Computers are coming to have an increasingly-large role in how modern school districts operate. Even in small districts, accounting and reporting standards are high enough that computers are virtually essential for schools and record-keeping. When accurate reporting is a necessity for seeing all your deserved funds come in, you need to be harnessing the power of networking equipment to get them.
The problem, then, becomes one of how to make the most of a very tight budget in creating a network that will be more of a help to your district than it is a hindrance. Chances are, in a lot of cases, you (or, at least, your IT group) have been building your school WiFi and putting the network together bit-by-bit as opportunity has allowed.
Well, the current state of networking technology has been built with your situation in mind! Virtualization frees your network from the constraints of just a few pieces of hardware, removing bottlenecks while allowing every communications device in your school to link together, from your telephone system to your teachers' home computers.
Virtualization Allows 21st Century Communications On A School-Sized Budget
With very little additional hardware investment, you can vastly broaden the benefits you're seeing from your school network. Your telephone system will need to be upgraded again one of these days anyway, and investing in virtualization-friendly phones will pay off.
Something like what teachers are supposed to be doing with students, virtualization can unlock the hidden potential of your network. Tasks can be shared between multiple computers, easing the burden on slower systems. Databases are universal, so that any device in your telephone system or anywhere else on the network has access.
The practical uses are endless, but just as one example: a teacher on a field trip with a smartphone securely dialing into the school network to see a student's medical file, after an unexpected allergic reaction.
These sorts of unified communications are truly good for your district as a whole, from the children upwards. From increasing student safety, to decreasing wasteful network power consumption, it pays off for everyone.
Your Next Telephone System Should Be Ready To Virtualize
These sorts of technology migrations come slowly in school districts. Changes happen as money allows, no matter how beneficial the changes might be. However, you can still be ready by moving towards virtualization with your next telephone system upgrade. Then, once money comes in for your network, you've already got a vision in place for where it can take your district.
So, here are a few tips on what to look for as you upgrade the telephones in your district:
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IP PBX Phone Systems: You need phones that will work today, of course, as well as tomorrow. Look for phones with integrated PBX systems, which allow them to work with your existing systems, while still being able to use more modern Voice-over-IP systems in the future.
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10 Gigabit Ports: Again, we're looking to the future here. These ports are inexpensive to add to hardware, but will pay off in five or ten years when you're upgrading the network cabling itself. 10 Gigabit Ethernet is swiftly becoming the new standard business-grade network speed, as it's 100 times faster than the old Fast Ethernet standard. Buying phones that support it today means not having to replace themagain in a few more years.
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Open for Unified Integration: Most of the major brands of telecommunications systems make their own hardware, to aid interoperability across the network, for example, like Meraki Communications. Do your research beforehand and decide now which vendor will be the best for your school going forward. Your telephone system upgrade plants a flag and, again, gives direction to your upgrades in the future.
The secret of finding a good telephone system for your school district is to plan ahead. Look for hardware that will become more useful as the years pass, and you'll find the best overall hardware investments.
