Mercer University

University Reduces Costs and Creates New Opportunities with Unified Communications

Mercer University wanted to provide faculty and staff with up-to-date communication and collaboration tools. The university’s e-mail, voice-mail, and calendaring applications were difficult to use, lacked functionality, or were at the end of their life cycles. Mercer also wanted to provide for more large-group Web conferences, and give employees access to voice over IP (VoIP) telephony and Web conferencing from their workstations. In 2007, Mercer decided to deploy a unified communications solution built on Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. With it, employees can access instant messaging, VoIP telephony, Web conferencing, and a unified inbox for e-mail, voice mail, and faxes. In addition, the unified communications solution will help Mercer to cut costs and provide for greater levels of collaboration, online learning, and mobility.

Situation

Mercer University is ranked among the top 10 percent of all universities in North America by The Princeton Review. Founded in 1833, Mercer has 1,300 employees who support 11 schools and colleges offering studies in fields including liberal arts, business, engineering, theology, and music. The university’s 7,300 students attend classes at three main campuses in Macon, Atlanta, and Savannah, and at three satellite campuses—all located in Georgia. Last year, Mercer garnered U.S.$160 million in operating revenue.

We can cut back on travel expenses by at least 25 percent ... after we deploy additional RoundTable devices and when employees take full advantage of Office Live Meeting.  Shane Milam Director of System Networks Mercer University

In 2007, the university’s employees lacked the tools needed to collaborate effectively together or with students. “Our e-mail ran on PMDF, which was very simplistic and didn’t function very well,” explains Shane Milam, Director of System Networks for Mercer University. “The Web-mail interface was archaic, and people just absolutely hated using it. In fact, one of our biggest complaints from users was that interface,” he says. As a result, employees who frequently traveled between sites or who worked from home did not always check e-mail.

The system’s OnTime calendaring application also created issues and was at the end of its useful lifecycle. “The calendar service was underused,” explains Milam. “It was prone to corruption and crashes. To set up a meeting, people had to send an e-mail message to the participants and include options for a meeting time and then wait for a response. This constantly caused problems with collaboration and delayed scheduling.”
 
To help boost operational and employee efficiency, the university wanted to upgrade some of its other communication technologies. The Nortel Meridian Mail voice-mail system was at the end of its useful lifecycle and needed to be replaced. The university also wanted to provide employees with instant messaging (IM) and the ability to make and receive voice over IP (VoIP) calls from their workstations. Still, the university wanted to keep its existing Private Branch Exchange (PBX) systems. “Because our PBX infrastructure works really well and is not at the end of its life, we were interested in slowly replacing our voice infrastructure with a VoIP product,” explains Milam.

Mercer also wanted to give employees access to Web conferencing from their workstations. Some employees frequently travel between campuses to teach classes or to meet with other employees or students. Employees routinely spent between 20 minutes and 3 hours to reach other university sites. Along with the cost of gas, Mercer reimbursed staff 50 cents for every mile driven. Not only was the frequent travel disruptive to workflow, but also instructors had to deliver the same class to students at multiple locations, which could be extremely repetitive. To help minimize travel, Mercer is implementing a video-conference facility in Macon. However, the video-conference system costs $100,000, which makes it expensive to duplicate in other locations.

Solution

The university spent several months evaluating numerous e-mail, voice-mail, VoIP, and Web-conferencing solutions. Only Microsoft could provide all of the functionality the university sought in a tightly integrated solution that was also affordable. With this solution, users could manage e-mail, voice mail, and faxes from their e-mail inboxes. From their workstations, users could access VoIP telephony, Web conferencing, IM, and presence technology—which gives instant insight into other employees’ availability, preferred method of contact, and phone numbers.

Commenting on the differences between the solution from Microsoft and the university’s second choice—a system from Cisco—Milam says, “The software client from Microsoft was much more refined than the one from Cisco. The unified communications solution from Microsoft also cost between 35 and 40 percent less than the solution from Cisco.”

The software client from Microsoft was much more refined than the one from Cisco. The unified communications solution from Microsoft also cost between 35 to 40 percent less than the solution from Cisco.  Shane Milam Director of System Networks Mercer University

The solution from Microsoft was less expensive for several reasons. Rather than deploy separate infrastructures to support multiple components, the university could implement a single infrastructure for the unified communications solution from Microsoft. Mercer could also acquire the solution’s core programs—Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007—as part of the Enterprise Client Access License (CAL) Suite. By doing so, the university would gain 10 other collaboration and security products, without spending additional money.

In November 2007, Mercer engaged Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Enabling Technologies Corp. to create an architecture and implementation plan for the unified communications solution. While Mercer would manage the deployment of messaging, Enabling would manage the deployment of VoIP, Web conferencing, and IM.

In February 2008, a team of 10 Mercer IT employees installed nine Dell PowerEdge 2950 server computers and one Dell PowerEdge SC1425 server computer that runs the Windows Server® 2003 Enterprise Edition operating system at the data center in Macon. Next, the team installed Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Enterprise Edition and Microsoft SQL Server® 2005 data management software on the server computers. To facilitate high availability for the messaging system, the employees took advantage of cluster continuous replication in Exchange Server, which maintains a real-time copy of the e-mail database. The team also deployed an antispam and antispyware solution built on Microsoft Forefront™ Security for Exchange Server—part of the Enterprise CAL Suite—to supplement the university’s Cisco IronPort e-mail filtering appliance.

