Seminar Explores Voice Over Internet Protocol Technologies and Implementation

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Seminar Explores Voice Over Internet Protocol Technologies and Implementation

April 9, 2008

By Brian Warkoczeski & Andy Rosenzweig

Voice communications using IP technology has developed into a viable alternative to traditional telecommunications, and more universities and organizations are contemplating using Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) for their locations. On April 3, Merit Network hosted a day-long seminar, "Voice Over IP (VoIP): The State of the Art and a Look to the Future," with experts and group discussions to explore numerous topics related to VoIP technologies at the Michigan Information Technology Center in Ann Arbor.

Walt Magnussen, Director of Telecommunications at Texas A&M University, began the day with a presentation discussing several aspects of VoIP, including its history and key technological underpinnings, benefits, and challenges. He provided information about how VoIP and 911 services are being adapted to interact effectively, how enterprise VoIP deployments can be joined via peering, and how video via IP will be the next follow-on to VoIP as a common service on IP networks.

Next, the seminar featured case studies by representatives from Michigan Technological University (MTU), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and University of Notre Dame, providing details on the successes and pitfalls that their organizations have encountered while implementing VoIP strategies.

Brenda Helminen, Director of Telecommunications Engineering at MTU, discussed the University's long-term experience with VoIP. MTU has undertaken a major transition to VoIP, with planning beginning in 2000 and the transition now fully complete. Helminen described a number of key planning steps, including the decision to deploy power-over-Ethernet switches and uninterruptible power supplies throughout the campus network to support VoIP. She noted that the networking and power upgrades related to the VoIP transition have served the university well in its ability to readily add other IP-based appliances such as security cameras and wireless access points.

Dennis Baron, Senior Strategist for Integrated Communications at MIT, said the University began experimenting with Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) communication in 2003 and after a successful pilot project, began a phased deployment of VoIP technologies across MIT's campus in January 2008. MIT VoIP, the University's managed enterprise VoIP solution, is used by most campus users, but students and faculty are also encouraged to use Personal SIP, a self-service option that allows users to experiment with VoIP using their own phones and applications.

Baron also gave a brief presentation on VoIP peering initiatives and discussed ways that phone numbers could evolve over time through the use of SIP addresses and ITAD Subscriber Numbers.

Next, Dewitt Latimer, Deputy CIO and Chief Technology Officer at University of Notre Dame, presented a cautionary tale of VoIP implementation involving a national telecommunications provider. Latimer described how company mergers caused significant delays during Notre Dame's transition from a Centrex system and how the university ultimately pulled the plug on their VoIP project after discovering that the service was not CALEA compliant. Latimer described how Notre Dame has worked to improve cell phone coverage on its campus by installing a Distributed Antenna System and expressed his belief that cell phones will soon play a greater role in campus communications.

During the afternoon session, a panel discussion featuring Magnussen, Helminen, Baron, and Latimer surveyed many VoIP-related issues, including pricing, return on investment, mobile devices, and security, and produced significant conversation between the audience and the panelists. Audience members from several community colleges and private colleges quizzed panelists and other audience members for their opinions on using VoIP technologies for college dormitories and emergency communications.

Later, Merit Network's new VoIP service, MeritVoice, was outlined by Jim Moran from Merit Network and Mark Iannuzzi from TelNet Worldwide, Merit's partner in providing VoIP services to Merit's Members.

Moran illustrated how MeritVoice takes advantage of Merit's statewide backbone network and TelNet's advanced switching capabilities to deliver voice services. Moran described how Merit's redundant network paths ensure high-quality service and how SIP trunks provide organizations with significantly more flexibility compared to PBX solutions.

"The future is IP, mobility, and personalized services," Iannuzzi said.

Iannuzzi predicted that all voice communications will be IP based in the near future, including mobile devices. He also described how TelNet provides quality of service and secure communications.

Other presentations included discussions about VoIP 2.0 and Wi-Fi device experiments.

"VoIP 2.0, like Web 2.0, will be user driven and mean less control for institutions," according to Kenneth C. Green, the founding director of the Campus Computing Project.

Green believes that as more students come to campuses with with their own mobile devices, they will be looking for ways to connect them to the campus network. He stated that a university's VoIP 2.0 strategy will require user education in order to be successful.

He also gave his assessment regarding VoIP and its growth on college campuses, based on his interpretation of results from the 2007 campus computing survey. Green stated that public research universities and community colleges have been the greatest adopters of VoIP technology in higher education and that most college campuses have not established plans to accommodate mobile phones.

Finally, Pradip Patel, Data Engineering Manager at the University of Michigan, presented a summary of his Wi-Fi research projects using VoIP devices. Patel said cellphone carriers seem to be working to make all of their wireless devices work with a Wi-Fi network, but that most devices do not have the ability to support connections to a campus' Wi-Fi network.

The archived agenda and presentation files are available at the VoIP seminar web site.

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