For Immediate Release: 22-Oct-2007
BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – Western Kentucky University (WKU) is on a fast-track for growth, with a 20 percent increase in its student body over the last four years alone. Supporting that uptick is a new converged voice, data and video network that delivers distance-learning courses to small rural communities located far from the university's main campus in Bowling Green, Ky. Based on intelligent communications applications from Avaya (NYSE: AV), a leading global provider of business communications applications, systems and services, the new network enables a broad range of unified communications capabilities – from emergency notification to diverse endpoints that can reach students and staffers at a moment's notice to productivity and mobility applications that can help WKU team members work more efficiently. At the heart of the new network is Avaya Communication Manager IP telephony software, a highly reliable application that enables a common university-wide dial plan and provides a central foundation for telephony, videoconferencing, mobility, emergency notification and other communication-based features. "We didn’t want isolated 'islands' of solutions," said Edwin Craft, director of telecommunications, Western Kentucky University. "Instead we wanted one communication platform that could be centrally administered and supported, with features we could distribute to our remote campuses across the state and access easily through a variety of devices." Videoconferencing in the Classroom and at the Desktop
An early advocate of distance learning to reach students in more rural communities, WKU's use of interactive video conferencing took a giant leap with the adoption of an IP-based Avaya Video Telephony Solution. The new system is a more cost-effective, easy-to-use approach that integrates Polycom multipoint high-definition solutions with the Avaya Communication Manager IP Telephony network to serve regional campuses in Owensboro, Glasgow and Elizabethtown. "Since we can easily send classes out to remote areas, students who never would have been able to attend the university now can do so," Craft said. In the distance learning classrooms, plasma screens, high definition cameras and microphones display images of the instructor and students, share PowerPoint files or video and capture discussion. When the Owensboro campus lost power during a storm, the instructor in Bowling Green simply recorded the class for later viewing. Students received an email notice with a link to the recorded video file. Software updates and administration are handled centrally over the network, eliminating travel to remote sites. Real-time troubleshooting is managed by help desk agents who can log in and take control of the room remotely. In addition to large classroom configurations, the Avaya Video Telephony Solution supports desktop videoconferencing that enriches communication among students, faculty and staff. Equipped with a PC-based Avaya Softphone application and a Webcam, a video conference becomes as easy as making a phone call: A user simply inputs a number or clicks on a contact name to launch a call, and then clicks 'yes' when prompted to add video. "By adding interactive video to a call, you communicate more fully," Craft said. "You not only hear the inflection in a person's voice, but you see their expression. That means faculty members working with students at remote campuses can communicate just as if the student were in their office." Flexible Options for Crisis CommunicationsThe Avaya network is enabling WKU to take a multi-pronged approach to crisis communications. The university installed new phones in classrooms and dormitories, primarily to support campus security. In the event of an emergency, built-in e911 capabilities in the Avaya Communication Manager software make it possible for authorities to pinpoint the precise location of someone calling for help, regardless of the caller's location on the network. With the addition of new emergency notification capabilities in the near future, the university will be able to quickly reach students, faculty and staff with broadly distributed, but targeted outbound messages. Using an Avaya-compatible event notification server from DCC (Dialogic Communications Corp.), a PlantCML company, WKU will be able to use a simple Web interface to record messages and send them simultaneously to outdoor digital signs and warning systems, campus phones and cell phones, email, indoor paging systems and displays, and campus cable systems. Warnings can be generated and delivered organization-wide in a matter of minutes. New Productivity and Mobility FeaturesThe secure, enterprise-class instant messaging and "presence" capabilities enabled by Avaya Communication Manager are helping the WKU team operate more productively. "Rather than being caught in phone and voicemail tag, I can see when someone is at their desk and available for a call," Craft said. "I can determine whether it is best to send an email message, try their cell phone or send a quick instant message." Staff and faculty members are able to use Avaya Extension to Cellular and Avaya one-X™ Mobile to have calls made to their desk phone ring on their cell phone as well – enabling them to be reached through a single number and to use a single voicemail inbox, whether they are in the office or away. "With our new communications applications, we now can deliver the same teaching, learning and working experience for all our people, regardless of where they are based or where they travel," Craft said.
Both Polycom and DCC are members of the Avaya DevConnect program, an initiative to promote the development and compliance-testing of innovative products that are compatible with standards-based Avaya solutions. About Avaya
Avaya delivers Intelligent Communications solutions that help companies transform their businesses to achieve marketplace advantage. More than 1 million businesses worldwide, including more than 90 percent of the FORTUNE 500®, use Avaya solutions for IP Telephony, Unified Communications, Contact Centers and Communications-Enabled Business Processes. Avaya Global Services provides comprehensive service and support for companies, small to large. For more information visit the Avaya Web site: http://www.avaya.com. For more information on the Avaya DeveloperConnection program, visit http://www.devconnectprogram.com. About Western Kentucky University
Western Kentucky University, with more than 19,000 students on seven campuses, is centered in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Employing nearly 1,300 staff, and 726 faculty members, the university prepares students from 70 countries to be productive, engaged leaders in a global society. Among the fastest growing of its peer institutions, Western Kentucky University offers rigorous academic programs encompassing education, the liberal arts and sciences, business, and traditional and emerging professional programs at the associate, baccalaureate and graduate levels. For more information, visit http:///www.wku.edu. # # # | 
