4-page Case Study - Posted 7/13/2007

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NorthTec

Education Provider Boosts Learning Opportunities with Unified Communications

The largest provider of tertiary education in the Northland of New Zealand, NorthTec occupies 10 widely dispersed campuses and about 40 community teaching spots, and it serves more than 15,000 students and 480 staff. Many Northern communities are isolated and their residents find it difficult to access the campuses. In response, NorthTec has deployed Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007 to offer a unified communications platform that will soon provide premium learning opportunities for all students at every NorthTec location. With Office Communications Server 2007, NorthTec can now support innovative learning delivery methods as well as offer a one-stop gateway for collaboration and information access that takes advantage of the existing IT infrastructure. This enables more cost-effective communications using messaging, Web conferencing, and e-mail.

Situation

With Office Communications Server 2007, we can capitalize on our existing IT investment. There is minimal training cost for users and engineers because of the familiar environment.  Xiaohui Xu Chief Information Officer NorthTec

It is a fundamental part of the NorthTec charter to make tertiary education accessible. The institution offers students high-quality, industry-focused education, with flexible learning options and a personalized classroom approach. Since 2004, the NorthTec Learning Gateway (NLG), a key component of the institution’s strategic information technology plan, has assisted the NorthTec community in using technologies for learning and teaching activities.

The NLG was developed to support three initiatives; communications, information access, and learning support. The gateway addresses specific problems unique to the region’s geography and social life. These include long traveling times to reach learning centers for both staff and students, remotely located students isolated from participating in classroom discussions and receiving lectures interactively, and not having the same real-time information access and collaboration opportunities as students on campus.

“Originally, we implemented Microsoft® Live Communication Server 2005, Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, and Microsoft Office SharePoint® Portal Server 2003 in a campus-wide communication platform to provide interactivity and information access for staff and students,” says Xiaohui Xu, Chief Information Officer, NorthTec. “We found that they provided basic interactivity and portal services but we wanted to go beyond and establish a gateway for collaboration to meet our long-term goals.”

Xu notes that student online learning requirements have changed dramatically over the last few years. A new generation of students required collaboration, open communication, and real-time interactive information sharing between learners and lecturers. Conventional learning through lecture note downloads and limited information access were not enough to create a progressive learning environment that was fun and intuitive. Using the NLG, the institution wanted to give students a more innovative, forward-thinking educational environment that supported their current needs, while opening up new opportunities for their future.

“What we needed was an integrated system that unified all the communication and interaction options under a single platform,” adds Xu. The NorthTec team wanted a system to support delivering new types of learning methods, a single place for information access, and a collaborative environment where all students can participate in group discussions and interact with staff in real time. “Everyone would benefit from consolidated communication, e-mail calendaring, and scheduling services at home, on campus, and even on mobile devices.”

Solution

When looking for a single communications platform, NorthTec opted for Microsoft solutions as a good fit for the institution. “Over the last couple of years, we have established a relationship with Microsoft through the implementation of Live Communication Server 2005, Exchange Server 2003, and SharePoint Portal Server 2003,” says Xu. “So when we decided to upgrade our communications platform, they were a natural choice because their products are very tightly integrated.”

However, NorthTec did consider an alternative. “One of the options available to us was to upgrade our physical communications infrastructure to accommodate the new platform we were building,” says Xu. The institution had invested extensively in a Nortel IP telephony system and considered building on this hardware platform to meet its requirements. NorthTec finally decided against this idea because there were no options to integrate the existing IT investments with the Nortel system and it would not be cost-effective in the long run. ”Fortunately, we found that Office Communications Server 2007 could seamlessly support and integrate the Nortel telephony system.”

Starting in late November 2006, NorthTec investigated Office Communications Server 2007 as part of the Microsoft Rapid Deployment Program. It was pleasantly surprised to find that Exchange Server 2007 and Office Communications Server 2007 could work together and not just discretely.

Setting up an IT committee that involved members of the learning development team, NorthTec reviewed and tested Office Communications Server 2007 with the assistance of Microsoft Consulting Services (MCS). Microsoft engineers were on hand to resolve any issues promptly. “One thing we discovered was that Office Communications Server 2007 is so feature-rich and offered so many deployment scenarios that we were initially a little confused about which to use at NorthTec,” says Xu. “But MCS came back with some excellent recommendations including deploying Session Initiation Protocol with our private branch exchange phone system for voice over IP (VoIP). Thanks to their help, we were up and running in no time.”

