Global Public Research University in California

Remarkably, the university had used the same phone system since the mid-1980s, which evolved from Ericsson to Aastra and, eventually, to Mitel. Although the equipment had been refreshed over the decades, the fundamental platform had quickly adapted to the school’s evolving telecommunications requirements.

After adding thousands of analog phones to dorm rooms in the 1990s, the university wanted to reduce the number of hard lines and switch from traditional time-division multiplexing (TDM) to a voice-over-IP (VoIP) platform without sacrificing quality or reliability. Scalability and flexibility were essential as they considered changing providers significantly as the campus grew.

After briefly testing another unified communications provider, the university realized it already had the needed system: Mitel. They upgraded their platform to MiVoice MX-ONE with the latest hardware and deployed IP phones across the campus in 2008.

The flexibility to add other services to the same unified communications and collaboration system without third-party interfaces was another draw. Aside from phones, the university deployed MiContact Center Enterprise for essential student services like registration and financial aid.

Critically, they added MiCollab to their communications portfolio just before COVID-19 forced operations to go remote. Within two months, university staff worked from home as quickly as they did on campus, using their existing extensions and an upgraded server.

Today, roughly 75% of the school’s 7,000 extensions use VoIP, although analog phones can efficiently be run on the same system as required. As the university grows, adding lines to new buildings is simple, even if they’re off-site.

Mitel’s reliability and ease of use have served the university’s changing needs for over four decades. From phones to contact centers to collaboration solutions, MX-ONE keeps the campus running smoothly with one unified platform.