EDUCATION SUCCESS STORY

Cutting-Edge High School Leverages ShoreTel Mobility on iPads to Improve Communications

CHALLENGE:

• Teachersdidnothavedeskphonesintheclassroomsandreceivedpapermessagesfromthefrontoffice.Installingphoneswascostprohibitive,teachersneededtobemorereachable,andtheschoolwantedtocreateagreentechnology-savvyculture.

SOLUTION:

• McCarthyHighSchooldeployedShoreTelMobilityoniPads,alongwithShoreTelCommunicatorandSoftphonesontheirdesktopPCorlaptop.ThecompleteShoreTelsolutionincludes:ShoreTelMobility,ShoreTelEmergencyNotificationAdvancedApplication,ShoreTelIPPhonesandShoreTelVoiceSwitches,ShoreTelCollaborationBridgeforinstantmessaging,ShoreTelCommunicator,andSIPTrunkingsupport.

BENEFITS:

• Costsavingsonmonthlyphonebillwithswitchfromanalogtodigitallines

• Costavoidanceonpurchasingdeskphonesandwiringschoolbuildings

• Highlyeffectiveandresponsivecommunicationsworkenvironment

• Improvedcommunicationsbetweenparentsandteachers

• Promotesschool’sgreeninitiatives

• Leveragesmoderntechnologytoimproveproductivityandavailability

Atthehighschoollevel,differentiationandinnovationarecriticaltomakingadifferenceinhowkidslearnwhattheyneedtoknowtoexcelatthenextlevel.ForArchbishopEdwardA.McCarthyHighSchool,thatechelonofexcellenceisbasedonvision,demonstratedbyaccomplishment,andsupportedbyprogressive,meaningfultechnology.

McCarthyHighisaRomanCatholiccollegepreparatoryschooloftheArchdioceseofMiami,Florida.Foundedin1997,theschoolislocatedinnearbySouthwestRanches,andhasover1,500studentsenrolled.Regularlynamedoneofthenation’sTop50CatholicHighSchools,andrecentlyranked6thamongtopprivateschools,McCarthyoffers15APcoursesandadualenrollmentprogramwithSaintThomasUniversity,andreportsthat99percentoflastyear’sgraduatesareattendingcollege.

Amongitslonglistofaccoladesisthestudentone-to-oneiPadprogram,whichenhancestheclassroomexperiencewithstate-of-the-artlearning.EachstudentisequippedwithaniPadtoaccesstheirtextbooks,takenotes,completeassignments,andsubmithomework.

McCarthyisoneofthefirstschoolsinSouthFloridatoimplementthisprogram.

“Ourjobasaschoolistopreparethekidsforcollege,andit’sexcitingtoseeallthechangesthatarehappeningintechnologythathelpustodothat.Wearemovingoutsidetheconceptthatteachersaretheownersofknowledgethattheymustbeupinfrontoftheclassroomlecturing.NowthekidscanownsomeofthisknowledgewithiPads.TheclasscanwatchvideosforexampleontheiriPads,andthendiscussasagroupwhatthey’velearned,”saysRichardP.Jean,McCarthy’sprincipal.

Making the Call to Excel ThemodernlearningcultureatMcCarthyHighSchoolincludesstandard-issueclassroomdesktopcomputers,too.Whathasbeenmissingfromtheclassroom,however,isthesimpleabilityforteacherstoreceiveandplacetelephonecalls.“Classroomsarenotequippedwithdeskphones.Parentsareamongourstakeholdersandtheywantourteacherstobeaccessiblewithoutalwayshavingtowaitfortheteachertoreceiveavoicemailorpapermessageandreturnthecall.Communicationisimportantinevery

Teachersandstaffaresignificantlymoreaccessibleintheclassroomoranywhereoncampus,thankstoShoreTelsolutions.

ShoreTel and Archbishop Edward A McCarthy High School PAGE 2

aspect—ourvision,ourgoals,andcommunicatingwiththeparents—andwewantedtheabilitytocallintoeverysingleclassroomandgetintouchwithateachernomatterwhat,”Jeannotes.

