Over the last year I've had the opportunity to work with a local school district on their telecommunications platform.  Their challenge was to replace their aging Avaya systems at six sites.  All the regulars were in the competitive mix - Cisco, Avaya, Shoretel, and finally Asterisk.  Upon learning of the opportunity and securing an initial meeting, I was determined to be able to address the questions and any objections that the District may have.  Can we route between sites?  Check!  Can we share trunks between sites?  Check!  Do we have redundancy, Check!  Our first meeting resulted in gathering the information that we needed to complete the proposal.  As we were in the opportunity rather late, my turnaround time had to be quick and withing a week we were presenting a solution along with a demo of the system.

The District liked our proposal, but wanted to go with Cisco phones.  Great - No Problem!  We can use Cisco phones on our solution.  We took our mobile demo to the District Office and presented the solution to the administrators.  They liked it and agreed to move forward.

Demo of Asterisk System - It compares well to Shoretel, Cisco, or Avaya!

Our installation process began with the gathering of user lists and setup requirements for each school.  We configured each platform in our in-house testing environment and then deployed onsite.  As we were changing trunks at the same time, we had the opportunity to install the core elements and test without disrupting any existing calls.  Once we were satisfied that our solution was operational, we deployed our phones and trained the users.

The Result?  An excellent telephony solution that meets the technical needs of the district, and keeps costs inline.

Along with the Cisco telephones, we also used Xorcom communications servers with great success.  Xorcom has been a great company to work with as they provide innovative products and great support.  The installation was easier due to the documentation and load testing that Xorcom provides.  We plan on using Xorcom servers for all of our Asterisk installations.

Questions - contact Bob Langys at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it