Data Integration completes university network

Biggest VoIP soft phone system in Europe, company claims

Systems integrator Data Integration has completed a contract to supply Warwick University with what it claims is the biggest voice over IP soft phone system in Europe.

Consisting of multi-vendor offerings, the network solution offers a high-speed IP-based service to supply voice, data and multimedia to students living in halls of residence.

Users have access to a broadband IP network carrying voice, data and video services. They are able to access personal files, make room-to-room calls from PCs and use IP telephony.

The infrastructure, which provides 5,400 rooms with 100Mb Ethernet ports, is connected by 126km of copper cabling, 34.5km of fibre cabling, 37km of trunking, and has 96 communication cabinets.

In total, the network is made up of 166 switches from Extreme Networks, firewalls from NetScreen, servers from NEC and cacheing technology from Cacheflow.

Leigh Howard, sales director at distribution partner Westcon, said: "Resellers are essential for making these multi-vendor proposals work because, with the best will in the world, no single vendor can supply a complete solution. It needs the integration skills of resellers and distributors."

The network was completed at the end of September. Simon Crumplin, managing director at Data Integration, said: "Over an eight-day period we had more than 3,000 new students arriving with PCs to connect to the network."

Clive Dove-Dixon, director of student services at the university, said the system integrator did a great job, and that the university had experienced only minor problems, remedied by Data Integration's 24-hour support. He said that the university was now hoping to connect off-site students to the network.

Crumplin added that there were other opportunities for resellers to provide IP networks for campus environments. "We are currently working on a number of similar projects because this type of deal offers us value-add opportunities and acceptable margins," he said.