Collège Boréal

Collège Boréal is a multi-campus francophone postsecondary institution with a network of telecommunications systems and networks supported by Bell Canada. Its main telephony system was CISCO IP. The college receives calls from students and parents for a multitude of reasons including registration, course availability, billing, and financial. These calls were being answered by various departments, most often those that were responsible for processing the associated workload. College leaders sought to develop a Call Center to answer these calls in the future. While much forethought and planning had been applied to the initiative, the College wished to leverage an industry expert. PowerHouse was engaged to analyze the current Call Center plan including organizational structure, agent staffing allocation, technology (e.g., CRM, ACD, and telephones), training, hiring, and furniture layout. PowerHouse interviewed College personnel to understand call types considered for the Call Center and gathered all available data regarding the current Call Center plan. Our consultants developed a comprehensive set of recommendations to improve the plan and address areas where it may fall short or lack important elements or details. These recommendations facilitated future decision making for Collège Boréal’s business leaders.

Connecticut State University System

The Connecticut State University System (CSUS) consists of four comprehensive universities and a system office. The four locations serve about 15,000 end users from a telephony perspective; the total number of students is more than 36,000. CSUS sought to evaluate its network infrastructure against industry best practices and elicit recommendations for improvements. In a joint venture with Network Strategy Partners, LLC, PowerHouse assessed the universities’ technology infrastructure and voice, video, and data networking capabilities that served both faculty/student learning initiatives and administrative services. The project served as a prototype for a systematic design process – ensuring that network infrastructure, services, objectives, and plans aligned with the needs of all four universities. The project yielded a concrete and long-term architecture that reflected the CSUS’s future plans and unique priorities for network improvements.

Quinnipiac University

Quinnipiac University is a private, co-educational university with 5,400 undergraduate and 2,000 graduate students. The university planned an ambitious building program that included the construction of two new campuses and an investment in state-of-the art Information Technology. Quinnipiac sought to yield a communications architecture that would guide and shape IT capabilities through the next decade of construction and expansion. Toward that end, PowerHouse (in a joint venture with Network Strategy Partners, LLC) collaborated with the university within three broad phases, each with its own set of detailed activities and deliverables. The Telecommunications Systems Capacity Analysis inventoried all telecom platforms, analyzed traffic reports, and assessed current system capacity. The Review of Current Cabling Infrastructure included an examination of all available drawings, cabling inventory documents, and phone company documentation. The Strategic Plan for Telecommunications and Cabling resulted in a combined view of requirements and existing infrastructures that would lead Quinnipiac University into the future.

University of Maryland University College

A member of the University System of Maryland, University of Maryland University College (UMUC) is regionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. UMUC provides educational opportunities to students around the world, earning a global reputation for excellence. The University specializes in providing career-relevant online higher education opportunities to busy professionals; more than 90 degree and certificate programs are available in today’s most in-demand fields. The University educates more than 80,000 students. UMUC sought a complete a Technology Assessment of its global telephony implementation as well as recommendations for incremental improvements or changes based on industry best practices. The goal was to ensure that UNUC is using best-in-class products and designs that are flexible enough to support organizational growth and change. PowerHouse conducted the assessment via exhaustive data gathering, documentation review, interviews, and a survey of existing facilities. We identified strengths and weaknesses within the current telecommunications infrastructure related to its ability to support UMUC plans for future growth. Our consultants assisted the client team in identifying business and technical requirements and provided insight into the current state of the telecommunications technology industry. We helped solve Cisco UCCX equipment configurations to resolve multiple problems with reporting and recording.

Vermont Department of Education

The Vermont Department of Education (VT DOE) provides leadership, support, and oversight to ensure that the Vermont public education system enables each student to be successful. The State Board adopted The Transformation of Education in Vermont framework for change that was organized to reshape Vermont’s K-12 schools into vibrant 21st century learning environments. The central focus of the Transformation was upon student-centered learning; one component critical to success was a vital technology infrastructure that included enhanced networks and services. PowerHouse assisted VT DOE by acting as its agent and expert resource to accomplish two major goals it outlined for Vermont schools: 1) develop a statewide Consortium to maximize E-rate funding and 2) organize a community of schools across the state to participate in and benefit from a statewide network of applications and services of interest and value to schools. PowerHouse assembled a team with extensive background and proven success with network systems design, E-rate process management, public school administration, and vendor RFP bid management to insure that critical project components were properly resourced. The project was directed by a steering committee comprised of School Superintendents, the PowerHouse Project Lead, and the VT Department of Education Technology Coordinator.