Using the NLG as a framework, NorthTec deployed Office Communications Server 2007, Exchange Server 2007, and Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2006. It completed the proof of concept in April 2007, began implementation in May, and had a limited rollout to 100 users in June. The entire pilot project took about eight weeks to implement, and a full organization-wide deployment is expected by August.

“And with Office Communications Server 2007, we can capitalize on our existing IT investment. There is minimal training cost for users and engineers because of the familiar environment,” adds Xu.

Benefits

The NorthTec integration of Office Communications Server 2007 with its existing Microsoft solutions creates a unified communications platform that takes advantage of the existing IT infrastructure, and enriches students’ learning and teaching experience. By offering a one-stop portal to access information through Web conferencing, instant messaging, click-to-call, and VoIP, the NLG allows learning, teaching, and collaboration to take place anywhere, and in real time. “With a single place in which to consolidate all communication, access, and learning,” says Xu, “students can learn anywhere and lecturers can teach anytime.”

Supports New Learning Delivery Methods

The implementation of Office Communications Server 2007 opens new opportunities for students and staff at NorthTec. Traveling long distances to get to classes or lectures will no longer be an issue. The new communication capability, with its “presence awareness” feature, is integrated into the NLG portal and allows students to experience learning in new ways, including participating in collaborative classrooms or online group discussion and receiving tutoring from lecturers interactively. Students and staff can communicate with each other via e-mail, video and audio conferencing, and instant messaging. Says Xu, "The system provides a more cost-effective way to conduct learning and teaching, reaching remotely located students to enhance the learning experience and provide better-quality teaching.”

Provides One-Stop Collaboration and Information Access

Working with Office Communications Server 2007 and Office SharePoint Portal Server 2007, the NLG offers students seamless information access and real-time collaboration opportunities. Students can communicate with one another or with lecturers in real time using instant messaging and Web conferencing.

Students can also access information from classrooms, library, student cafe, parks, workplaces, and homes. They can collaborate and even share application screens without actually being in the classroom. Learning and study become much easier. “We found that our students loved the new portal collaboration. They liked the option to access all academic materials, administrative information, personal data, and e-mail from the single NLG portal. This will benefit thousands of our students in the future,” notes Xu.

Enables Cost-Effective and Efficient Teaching

With 10 campuses, some several hundred kilometers apart, NorthTec faces a great challenge in providing learning support to all its learning centers in the Northland. Lecturers may spend four hours traveling from one campus to another to teach. Some students have to travel more than a hundred kilometers to a learning center to study. The NLG offers an efficient and convenient avenue to conduct teaching sessions for staff and students who can now interact face to face in real time, without having to travel to distant campuses. This eases travel budgets, saves time, and results in greater overall student and staff satisfaction.

Enhances Voice Functionality

Voice telephony is a critical component of the institution’s overall communications strategy. NorthTec invested heavily in the Nortel IP telephony system to allow staff to talk to one another by conventional line and VoIP. However, the system operated independently of the existing communications platform. One of the big attractions of using Office Communications Server 2007 is the enhanced and integrated voice functionality, says Xu. “We can make internal calls through a single integrated interface and potentially save thousands of dollars in telecommunications expenses.”

Provides Real-Time Availability

One of the key benefits of deploying Office Communications Server 2007 in NLG is presence awareness. Presence is the ability to display levels of availability, allowing parties to initiate communication via Office Communications Server. Knowing a lecturer is available, for example, enables students to make contact and get questions answered without having to wait, make more calls, or travel long distances. “With the NLG, students will be able to access the people they need, if they are signed in to Office Communications Server 2007, rather than send e-mail or voice messages,” says Xu.

Capitalizes on Existing IT Investments

The NLG is built on the existing technology infrastructure and uses applications and toolsets that people are already familiar with. This not only provides many new functions to support learning, but also adds value to the existing systems and applications. The training requirement is minimal, so staff and students are able to gain quick access to functions that can enhance learning and communication.

For More Information

For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to:
http://www.microsoft.com/

For more information about NorthTec products and services, call (64) 9 470 3555 or visit the Web site at:
http://www.northland.ac.nz/

Microsoft Office System

The Microsoft Office system is the business world’s chosen environment for information work, providing the programs, servers, and services that help you succeed by transforming information into impact.

For more information about the Microsoft Office system, go to:
www.microsoft.com/office  

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published July 2007