|
Peer-to-Peer
Studying in a connected world
Connectivity is vital for everyone—be it corporate houses,
or educational institutions. IIT Bombay has set up a connected campus with a
little help from VoIP. By Varun Aggarwal
IIT Bombay has always been right up in front when it comes to adopting the
latest technologies. The institute lets its students experiment with the latest
technologies, which sometimes have not even piloted in any other organization
in the country. Keeping this in mind, it is not surprising that IIT Bombay has
yet again piloted India’s first of its kind VoIP solution.
Every problem in the institute is tackled with the optimal use of technology.
To ensure that students get the best education, the institute tries to ensure
that no problem goes unaddressed. With the number of students at IIT Bombay
growing with every passing year, the communication system connecting the various
hostels and departments was proving to be unsatisfactory.
The institute’s requirements included Voice over IP (VoIP) on the campus
LAN with possibility of defining varied levels of Quality of Service (QoS) and
provisioning soft phones at the hostels on campus. Remote shelf interconnectivity
over optical fiber between various parts of the campus, caller ID on analog
stations for internal as well as external calls and connectivity between these
two systems over ISDN with feature transparency using QSIG (QSIG is an ISDN
based signaling protocol for signaling between private branch exchanges in a
Private Integrated Services Network) were other items on the must-have list.
The Institute wanted to centralize the segmented system of
communication within the campus. At the same time, it also wanted to deploy
a wireless system that would be flexible, requiring no additional training.
The solution
The Institute deployed two boxes of Flexicom 6000 with a capacity to accommodate
5,000 users at a time. IIT Bombay is now using around 3,500 lines at a time.
The project was completed within 3-4 months.
The new system covers an area of around 550 acres. Two remote ENet connections
have been installed at two different locations to provide better coverage. The
solution required the provisioning of 3,500 voice ports with two remote shelf
units, QSIG networking between the two systems and the deployment of IP flexsets
to work over the IITB Gigabit LAN switch, Voice over IP through H.323 Net meeting
clients through FlexiGate PRI and a large flexAir DECT (DECT or Digital Enhanced
Cordless Telecommunications is an ETSI standard for digital portable phones)
environment in their administrative blocks.
Challenges
IIT Bombay has an enormous campus of around 550 acres and covering the entire
campus for wired and wireless connectivity was a challenge in itself. Also the
technical staff, who are constantly on the move needed to be connected as tracing
them when a problem arose would otherwise be next to impossible on the vast
campus.
MN Rao, Telecommunications Manager, IIT Bombay said, “We already had fiber
optic cables laid in the campus and wanted to harness the existing infrastructure
and at the same time ensure that even the regular telephone lines were leveraged.
[The goal was to] build a common platform for IP and non-IP based phones.”
It was challenging to implement the solution over the existing infrastructure
without having to train too many people on how to use the new system. The required
system had to be easy to use and install and at the same time capable of handling
different protocols on the same platform.
Asaf Vishay, Director, Sales and Marketing, Tadiran said, “The principal
challenge faced in deploying the solution was to educate the technical staff
at IIT Bombay about it. It was also required to make sure that the IP network
was compliant with VoIP technology. We had to combine analog, digital, IP and
wireless telephony within the IIT campus.”
| Problem |
IIT Bombay needed a scalable VoIP system
that would interoperate with its existing PBXs and work atop its existing
fiber optic cabling. |
| Solution |
Tadiran’s Coral Overall Solution |
| Details |
Two Flexicom 6000 boxes with a capacity
of 5,000 simultaneous users have been deployed. IIT Bombay is presently
using around 3,500 lines at any point of time.
The new system covers an area of around 550 acres.
Two remote ENet connections have been installed at two different locations
to provide better coverage. |
| Timeline |
Three to four months |
| Key benefits |
The system is scalable and it successfully
connects even remote ends of the campus. WAN and UGW bandwidths are used
for other applications such as data transfer during off peak hours. |
Scalable campus-wide connectivity
Post-implementation the system is scalable and it successfully connects even
remote ends of the campus. WAN and UGW bandwidths are used for other applications
such as data transfer during off peak hours. 2,500 analog phones, 100 digital
sets QSIG with another Flexicom 6000 voice mail and e-mail integration with
ICMC Coral View 2 operators and 100 DECT FlexAir handsets all combine to provide
better connectivity for the faculty and students.
Tadiran’s Coral Overall Solution has worked out to be a comprehensive solution
for the IIT Bombay campus. IIT Bombay benefited by replacing its old OKI system
and the scalability and reach of the solution. “Our students are using
the technology for experimental purposes and to communicate with other IIT campuses
at Kharagpur and Kanpur,” concluded Professor Rao.
varun.aggarwal@expressindia.com
|
