University Business - January 2007 - (Page 40)

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Also, the technology isn’t quite up to snuff yet, Clipperton notes. So, its phone service is left as something of a work in progress. “At this point, we’re not making up the revenue from loss of landlines,” he says. “We adjusted our telecom budgets a few years ago and it was a painful process. I said, ‘Let’s just plan for zero,’ and it turned out to be pretty close.” New systems are needed, but they can no longer be funded off long distance revenue. Despite tradition being important at St. Mary’s, ofﬁcials there realize that wireless offers new keys to the future. Four Strategies for Replacing Landlines Officials at St. Mary’s College Ind. weighed the pros and cons of various options for replacing landlines. Option 1: DO NOTHING. Benefits: reduction of phone service cost, allows for sale of telephone switch and equipment, fewer helpdesk calls, no billing for telecommunications office Negatives: possible campus safety issue, disconnect between college and students Option 2: PURCHASE A COMPREHENSIVE CELLULAR SOLUTION. Benefits: best in providing integrated communication service, college has ability to issue announcements, studentenabled security features Negatives: would add approximately $40 per month to campus student fees, could be redundant for students who already have cell plans Option 3: CREATE A HYBRID WIRELESS/CELLULAR SOLUTION WITH PARTNERS. Benefits: most innovative approach, students charged one-time cost of device that could be amortized, college could run its own cellular resale point on campus Negatives: wouldn’t give integrated messaging, security, and other features of comprehensive cellular plan Option 4: OFFER AN “EDUCATIONAL” CELLULAR RESALE OFFICE. Benefits: most structured option, college would run the office and receive a finder’s fee ranging from $100 to $200 per user, also provide billing and technical support Negatives: gives no integrated communications or data services to students, only helpful for students who don’t already have a cell phone LOSS LEADER Many IHEs are at a similar stage: exploring options without having a solid plan in place yet. The lack of use in dorms has started to spread to administration offices for numerous colleges, and Guy Clinch, Avaya’s director of solutions for government and education, In the future, institutions notes that it’s likely more institutions in the future will simply hand their faculty may simply hand their cell phones rather than give them office extensions. faculty cell phones Rather than see the issue as one of rather than give them dire financial straits, Clinch believes cutting the landline cord to dorm rooms office extensions. and offices is an opportunity. “You have a population of people who are technologically literate,” he says. “They’re used to many different communication channels, and now campuses are able to connect with them in several ways.” Colleges and universities that find a way to control the applications and features being accessed on a cell phone will be able to keep in touch with students, Clinch notes. As Fowlkes noted, the lack of landlines has the potential to disconnect an IHE from its students, but Clinch believes it doesn’t have to lead to that, and in fact, can bring them closer together. “Students are more autonomous than ever, but creating services that are useful will keep them tied to the university,” he says. For example, some wireless vendors offer a tracking mechanism that can locate a cell user on campus through cell site triangulation. So, if a student wants to turn on the feature while, say, walking back to a dorm late at night, campus security can “watch” her progress remotely to make sure she arrives on time and safely. “There are many communications applications that can be layered on top of voice services,” says Clinch. “Explor- PHOTO COURTESY OF RAVE WIRELESS ing how to go beyond landlines and create a multilayered communications strategy is a tremendous opportunity for institutions. It gives them the chance to connect students, faculty, and staff in entirely new and effective ways.” Elizabeth Millard, a freelance writer based in Saint Louis Park, Minn., specializes in covering technology. Resources AT&T, http://att.sbc.com Avaya, www.avaya.com Cingular, www.cingular.com Rave Wireless, www.ravewireless.com Sprint/Nextel, www.sprint.com T-Mobile, www.t-mobile.com Verizon Wireless, www.verizon.com Cell phones in class at Montclair State N.J. 40| January 2007 universitybusiness.com MA 62:63:11 60/81/21 04 ddni.dnaL Warning : Unknown : The session id contains invalid characters, valid characters are only a-z, A-Z and 0-9 in Unknown on line 0 Warning : Unknown : Failed to write session data files . 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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - January 2007

Contents
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Editor's Note
Sense of Place
Stats Watch
People Watch
Viewpoint
Human Resources
Money Matters
Marketing
Financial Aid
Community Colleges
Missed Connections
Escuse Me: Can you Spare a Million?
The Associate
Media Relations Boot Camp
Admissions Administrators Speak Out
Business Technology
What's New
Calendar of Events
Direct Connect
End Note

University Business - January 2007