Virginia Commonwealth University Awards $14 Million Services Contract to IBM for Digital Phone System

Virginia Commonwealth University Awards $14 Million Services Contract to IBM for Digital Phone System

Virginia Commonwealth University has awarded a $14 million contract to IBM (NYSE: IBM) for a telephony system that improves performance and lowers costs for the university and its medical center. The new solution, which uses a unique mix of voice-over IP and traditional PBX technology, will be designed and installed by IBM and allow VCU to maintain a reliable and secure environment that can service its 16,700 employees and 100,000+ patients that the VCU Health System treats annually. The new system will operate at a lower cost compared to the old telephony system, and will provide a much higher level and quality of service.

IBM will work with VCU to update and replace its traditional telephony environment with a single consolidated network to handle voice, video and data traffic. This approach makes it easier to manage, support and maintain the 17,000 phone lines that span the two university campuses and the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System.

“After looking at our outdated telephony system, its related expenses and limitations on the services we could provide — we knew it was time to make a major change,” said Mark D. Willis, Chief Information Officer with VCU. “By working with IBM, we were able to create a new state-of-the-art system that meets our needs today, but can easily scale to support future growth — all for less than what we’ve been paying for the old system.”

Read the complete Press Release