer River High School serves 510 students in grades 7-12, with 36 teachers and 7 paraprofessionals. Deer River also has two elementary schools serving students in grades K-6.

“The (installation) process was great because Marco set up timelines very concisely. I give Marco a lot of credit—they worked around our needs educationally and adjusted their schedule to the priorities we had here. I was very pleased with the customer service and the entire planning process Marco provided.

The implementation of the system has been great! Our staff has made really positive comments about the new phone system. We’re definitely prepared for the future!

It’s been a great relationship with Marco from start to finish! Throughout the project, Marco’s staff was very accommodating and flexible. There were no surprises.”

Mark Adams
Superintendent
Deer River Public Schools