IP network enhances communication.

• Author: GOULIQUER, DIANNE

New technology to be implemented at Lakehead University will enable students and faculty at the Thunder Bay institution to learn and interact online by simultaneously collaborating on documents, carrying out conversations and exchanging e-mail.

Through a partnership with Bell Canada and Nortel Networks, the university is installing more than 2,000 Internet telephones on campus, offering converged voice, data and multimedia information on one common network.

The converged network - known as Internet protocol (IP) telephony or Voice over IP (VoIP) - allows student to organize virtual study groups, conduct research, register for courses and purchase supplies using Internet phones located at most buildings and residences across campus.

Phase 1 of the IP telephony project was launched on March 20 with the installation of the first 550 Internet telephones.

"This is a momentous day for Lakehead University," Fred Gilbert, the university president said at a media event unveiling the project. "(This technology) allows better communication outside the classroom between students and staff. We're on the leading edge of technology, and this demonstrates to the world that we have an integrated system second to none anywhere in the world."

Gilbert said the IP telephony network will be linked to the university's new Advanced Technology and Academic Centre (ATAC), a $44-million facility that will act as the schools central communications mode and serve as a catalyst for economic development in Northern Ontario. The technology will be housed elsewhere on campus until construction of the ATAC building is complete in 2003. The full complement of Internet telephones will be installed by the time the fall semester begins this September.

IP telephony carries voice, video, facsimile and data over a network using IP, the same protocol used on the Internet. It is a universal way for diverse networks to communicate and is the most efficient way to carry data between multiple computers sharing paths in a network.

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