Integrated Access

Challenge

At Highline Public Schools in Washington State, feature-rich media applications are increasingly important for teachers to enhance their own education and for classroom instruction. The existing T-1 lines could not support an expanding array of high-bandwidth tools. A new data warehouse and plans for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) made the need for increased bandwidth even more urgent.

Solution

Highline chose CenturyLink GeoMax high-speed, high-capacity fiber optic data transport service for the majority of its more than 30 facilities. Highline also selected Metro Ethernet service for three of its schools and also implemented VoIP with CenturyLink Cisco Unified Communications Solution and Cisco Unity^® technology. CenturyLink is a "one-stop shop" for additional services including CenturyLink DSL, CenturyLink ISDN, CenturyLink Direct Inward Dialing, and primary rate interface (PRI) lines.

Benefits and Results

• Enhanced quality of instruction with reliable access to rich Internet applications and instructional media
• High-capacity GeoMax service enables cost-saving server consolidation
• High-bandwidth capabilities enable the IT team to do backups locally, which is faster and more efficient than manually "swapping tapes" at each site
• Reliable CenturyLink support and technology provide dependable uptime
• Centralization allowed strategic staff re-assignment so that higher-qualified technicians support the system, further improving uptime
• When complete, the CenturyLink-installed Cisco VoIP solution will provide four-digit dialing and enable E911 compliance

Quote

"High-capacity GeoMax service has reduced our maintenance time and costs by allowing server consolidation. With the whole set of solutions including GeoMax and VoIP, we've standardized on hardware and on some software to reduce costs further. I've also been able to centralize some administration, saving additional staff time."

Mark Finstrom,
Director of Technology Services

Company Profile

The Highline Public School District serves approximately 17,500 students in the communities of Burien, Des Moines, Normandy Park, SeaTac, Boulevard Park and White Center in the state of Washington. There are 38 Highline campuses, including multiple elementary, middle, and high schools in addition to operational locations. Teachers and administrative staff use an expanding array of feature-rich media and online information.