Next, eight team members began to migrate employees from PMDF to Exchange Server 2007. To provide each user with access to e-mail, an IT employee installed the Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007 messaging and collaboration client on the user’s workstation and migrated the user’s mailbox to Exchange Server 2007. This process was initially done manually, but recently the university deployed Transend Migrator, which automates and accelerates the migration process.

Meanwhile, three consultants from Enabling Technologies installed Office Communications Server 2007 on the systems that run Exchange Server 2007. To facilitate communication between the Nortel Meridian 1 Option 81c PBX system and Office Communications Server 2007 so that the PBX and VoIP solutions can coexist, the consultants deployed an AudioCodes Mediant 1000 gateway. After the infrastructure was in place, the consultants rolled out the unified communications solution to 250 users—who also had access to Exchange Server. The consultants installed Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 and Microsoft Office Live Meeting on the users’ workstations. Users can either conduct calls directly from their desktops with Office Communicator 2007, or they can use an IP phone device such as the LG-Nortel Bluetooth Headset 8502 or the LG-Nortel IP Phone 8540.

To provide for Web conferencing with larger groups, Enabling consultants deployed one Microsoft RoundTable™ conferencing and collaboration device in a meeting room at the Macon campus. The device provides for an enriched Web-conferencing experience by capturing a 360-degree view of the meeting room and individual images of participants.

Five hundred employees use the new messaging solution supported by Exchange Server 2007, and Mercer expects to complete the deployment to all employees by October 1, 2008. The university will also continue to roll out much of the unified communications solution and hopes to deploy numerous RoundTable devices to expand the number of Web-enabled conference facilities at its campuses.

Benefits

With the university’s new unified communications solution, employees can more easily communicate, schedule meetings, and access their communication and collaboration tools from remote locations. Mercer can also save money and provide for new opportunities in online learning.

We are excited about having the ability to conduct impromptu video conferences. The RoundTable device is a perfect alternative to our traditional video-conference facility because we can deploy it for a fraction of the cost.  Shane Milam Director of System Networks Mercer University

Improved Collaboration

Employees can now choose from a variety of tools to better communicate with students and coworkers. The new solution provides the option of having a unified inbox that helps people stay in closer contact. Employees can also initiate or join a Web conference from their workstations or from a location that has a RoundTable device. “We are excited about having the ability to conduct impromptu video conferences,” says Milam. “The RoundTable device is a perfect alternative to our traditional video-conference facility because we can deploy it for a fraction of the cost.”

Employees also find it easier to schedule meetings. “We finally have true groupware functionality,” says Milam. “This may not seem like a big deal, but it is for us because of the system we had before. Exchange Server 2007 provides a calendaring tool that faculty and staff actually want to use.”

Facilitated Online Learning

The university plans to create new learning options. “Many departments are interested in using Web conferencing to conduct classes over the Internet,” explains Milam. “They are also interested in recording classes and posting them on a Web site so that students can watch a class at any time in passive mode.”

The university’s Learning Technologies Center (LTC) also plans to use Web conferences to educate employees and students about IT technologies used on campuses. “LTC does a lot of training for single users and small groups at the different campuses,” says Milam. “So rather than traveling, LTC can put the class on here at Macon and then a group at another campus can participate online.”

Reduced Costs

The ability to conduct Web conferencing will save money. Milam explains, “We can cut back on travel expenses by at least 25 percent—or roughly $250,000 annually—after we deploy additional RoundTable devices and when employees are taking full advantage of Office Live Meeting.”

The university also expects to save money by using VoIP telephony instead of continuing to build on its PBX infrastructure. “We recently bought a building in Atlanta,” says Milam. “We have data service going to it, but we don’t have phone service. So instead of subscribing to a T1 communications line, I can deploy VoIP phone service to it, which means I avoid spending $300 a month for another T1 subscription.”

Provided for Greater Mobility

Unlike the previous Web-mail interface which was difficult to use, the new system provides for easy access to e-mail from most Internet-enabled computers. “Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access gives users a current, full-featured mobile interface to their e-mail and calendar infrastructure—which is a big change from our previous solution,” notes Milam.

Employees can also make and receive calls from their workstations by using their Internet access and Office Communicator 2007. “I can walk into a coffee shop, log on to the campus network, and then I can make and receive calls,” explains Milam. “No one knows I’m not in my office. We have tried this from a number of different locations and with several Internet providers—and the quality of service was very good. It’s nice to have the option of carrying your phone extension with you to different places, including your home.”

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 by using the World Wide Web, go to:
www.microsoft.com

For more information about Enabling Technologies Corp. products and services, call (800) 923-4310 or visit the Web site at:
www.enablingtechcorp.com

For more information about Mercer University products and services, call (478) 301-2700 or visit the Web site at:
www.mercer.edu

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Document published June 2008