Is It Time for VOIP
<<<... The idea: Run voice over that network, eliminating phone charges among schools. "We were looking to expand our phone system," Brody says, "and we said, 'You know, the best thing for us to do is ride this huge new network we're building.'" But IP-based phones, which include processors to convert audio into data packets, can be pricey—at least $100 each.
To keep costs down, the district has deployed mostly traditional circuit-switched phone sets (typically one-tenth the price of IP models). Gateway switches at each school convert calls to IP before sending them off-site. The assumed savings have been borne out: Brody says the district has reduced monthly charges from its phone provider, Sprint, to $3 per phone from $14. Plus, the district is increasing its phones to 27,000 from 9,000, with most of the new units going into classrooms for teachers to use.
The other big area of savings, according to Brody, is in support. The district's staff of 12 field technicians can service three times as many phones because most management tasks, such as reassigning phone extensions to teachers, can now be handled remotely: "We don't have to send someone out in a van to the school as much as we did previously," he says. Brody estimates total annual savings on communications and labor costs at $1 million to $2 million per year.