RAD Data Communications TDMoIP technology

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Tom Keating
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RAD Data Communications TDMoIP technology

With all the buzz about VoIP, newfandangled IP-PBXs, SIP phones, etc. we shouldn't forget large legacy infrastructures in place that cannot afford to rip out their existing phone system and replace it with a new IP-capable one. But there are still cost savings to be had by transmitting voice over IP/Ethernet networks which is then converted back to TDM for connecting to legacy PBXs. TDM isn't dead just yet ya know!

For that reason, I thought I'd share this bit of news from RAD Data Communications and UCSF Medical Center, which deployed RAD Data Communications TDMoIP technology.

UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco has opted to deploy an evolutionary technology to link all its sites – which include three hospitals as well as 75 offices and clinical locations distributed across three main campuses – onto a single broadband network.

Designed to improve the collaboration and communication among clinical, academic and research programs throughout the medical center and School of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, this ambitious “Unified Network project” relies on a Gigabit Ethernet metropolitan area network (MAN) to carry heavy data traffic such as medical imaging files. The original network configuration demanded 35 point-to-point T1 lines for delivering voice traffic among the sites.

“With new technologies such as Voice over IP (VoIP) available, we wanted to save the cost of the leased lines by also sending the voice traffic over Gigabit Ethernet,” explains Stephen Sproul, Manager of IT Infrastructure Operations at UCSF Medical Center. Several VoIP solutions were tested, but the experiences were “a nightmare,” according to Sproul. “The VoIP equipment didn’t work with our legacy equipment,” he continues. “We had a voice network in place that we wanted to continue using.”

For that reason, Sproul decided to consider TDM over IP (TDMoIP™) technology, an evolutionary solution developed and patented by RAD Data Communications that runs legacy voice traffic over Ethernet-based networks. “Now, several months later, I am pleased to report that all our voice traffic is running over our high speed Gigabit Ethernet MAN,” Sproul states. “Performance thus far has been outstanding,” he adds. “The TDMoIP equipment is working seamlessly with our legacy network.”

UCSF Medical Center installed RAD’s IPmux™-8 TDMoIP gateway at its eight main network locations, with backup units to assure full redundancy. The IPmux series of TDMoIP gateways converts data streams from TDM ports into IP packets for transmission over the packet switched network, while a remote unit converts the packets back to TDM traffic. TDMoIP products take advantage of the IP/Ethernet/MPLS network to deliver voice, fax, modem and data services without compromising traditional PSTN quality.

“We happily disconnected the 35 T1 lines we were using for voice, yielding annual savings approaching $200,000,” claims Sproul. The modular network design enables the IT department to deploy additional communication spans between buildings as needed.
Sproul is also pleased to note that, thanks to all parties involved, the Unified Network project came in on time and on budget, and delivered a return on investment in just about eight months.



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