Mobility and the Future of Integrated Communication
Strategies
Mike Staman – Macon State
Jim Jokl – University of Virginia
EDUCAUSE 2003
What are Integrated Communication Services (ICS)?
• Many definitions over the years– Financial perspective
• Lets run our telephone system over the data network– Voice over IP (VoIP)
• Can’t we also run video over the data network?– H.323, MPEG, Real Networks, Quicktime, etc
– Services perspective• Can we link our voice mail and email?
– Unified Messaging products
• Can videoconferencing enhance productivity / avoid travel?• What are the new “killer applications”?
What are Integrated Communication Services (ICS)?
– Technology perspective• What services should we deploy for our users?• How do I keep my school from falling behind?
– “They” are doing wireless, so we should be too
• Should we deploy Skinny or SIP or H.323 for VoIP?• What are the implications for the campus network?
– Basic question• How do we keep up with growing user expectations?• Especially hard in the current fiscal environment
User Expectation Trends
• Access many services from one workstation
• Access the same services from many devices
• Location independence– Wired office network connection– At a wired network café– On the wireless LAN– In a home office– Out of town
A refined vision for ICS: Support for Nomadic Computing
• Access to voice, data, and video communications applications via device, location, transport, and media independent mechanisms
• Implies services such as locating a person via one of many devices, at any location, originating ID portability, integrated or find-me messaging, authentication and privacy, etc
Today’s Agenda
• We’ll discuss some of the implications of meeting these user expectations– Technical issues– Financial model changes– Policy and organizational aspects– Service examples and planned projects
Technical Implicationsfor the wired campus network
• A stable cable plant and database
• 10/100 switched Ethernet
• A high-capacity network backbone
• Provisions for end-to-end management
• QoS support
• Multicast support
• A wiring closet UPS infrastructure– Backup power is for more than just E-911
Technical Implications for the wireless campus network
• Existing applications use 802.11b• Insufficient even for the near term
– Performance inadequate – 11 Mbps best case– Shared network– Security issues– Poor access control– Lack of available channels (spectrum)– 802.11G helps - compatible with 802.11b
• Up to 54 Mbps• Still a shared network in same 2.4 GHz band
Technical Implications for the wireless campus network
• Fortunately wireless equipment also takes advantage of Moore’s Law
• 802.11n– 100+ Mbps in the 2005/06 time frame
• Wireless PANs– Bluetooth: 30 feet, 64 kbps to 1 Mbps– 802.15.3: up to 55 Mbps, multimedia capable– Coexist with 802.11b/g in 2.4 GHz band
Technical Implications for the wireless campus network
• Wireless VLANs & QoS– Traffic isolation, support for voice applications
• What about 802.11a– Many channels – operates in 5.8 GHz band– Cost coming down; support for b/a/g cards
• Vivato-type technology– Phased-array antenna directs radio energy
where it is needed
Technical Implicationsfor remote network access
• How do we enable the nomadic concept for off-campus students and faculty?– Is this really just plain old telecommuting?– Many campuses have been successful
implementing network peering relationships with ISPs
– Lease copper and install private DSL?– Leverage next generation of wireless technology?
Technical Implicationsfor Wireless Metro Area Networks
• 802.16a WiMAX– The next big thing in wireless space?– Licensed and unlicensed operation
• Unlicensed in the 5.2 GHz and 5.8 GHz bands
– Near line of sight– Up to 30 miles and 70 Mbps– Will perform well with wide range of packet sizes– Large investments by Intel, others– Mid-2004 for products
Technical Implications for Cellular Device Integration
• User’s desire– Voicemail, paging, and messaging integration– Desk phone calls to reach their mobile device– “Wireless Office” functionality
• Feature transparency & integration
• No per-minute charges for on-campus use
– Wide area coverage– Personal use enabled
• Two numbers, call tagging, etc?
