The Customer
L'Atrium is a world-class public educational institution offering secondary and higher vocational education in the city of Amersfoort, in the Netherlands. It offers several programme options for students, including exciting bilingual opportunities. It was previously designated a TTO school for the excellence of its bilingual curriculum, an honour achieved by fewer than one-third of Dutch schools. L'Atrium strives not only to create and maintain a culture of educational excellence, but also to contribute to the overall personal development of its students.
L'Atrium is a world-class public educational institution offering secondary and higher vocational education in the city of Amersfoort, in the Netherlands. It offers several programme options for students, including exciting bilingual opportunities. It was previously designated a TTO school for the excellence of its bilingual curriculum, an honour achieved by fewer than one-third of Dutch schools. L'Atrium strives not only to create and maintain a culture of educational excellence, but also to contribute to the overall personal development of its students.
Business Challenges
The school struggled to manage an obsolete phone system after more than a decade of intensive use. The aging Panasonic hardware provided very poor audio quality, making calls difficult and frustrating. The system still relied exclusively on ISDN lines, which were nearing their scheduled end in 2020. In addition, the existing installation had no VoIP capability, unified messaging, or other features of modern phone systems. And, as with most academic institutions, budget was a concern; in this case, they were paying too much for obsolete, underperforming technology.
Sangoma Solutions
L'Atrium knew that a change was necessary. System and network manager Robert van Rootselaar had extensive experience with FreePBX, so he understood the value of the Sangoma product ecosystem. In collaboration with Sangoma distributor Com8, he set out to design and deploy the ideal solution for L'Atrium. Van Rootselaar chose Sangoma PBXact, the revolutionary unified communications platform designed for ease of use and quality of service. At the heart of the new phone system, he selected the Sangoma PBXact 300. To provide phones for teachers, 35 Sangoma S500 IP phones were connected. For the receptionist and administrative staff, 2 Sangoma S700 IP phones were equipped with Sangoma EXP100 expansion modules, which provide 40 additional shortcuts and programmable features.
L'Atrium knew that a change was necessary. System and network manager Robert van Rootselaar had extensive experience with FreePBX, so he understood the value of the Sangoma product ecosystem. In collaboration with Sangoma distributor Com8, he set out to design and deploy the ideal solution for L'Atrium. Van Rootselaar chose Sangoma PBXact, the revolutionary unified communications platform designed for ease of use and quality of service. At the heart of the new phone system, he selected the Sangoma PBXact 300. To provide phones for teachers, 35 Sangoma S500 IP phones were connected. For the receptionist and administrative staff, 2 Sangoma S700 IP phones were equipped with Sangoma EXP100 expansion modules, which provide 40 additional shortcuts and programmable features.
The Results
L'Atrium is very pleased to have found the tools to communicate clearly. Teachers and staff say that calls, once difficult and frustrating, are now simple conversations. L'Atrium phone users also appreciate the rich functionality offered by PBXact. Unified messaging makes it easier and faster for busy teachers to manage multiple communication streams. And IP phone applications provide quick access to modern features. One feature widely used by teachers and staff is the Do Not Disturb application, which lets them set their status to “Busy” with a single click. They can use these features easily from their desk phone or mobile phones. Van Rootselaar found that the new PBXact system is much simpler to configure and maintain. A revolutionary difference from the old installation is the user-friendly interface, which makes routine maintenance and administration far less complicated. Upgrading to PBXact also resolved concerns about the upcoming ISDN shutdown. Their new phone system runs entirely over SIP data lines, the new global standard for voice communication. Finally, even with the massive improvement in communications, their monthly operating costs decreased by more than sixty percent. For a fraction of the operating cost of their old system, they benefit from exponentially greater connectivity and functionality.
L'Atrium is very pleased to have found the tools to communicate clearly. Teachers and staff say that calls, once difficult and frustrating, are now simple conversations. L'Atrium phone users also appreciate the rich functionality offered by PBXact. Unified messaging makes it easier and faster for busy teachers to manage multiple communication streams. And IP phone applications provide quick access to modern features. One feature widely used by teachers and staff is the Do Not Disturb application, which lets them set their status to “Busy” with a single click. They can use these features easily from their desk phone or mobile phones. Van Rootselaar found that the new PBXact system is much simpler to configure and maintain. A revolutionary difference from the old installation is the user-friendly interface, which makes routine maintenance and administration far less complicated. Upgrading to PBXact also resolved concerns about the upcoming ISDN shutdown. Their new phone system runs entirely over SIP data lines, the new global standard for voice communication. Finally, even with the massive improvement in communications, their monthly operating costs decreased by more than sixty percent. For a fraction of the operating cost of their old system, they benefit from exponentially greater connectivity and functionality.