Existing Phone Grid allows for Cross-Campus Connectivity

Our friends at New Mexico State University (NMSU) have been connecting with their faculty, staff and students – via one technology or another – since opening their doors in 1888. They know what works, what doesn’t, and when to switch things up.

When they saw their old-school, analog phone system lacked the mobility, reach, and bells and whistles to keep up with the times, they raised their hands. They needed someone to modernize their communications platform and help them put 7,000+ Cisco IP phones in buildings across campus.

The catch? Installing and upgrading existing cable across 100 (mostly historic) buildings on a 900-acre campus would take forever, cost too much and disrupt the status quo. Plus, they’d need a web of new IDF closets to connect all the equipment dots.

NVT Phybridge says…

Enter our PoLRE™ (Power over Long Reach Ethernet) switch technology. (Thanks, Black Box, for bringing us in.) PoLRE™, that whiz-bang workhorse, transformed existing CAT3 infrastructure into an IP path that gives phones four times the reach of standard Ethernet switches. Presto, everything outdated is made new again.

NVT Phybridge helped NMSU save more than $1 million on infrastructure costs – funds they’ll invest in new IP applications. We also helped them speed up deployment by four years, which means a faster ROI and a happier board of regents. For extra credit, we nixed the need to upgrade 100+ of those remote data closets, which helped NMSU boost security across the network.

By trusting us with plans to replace their outdated, not-quite-two-tin-cans-with-a-string PDX model with a modern LAN design that leveraged the existing infrastructure, NMSU is well equipped for maximum, cross-campus connectivity. Just call them on one of their new Cisco IP phones and hear for yourself.

But the story doesn’t stop there…

Learn more about the story here.

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