Togoaboutmeetinggoalsforpervasivecommunications,McCarthyHighSchoolinitiallyconsideredjusthardwiringeachclassroomforadeskphoneandextensionnumber,butestimatesprovedtobeextremelycostlyandtimeprohibitive.Theexistingphonesystemandinfrastructurefortheschoolwereactuallyinneedofupgrades,soMcCarthybeganassessingpossiblesolutions.

“Inthesetimesweneededtobemoreresponsiblewithourcosts,morecost-conscious.Catholicandprivateschoolsacrossthenationhavelowerenrollmentaswehavetocompetewithcharterandpublicschools.Consequently,someschoolstendtostayintheircomfortzonesandmissoutontheadvantagesofnewtechnology.Wetaketheapproachofgoingoutthereandfindingtherightpartnerstohelpusaccomplishourgoals,”saysJean.

McCarthyHighSchoolevaluatedhalfadozenpotentialphonesolutionsfromvariousvendors.OneofitscallswastoShoreTelResellerTeleSwitch.“TheteamatTeleSwitchmadeusawareofamorecost-effectiveandsimplersolutionthatfitwithourvision.WhenwestartedthestudentiPadproject,wehadnoideaaboutotherinnovativesolutionsthatcouldtiein.AngelaCoconatoatTeleSwitchtoldusaboutShoreTelMobilityandhowwecoulduseitontheiPadsintheclassroomsinsteadofphones.Inthisway,wecouldfurnishteacherswithiPadsforphonecallsandeveninstantmessaging.Andunlikecellphones,whichhavedifficultygettingsignalsthroughoutthebuildings,theiPad(onWi-Fi)ismorereliableandaffordable.WechoseShoreTelbecauseitofferedthebestproduct,thebestappfortheiPadandfaxserver—andwesavedalotaswell.WealsochoseShoreTelbecauseoftherelationshipwedevelopedwithTeleSwitch,”explainsJosephMorano,theschool’sdirectoroftechnology.

Communications is Anything but Status QuoMcCarthyHighSchoolselectedShoreTelMobilitytohelpkeepteachersconnected

andcollaboratingacrossamoderncommunicationsenvironment.TheShoreTelUnifiedCommunicationssystemandShoreTelCommunicatorfurthersupportawell-rounded,affordable,andhighlyreliableframeworkforstayingconnectedandproductive.Basedonanopenplatformthatdesignscomplexityoutandsimplicityin,ShoreTelsolutionsarehighlyscalableanddeliverfeature-richapplicationsthatcanevolvewithchangingdemands.

EachMcCarthyHighSchoolteacherreceivedaniPadsupportedbyShoreTelMobility.Intheclassroom,theteachersuseShoreTelCommunicatorwithSoftphonecapabilitiesontheirPCorlaptop.Communicatorisintegratedwiththeschool’sMicrosoftOutlookapplication,too.TheresultisastraightforwardintegrationoftheseAppleiOSdeviceswiththeschool’sapplicationsandinfrastructure.

ShoreTelMobilityisbuiltonascalablerouterandaRoamAnywhereClientfornativeintegrationwiththeuserinterfaceofallmajormobiledevices.Teacherscaneasilymovebetweendata,voice,andvideocommunicationsontheiriPads,becauseShoreTelMobilityprovidesbothUCandPBXfunctionalityonthedevice.

“TeachersareusingtheiPadwithShoreTelMobilityasthedeskphonealternative,forphonecontactandforinstantmessaging.AndthedesktopsnowhaveShoreTelSoftphonesandShoreTelCommunicator—everythingissocohesiveandresponsiveandelegant.TheycanseeallthephonemessagesappearintheirOutlookwindowsonthecomputerortheiPad.Teachersnowallhavetheirownextensions,whichoffloadstheresponsibilityofthefrontdesk,andhelpstheparentsreachtherightpersonquicker,”saysMorano.

