Web-based phone line to be put in place in Schools

 

            Starting from next spring, teachers in the San Mateo-Foster City School District will not have to use phone lines to make their calls anymore. Instead, they will now communicate through the internet with the help of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), which is becoming very common these days.

            According to Cathleen Calice, the district's technology director, "The change will clear the way for all sorts of cutting-edge technology upgrades in the future. Video conferencing, automated school-to-home messaging and the ability to check voicemail messages via e-mail are a few of the possibilities".

            With this upgrade, each teacher will now have a full seven-digit number rather than just an extension. They will also get a new phone with a video screen. The classrooms will also experience a faster internet with the overhaul of the district's data network.

            Though this whole thing looks expensive, Calice has made it known that it won't cost the district much more than it's already spending. It will effectively take the place of the already failing phones and data networks which were getting expensive to maintain with each passing day.

            Right now, the 10,000-student district is trying to be the very first in the county to move completely to VoIP, but it is not the only one taking that stride. Other ones in the county such as the San Mateo Union High School District and San Mateo County Office of Education are also phasing in the technology.

            This is what the administrative services director for the city of Foster City, Steve Toler has to say, "A lot of companies and government agencies are going to VoIP, particularly those that are spread out over a number of different locations. Since most every site needs to be networked for data, you figure, why not put voice capability in there, too?"

            He further added that, "the city itself isn't looking at the technology right now. But it did help the school district by negotiating a contract with Comcast that will provide high-speed fiber connections to eight schools, including four in Foster City. The district will pay for better connections at its other schools as well".

            "A faster Internet will likely be the most immediate benefit of the changes", Calice mentioned.  "For example, teachers will finally be able to easily use a Web-based system called SChoolPlan purchased several years ago to track individual student performance on standardized tests".

            After all said and done, one has to remember that using VoIP has its own pitfalls too. One of which is that the data networks have been known to crash more than phone lines. To solve the problem, Calice said the district will have a backup system so it can still make calls if that happens.