Technical Implications for Cellular Device Integration
• Integration with campus WLAN– Some new cell phones support 802.11b VoIP– Relationships with carriers essential– Colorado State, Virginia, others working on
procurements in this area
• Integration with campus LAN– Bluetooth phones for remote data network
access
An Interesting Wireless Integrated Solution: Vocera
• 802.11b WLAN badge• Voice recognition activated• Integrated services
– Voice over WLAN– 2-way telephony integration– Voicemail– Audio email– Text messaging– Group broadcast– User location feature
Wireless Impediment: Security
• Security problems can devastate a campus wireless LAN– Wireless has low capacity and is a shared media
– Wireless QoS is in its infancy
– You often can’t shut down an offending computer• Rogue access points
• Ad-hoc mode
– Poor vendor security architectures
• Need a security model that spans network transport
Wireless Access Control and Data Privacy
• Common mechanisms– VPN, LEAP, EAP-TLS, PEAP, etc– Vernier, Bluesocket, etc
• Remember limitations of special devices– PDAs, cell phones, VoIP phones, Vocera badges
• Design infrastructure to support many mechanisms
Will we do a lot of planning only to be overtaken by events?
• In which multimedia transport should you invest?– Cisco’s skinny VoIP protocol– H.323– Wait for SIP to be deployable on a large scale?
• What about Skype?
Skype
• A peer-to-peer system for Internet telephony– From the people who developed KaZaA
• Designed to work in the presence of firewalls, NAT, PAT
• All traffic is encrypted and better voice quality
• Technical implications– Network infrastructure needs are similar– but P2P applications are harder to support
Some Financial, Organizational and Policy Implications to Consider
• A fundamental change in user relationships?– We already consider the whole student experience
• Can we strengthen it further with new technology?• Retain their interest better after graduation?
– Is the technology about to make this possible for faculty and staff?
• How are you organized?– Voice, data, video integrated?– Cell phones in purchasing?– Support as network complexity continues to grow
Some Financial, Organizational and Policy Implications to Consider
• Do you recover costs for the right services?• Typical schools charge for items such as
– Telephone– Network jack– Backbone– Internet capacity– Monthly cell phone and airtime minutes– Wireless LAN service– Remote access– Cable television
Some Financial, Organizational and Policy Implications to Consider
• Do voice recoveries help pay for LAN or wireless– What about Skype or Windows messenger?
• Current cost recovery practices are often a disincentive for Nomadic Computing– We want users to have their phone number everywhere
• Wireless devices, cell phones, desk phones, soft phones, telecommuting, etc
– Enabling personal use should be a goal• Money can be saved by both the school and the individual
Some Financial, Organizational and Policy Implications to Consider
• An alternate financial model: might per-person cost recovery work?– Fund a basket of basic infrastructure services– Automatically scales like per-device charges– No disincentives for multi-device nomadic users– Use financial motivators to limit excess consumption
• One-time charges for expensive phones, software licenses, items such as Vocera badges, etc?
• Normal billing for excess needs such as large numbers of network jacks, high Internet capacity, etc?
Some Financial, Organizational and Policy Implications to Consider
• Many possible financial alternatives– Focus on overhead-type funding?– Per-user instead of per-device charges?– Continue with per-device charges?– Ensure that charges reflect the true cost of a
service• Avoids providing a financial incentive for users to
do the wrong thing over the long run
Coming Events
• What is next for the ICS Group
• ECAR Project– Research report on Integrated Communications
in Higher Education
• Future Meetings– Changes in standard meeting schedules
• Is your campus working in these areas or is it an interest of yours?– Consider joining the ICS working group
• http://www.educause.edu/netatedu/groups/ics
• Next meeting – Tempe AZ - February– Topic
Thank You
• Krystal Bullers• Douglas Carlson• Michael J. Enyeart• Mark Katsouros• Holly King
• Christopher Peabody• Steve H. Updegrove• Jose J. Valdes, Jr• Wendy Wigen
• Questions and discussion
Special thanks to the ICS Steering Committee