The Customer
Cinvestav is Mexico’s most productive research institution and one of the most prestigious in Latin America and worldwide. The center has nine campuses and employs more than 2000 staff. This includes more than 600 researchers across over 30 academic departments, ranging from cell biology and computer science to physics and social sciences. With the aim of remaining at the forefront of science, its mission is to contribute to the advancement of society through cutting-edge scientific and technological research and to train the next generation of researchers to continue this work.
Cinvestav is Mexico’s most productive research institution and one of the most prestigious in Latin America and worldwide. The center has nine campuses and employs more than 2000 staff. This includes more than 600 researchers across over 30 academic departments, ranging from cell biology and computer science to physics and social sciences. With the aim of remaining at the forefront of science, its mission is to contribute to the advancement of society through cutting-edge scientific and technological research and to train the next generation of researchers to continue this work.
Business Challenges
Struggling with obsolete equipment more than twenty years old, Cinvestav was tired of the lack of features and the high costs required to maintain systems that had reached the end of their support. They wanted to replace these systems with an Asterisk-based solution but had two specific requirements: the new system had to integrate with their legacy systems while they repaired the network infrastructure, and it had to include a High Availability module to ensure constant failover protection.
In addition, Cinvestav felt that its telephone system should reflect the same technological sophistication as its research goals. It was expected that by extending the features of its telephone system with Unified Communications capabilities, its researchers would benefit from improved communication efficiency and research productivity.
Sangoma Solutions
Cinvestav staff conducted extensive research into all Asterisk solutions and providers available in Mexico City. Their research even led to the creation of a test environment to model the new systems at the central campus facilities. Although Cinvestav initially considered switching to a new CISCO system, its extensive research quickly ruled out this possibility. Their research led to a solution comprising two servers running FreePBX.
Cinvestav staff conducted extensive research into all Asterisk solutions and providers available in Mexico City. Their research even led to the creation of a test environment to model the new systems at the central campus facilities. Although Cinvestav initially considered switching to a new CISCO system, its extensive research quickly ruled out this possibility. Their research led to a solution comprising two servers running FreePBX.
This solution was deployed in conjunction with two PBXact devices equipped with fully licensed application modules, including Sangoma EndPoint Manager and High Availability. After evaluating several brands for their features and price, Cinvestav also decided to implement Sangoma s-series IP phones. The solution was deployed over a six-month period by Cinvestav staff with the help of their partner Sangoma Consultoría en Voz IP México. This was intended to ensure a slow but steady transition while repairing the centre’s data network issues.
The Results
Cinvestav chose PBXact as its solution because, according to its research, it offers the best balance between features that make system management easier and those that provide functionality. This assessment was confirmed immediately after deployment, as Cinvestav appreciated the highly user-friendly administration tools. Moving from legacy systems made a huge difference. Not only are the tools much easier to access and use, but Cinvestav staff now have a wide range of features they did not have before. One particularly appreciated feature is visual voicemail, now available to all users. Thanks to its intuitive interface, Sangoma EndPoint Manager is the system administrators’ favorite feature because it makes it possible to auto-configure users’ desk phones in just a few minutes.
Cinvestav chose PBXact as its solution because, according to its research, it offers the best balance between features that make system management easier and those that provide functionality. This assessment was confirmed immediately after deployment, as Cinvestav appreciated the highly user-friendly administration tools. Moving from legacy systems made a huge difference. Not only are the tools much easier to access and use, but Cinvestav staff now have a wide range of features they did not have before. One particularly appreciated feature is visual voicemail, now available to all users. Thanks to its intuitive interface, Sangoma EndPoint Manager is the system administrators’ favorite feature because it makes it possible to auto-configure users’ desk phones in just a few minutes.
Other users find it extremely beneficial to access system applications, such as Contact Manager, easily from any phone. The centre currently has Sangoma’s Zulu UC client installed and plans to offer Zulu to every campus user for their personal office, laptop, or mobile device. Researchers and staff have reported a substantial improvement in their internal and external communications, supporting research and increasing efficiency. Choosing Sangoma PBXact has also been a considerable business advantage.
Compared with other available telephony solutions, Cinvestav found that the acquisition cost of Sangoma’s award-winning Unified Communications solution was 40 % lower than that of the closest competitor. This prompted Cinvestav staff to offer the following advice to similar institutions that need to upgrade or replace a phone system: “We recommend that other educational institutions consider Asterisk solutions, especially Sangoma, because they are highly reliable and the products have demonstrated a high level of maturity in practice.”