case study

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Yanlin Zhu

Prof. Tribble Bradley

SPEA-V369

Nov 12, 2020

1. What were the primary reasons for changing the current system at Butler?

A number of factors contributed to Butler University changing its current Centrex system to a VoIP system. Firstly, the Centrex was an old model, and its features did not meet the needs of the progressing times. For instance, it lacked call queuing, and the system assigned a single mailbox to each student's dorm room, resulting in roommates sharing both phone numbers and voicemail boxes (Page, 146). In addition, customizing the Centrex was not an easy task as it did not leave room for customization, making it hard to instrument the proper call center service features. Secondly, as the University grew, so did the personnel, making it harder to manage to change and adding phones and phone lines, thus making Centrex a labor-intensive process. Furthermore, Centrex was prone to error and relied on the University's telecom coordinators' constant efforts for repair. This entirely contributed to the change.

2. What role did Butler's IS department play?

The IR had the tasks to look into the "telephony landscape" and research the most efficient system Butler could implement. They also attended a SUPERCOMM conference in order to gather information on the proper approach to use to enhance telecommunication services at Butler's University. Joe Indiano, the IR director of network and systems, led a telephony Evaluation team that consisted of a few IR department personnel. Joe, alongside the president of the consulting group, came up with five strategic goals based on the need’s analysis of the University (Page, 150). The telephony evaluation team developed a detailed proposal that was to be presented to potential vendors; they selected the best potential vendors, interviewed them, listened to their presentation, evaluated them, and made comparisons. An IP implementation team was created using IR staff and a pilot program organized by the IR. Lastly, during post-implementation, a new staff was created by the IR department to manage the VoIP system.

3. List the objectives of the pilot. Were there any problems?

The vendor's duties were straight forward; they were to prepare presentations to Butler University in response to their RFP, sit through an interview with the IR department, and manage on-site visits with their customers (Page, 154).

4. Do you think Butler made the right decision to utilize this new technology? What implications does this decision hold for Butler's IT department in the long run?

The main objective of the pilot program was to gain buy-in from the user community, but it also helped in testing features and gaining user feedback. The pilot program encountered a few problems; a software bug resulted in the failure of a simple process of connecting the IP-based phones. Furthermore, multiline phones were unexpectedly forced to be manually registered one at a time using their unique MAC (Page, 152). Thousands of phone numbers needed for private voicemail went missing, and businesses such as the foodservice and the bookstore offices that were located on campus were found to have no Ethernet wiring. Yes, Butler made the right choice as this improved its telecommunication system across the campus and facilitated the processes. In the long term, the IT department has to work full-time to manage the system as it involves a lot more components than the Centrex. They also have to maintain the networks for both data and voice.