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GCN Home > 08/29/05 issue

Arizona hears the call of IP telephony

By Dan Tynan, Special to GCN

For Arizona’s 114 state agencies, moving from antiquated phone systems to a converged voice over IP network wasn’t merely a good idea, it was the law.

In 2003, the Arizona State Legislature approved a bill mandating that state agencies replace their aging telecommunications infrastructure with modern IP-based networks. So far, nine state agencies, employing some 5,000 users, have made the switch to IP telephony. Included in that number are some of the state’s biggest organizations, among them the departments of Revenue, Education, Commerce and Corrections.

Their primary motivation? To save taxpayer money, of course. But along the way, the state discovered that a converged network not only increases efficiency and boosts security, it helps to create a government more responsive to the needs of its constituents.

At Arizona’s Department of Commerce, the move toward a converged network began back in April 2003. Because the department needed to change locations and replace its 10-year-old PBX system, it was deemed a good candidate for a pilot rollout of VOIP, said IT manager Eric Mayer.

The department chose Ca- lence Inc., a systems integrator headquartered in Tempe, to put together the hardware.

The department installed a Cisco 3640 router for data and a 2650XM gateway for voice, along with Cisco switches, VPN concentrators, intrusion detection systems and firewalls. Each of the department’s 120 em- ployees received an LCD-based 7940G handset and a Cisco Unity voice mailbox.

The total outlay was around $250,000, but Mayer said they quickly recouped the costs. The new network has saved $50,000 a year in handset rentals and charges for premium phone services, plus another $80,000 annually in salaries. Their old Nortel PBX required a dedicated administrator, said Mayer. “He’s got another job now.”

But it has been the productivity gains that have really impressed Arizona’s Commerce Department. And those, in turn, have enabled the department to serve the public better. For example, Mayer’s staff developed a custom XML application that allows Commerce staffers to access their Outlook address books, department directories and group calendars from their phones.

More news on related topics: Communications / Networks, IT Infrastructure, State & Local, Web Strategies



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