New Mexico State University Deploys Over 7,000 IP Phones

NVT Phybridge Case Study: New Mexico State University

New Mexico State University (NMSU) has been serving the educational needs of its multi-cultural population since 1888. The land-grant university excels in teaching, research, and public service, preparing students for careers in agriculture, the sciences, business, education, engineering, the arts, and social services. As part of its commitment to excellence in education, the university decided to modernize its communications platform.

Challenge

New Mexico State University’s existing analog communication system was approaching end-of-life, and the University wanted to do a full refresh by modernizing to IP phones. Many of the features the University was looking for, mobility and call recording, for example, weren’t available using analog or digital phones. However, upgrading the existing CAT3 cabling infrastructure in the 100 buildings spread across the 900-acre campus presented critical barriers:

  • High cost of retrofitting the historical buildings with new Ethernet cabling
  • Length of deployment time and the disruption to students and faculty
  • Installing hundreds of IDF closets to accommodate the large campus, resulting in network complexity and security concerns

Solution

New Mexico State University discovered the NVT Phybridge PoLRE PoE switch and requested a no-obligation proof-of-concept to test the solution in their environment. In just a few simple setup steps, the award-winning PoLRE switch transformed the existing CAT3 infrastructure into an IP path with power, capable of supporting IP phones up to 1,200ft (365m) away – that’s 4Xs the reach of standard Ethernet switches. By reusing the existing point-to-point network paths, NMSU created a robust and secure PoE backbone, ensuring the security of the core network.

“We will be saving well over $1 Million, fast-tracking and simplifying our IP telephony modernization, and creating a robust platform that delivers a great user experience”

Result

Thanks to the PoLRE managed switch, NMSU was able to leverage its existing CAT3 infrastructure to deploy over 7,000 IP phones across their campus in various types of buildings, including lecture halls and offices. The university was extremely satisfied with the modernization of its indoor basketball facility and the extremely large outdoor football stadium. By leveraging modern LAN design principles and technologies, NMSU was able to:

  • Reduce the deployment time by 4 years, accelerating the project’s ROI
  • Save over $1 million in infrastructure costs, and allocate the savings to more IP applications
  • Prevent the installation and upgrade of 100+ remote data closets, maximizing network security

“NVT Phybridge is an unbelievable way to modernize from a traditional PBX environment. We will be saving well over $1 Million, fast-tracking and simplifying our IP telephony modernization, and creating a robust platform that delivers a great user experience.” Ray Cadena, Manager of Telecommunications Systems, New Mexico State University

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