Unifiedcommunicationsacrosstheclassroomsalsohelpstocreateasafer,moresecurecampus.TheschoolisaddingaspecialextensiontobeusedforbroadcastingmessagesorvoicemailouttoallteacheriPads,ratherthanoverthepublicannouncementspeakers.TheShoreTelEmergencyNotificationAdvanceApplicationisalsointegratedwithMcCarthyHighSchool’soverallcommunicationssystem,toexpandnative911supportwithcodeblueandcoderedalerting,fornon-emergencyandemergencyevents,respectively.Theautomatedalertingandreal-timeinternal

“Some schools tend to stay

in their comfort zones and

miss out on the advantages

of new technology. We

take the approach of going

out there and finding the

right partners to help us

accomplish our goals.”

Richard P. JeanPrincipalArchbishopEdwardAMcCarthyHighSchool

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notificationaidstheschoolinmobilizinginternalresourcesandcoordinatingresponsesinemergencysituations.Additionally,theschoolhas108IPsecuritycamerasmountedacrosscampus—stairwells,parkinglots,hallways,anywherethestudentsgo.Thissurveillancesystemistiedintothewirelessandnetworkinfrastructure,enablingimagestobeviewedontheiPads.

“We’vebegunhostingconferencestobringotherschoolsintoourenvironmentandshowthemwhatwe’vedonewithnewtechnology.Wearereallyabletogogreen,too,withouthavingtoprintbooks,agendas,handouts.I’mhavingmeetingswiththeteacherswithoutpaperagendas—IjustsendtheagendaviaemailtotheiriPads,”Jeancrows.

The Benefits of MobilityStudents,parents,andstaffarebenefittingfromMcCarthy’sactiveandopenapproachtolearnandcommunicatebeyondtheconfinesofclassroomwalls.SincedeployingtheShoreTelsolution,theschoolhasrealizedsignificantsavingsoneverythingfrommonthlytelephonebillstocostavoidanceofhavingtopurchasedeskphonesandwirethebuildings.Parentsarehappywiththeimprovedcommunicationswithteachersandtheabilitytoreachtherightpersoninatimelyway.Andteachershavetheassuranceofknowingthattheyarereceivingmessagesfasterandareabletoeffectivelyinteractwitheachotherandparents.

“We’veactuallychangedthewaywework,withgreaterproductivityandefficiency,andtheabilitytobereachablerightaway.CommunicationhasimprovedsubstantiallywithourShoreTelUCandShoreTelMobilitytechnologies.Ihardlyeverseemydeskanymore—IcancheckeverythingifI’monthego—sowe’reabletodomoreinamorecost-efficientmanner.Iseealloftheprosandnocon,”detailsMorano.

TheMcCarthyHighSchoolprincipalagrees,asheisbusywalkingaroundcampus,“BeforeShoreTelontheiPad,IhadtobeintheofficetotakephonecallsorIM.NowIcanbeanywhereonoroffcampusandstillbereached.Asaprivateschool,weareattheforefrontofnewtechnologyforlearning.Usuallyit’sthepublicschoolsthatleadtheway,buthereweare.ArchbishopMcCarthyisoneofthefirstschoolsinSouthFloridatointegrateaone-to-oneiPadprogram.Weareproudtobeleadingthewayinincorporatingtechnologyintoourcurriculum.The21stcenturywillrequireoftoday’sstudentsvastlydifferentskillsandaccesstoresourcesdifferinggreatlyfromthoseoftheirgrandparentsandtheirparents.Todaywearebuildingtheeducationalmodelthatwillofferouryoungmenandwomenachancetocatchthiswaveofchange,understandthisevolvingenvironment,andtounlocktheirfullpotential.Upongraduation,theywillemergepreparedtoexcelinthe21st-centurylandscapethatawaitsthem.”

“We chose ShoreTel because

it offered the best product,

the best app for the iPad

and fax server—and we

saved a lot as well.”

Joseph MoranoDirectorofTechnologyArchbishopEdwardAMcCarthyHighSchool