Widener University has the urge to converge

Voice/data convergence is being tested at Widener University in an ambitious project designed to meld several disparate, application-specific networks into one.

Currently installed at the university is a voice-over-ATM net that saves the institution at least $10,000 per month in circuit and long-distance charges. Widener also supports distance learning by "Webcasting" classes across campus. If students cannot make it to class, they can tune-in to a live multicast or view a recorded session through their Web browser.

But Widener has even bigger plans for its convergence project. The school is currently in the initial stages of overlaying Ethernet- and IP-based voice and videoconferencing on its ATM net. And some other smaller, specialized networks, such as the university's security system, are also now running over the packet- and cell-based data network.

"Convergence is bigger than voice, video and data," says Gary Habermann, Widener's director of network operations. "There are a lot of oddball little networks out there."

Indeed there are, and if Habermann has his way, they'll all be swallowed up by Widener's data network, which features ATM in the core and Ethernet at the edge. Voice has already been swallowed up.

Widener has replaced four to six leased T-1 circuits by connecting two AT&T PBXs to the ATM network, which supports circuit emulation. That combination gives Widener free long-distance calling between its Chester, Pa., and Delaware campuses, but the real savings - the $10,000 per month - comes from eliminating those T-1s, Habermann says.

"It's a lot of money," he says. "It's a good way to win friends in the administration."

Another administration-friendly application is Webcasting. Video cameras in classrooms record the classes, which can be virtually attended by students via live or recorded multicast to their Web clients.

Multicasting entire classes may seem like a waste of bandwidth, but a single multicast to 500 students only takes up 700K bit/sec of bandwidth, Habermann says.

Widener has some other convergence goodies cooking in its lab. The school is testing videoconferencing over Ethernet using Polycom videoconferencing gear and an H.323-to-ISDN gateway from RADVision.

H.323 is a standard for multimedia over frame- and packet-based networks. Widener's videoconferencing trial is evaluating classroom-to-classroom and campus-to-campus videoconferencing at 384K bit/sec over ISDN WAN circuits.

Voice-over-IP has just graduated from the lab. The school is beginning to utilize some IP phones based on 3Com's NBX 100 voice-over-IP switch. Widener wants 21 members of its technical staff to be using the IP phones by the end of the summer, Habermann says.

Each NBX switch supports 140 phones and is connected to Widener's data net via 10M bit/sec Ethernet. The NBX switches are also connected to Widener's PBXs via two plain old telephone service (POTS) lines.

Each voice-over-IP phone requires a 200K bit/sec connection for "voice quality," and users can have voice mail and conferencing features for a fraction of the cost of a circuit-switched offering, Habermann says. For instance, a POTS handset costs Widener $1,500, vs. an NBX handset for $350. Upgrading a 64-phone PBX costs $200,000, vs. $42,000 for a 64-phone NBX upgrade, Habermann says.

Still, voice over IP has some maturing to do.

"It will be a while before we get rid of the PBX, but we won't grow it anymore," Habermann says.