Taking a Byte of Telephony Costs

Abstract

In 2006, the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) upgraded the telephone system at its main campus in Anchorage from a traditional private branch exchange (PBX) architecture to a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system. This case describes the organizational decisions that led to the change; the scope and the process of upgrading; and the current status of the new VoIP system. The actual migration to VoIP was completed less than a year after the start of the project. The transition process went smoothly. User satisfaction with the performance of the VoIP system is very high. Based on extensive interviews with decision makers and the technical personnel involved, this case also describes financial considerations (including “creative” ways to stretch a limited budget), outsourcing considerations, training related issues, as well as lessons learned.