Converged Communications Making Strides at Northwestern

Completed and ongoing upgrades to the campus telephone and network infrastructure are moving Northwestern closer to enabling converged communications across both campuses.

The full vision of the project will take years to complete, but the first phases are near completion. Progress includes changes to wiring and switches in many campus buildings, testing of the system, and upgrading Chicago and Evanston campus networks to IP-enabled service.

Next, NUIT will work to merge the networks to a single system. Once this happens, Northwestern faculty and staff will be able to order VoIP service. Alternatively, in many buildings, users may also choose to keep their existing phone service.

The converged communications project brings together key services over a single network. This is made possible through Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), an industry standard protocol which allows the NU Network to deliver communications services. SIP-enabling the campus infrastructure will allow for new services, greater mobility, and new ways of communicating.

The converged communications initiative began in fiscal year 2006 and is scheduled to be completed in 2011. For more information, go to the NUIT Web site to learn more about the multi-year converged communications initiative.

• Converged Communications
• eCommunicator Spring 2007
• eCommunicator Winter 2007
• eCommunicator Spring 2006
• eCommunicator Winter 2006
• eCommunicator Fall 2006

To order telecommunications or networking products and services, call:
NUIT User Services
847-467-5560
it-services@northwestern.edu

NUIT Communications
it-communications@northwestern.edu