CASE STUDY SITUATION Deploy proper planning to deliver campus infrastructures that can support a technologically rich learning environment, extensive campus construction projects, and customer service while matching technology needs to budgets at Florida State University. SOLUTION Identify and establish long-term relationships with companies that provide outstanding warrantees, on-site training, and quality products. Chose ADC’s TrueNet cable and connectivity solutions for maximum performance and WFX Wi-Fi Array for high-capacity wireless coverage. RESULTS Sustainable and better performing cabling infrastructure, simplified Wi-Fi deployment, and continued support for reliability, cost-savings, and successful technology deployment to meet the needs of almost 40,000 students and 6,000 faculty and staff members. Successful Infrastructure Deployment at Florida State University ADC’s TrueNet ® Cable, WFX Wi-Fi Solution, and Customer Service Deliver Performance CASE STUDY Since its inception in 1851, Florida State University (FSU) has expanded to include 16 colleges that offer over 300 degree programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels, including psychology and medicine. FSU is comprised of over 100 buildings set on the 463-acre main campus in Tallahassee, Florida. While its history stems back to the pre-civil war era, and its buildings stand majestic with their Jacobean architecture, it's what you don't see that makes FSU a technologically rich learning environment. SITUATION Established in June 2000 through the legislative laws of Florida, the FSU College of Medicine is one of the first U.S. publicly funded medical schools in over 20 years. With the chance to build a medical program and associated facilities from the ground up, the college recognized the need to place an emphasis on the integration of information technology resources and medical informatics throughout the curriculum. With its mission of serving the unique needs of Floridians, the College of Medicine graduated its first class of 30 students in 2005. Starting in June 2007, the College of Medicine will admit 120 students a year on the way to a full enrollment of 480 students. Originally housed in temporary space and portable buildings, the College of Medicine broke ground in 2003 on a new $60 million 300,000 square-foot facility constructed in three phases. In 2004, FSU also broke ground on a new $55 million Psychology Complex, designed to bring together some 1,500 students and 50 faculty members who were housed in several buildings around campus and a rented location in downtown Tallahassee. The first phase of the 184,678 square-foot facility was completed in August 2006. This type of construction on the FSU campus is not uncommon as the university continues to build new facilities to serve the needs of the almost 40,000 students and 6,000 faculty and staff members. FSU’s more than 20 current construction projects include a new 88,000 square-foot classroom building, 180,000 square- foot life science and research center, and 168,000 square-foot chemistry building. Within the walls and ceilings of each of these facilities, miles of cabling delivers LAN access, video service, security, and telephone service to create a technologically rich learning environment. And at the core of planning, budgeting, and deployment of this entire infrastructure is FSU’s Office of Telecommunications (OTC). Founded in 1988 with just 10 employees, OTC is now made up of over 100 employees who are responsible for delivering technology to match the ever- changing needs of students and faculty in every area of study. Within OTC is a team of individuals that makes up the Operations and Technology department under the direction of Associate Director Charles Friedrich, RCDD. “At FSU, we [OTC] take care of all the planning, design and installation of the network cabling infrastructure, networking equipment, and service delivery. This is preferred to contracting that work to someone from the outside,” says Friedrich. “The result is a sense of ownership and pride that comes from knowing that if we don’t do it right, we’re going to have to deal with the consequences. Over the past 18 years, we’ve built a team and developed institutional knowledge, training, inventory, and management tools all integrated into a single package.” Built around a central courtyard, the new FSU College of Medicine includes areas for research, education, and administration, and a 300-seat auditorium. The facility features 15 telecommunications closets where over 255,000 feet of ADC’s TrueNet Category 5e cabling terminates to support 1,696 possible network connections. CASE STUDY At FSU, buildings are designed and constructed to be “legacy” buildings, and some campus buildings are 75 to 100 years old. FSU strives to enable future generations of Seminoles to enjoy the campus’ exquisite architecture. While constructing these buildings, OTC is aggressive in planning ample pathway, conduit space, and communications closets. “We design the buildings to easily retrofit with new technology as requirements evolve,” says Friedrich. “I’m very pleased with our planning process, which involves budgeting for each element of the network infrastructure, including manhole systems, outside plant cable, instrumentation, premise cabling, and network equipment—both wired and wireless.” SOLUTION With so much network infrastructure to install and maintain, OTC has relied heavily on steady, mutual relationships with vendors that offer quality products, comprehensive training, and first-rate service. Since the early 1990s, FSU has been using ADC’s cabling and connectivity solutions to deliver network access and telephony service across campus. “Approximately every three to four years, we evaluate four or five different manufacturers of network cabling. We install it, we test it, and we look at performance and ease of use,” says Friedrich. “Then we narrow it down to one specific vendor that outperforms the others, and for over a decade, that has been ADC’s solutions.” With a solid vendor relationship and quality product, OTC once again turned to ADC when it came time to implement the cabling infrastructure in the College of Medicine and Psychology Complex. Both facilities feature ADC’s TrueNet ® Category 5e cabling to deliver 100 Mbps network speeds to the desktop. The cabling also connects to wireless access points (WAPs) throughout the facilities. Ken Johnson, College of Medicine’s director of information technology says, “Every medical student at FSU is provided with a college- owned laptop and PDA during the first year of medical school. Students also receive the same help desk support that is received by faculty and staff. These practices are unusual for most medical schools, not to mention higher education institutions in general. The success of the college's academic program is interwoven with our IT infrastructure, and obviously wiring is a big part of that. Our IT network represents one of the highest concentrations of wired and wireless infrastructure for any academic organization here at FSU.” Ken Johnson, director of information technology for the College of Medicine, knows the importance of a quality IT infrastructure in establishing a successful academic medical program. Charles Friedrich, RCDD With an annual operating budget of over $13 million, FSU’s Office of Telecommunications receives approximately 4,000 work orders and 3,000 telecommunications repairs every year. Tasks can range from a simple move of a phone to cabling entire new facilities like the FSU College of Medicine and Psychology Complex. The department’s staff of ADC trained technicians and RCDDs take care of all telecommunications-related services and systems on campus, including 2,500 CATV outlets, 13,000 local phone lines, and a CISCO/FOUNDRY-powered gigabit and 10-gigabit core network. “We don’t consider ourselves to be technologists. We consider OTC a service organization that just happens to deliver technology,” says Friedrich. “Our biggest challenge is matching technology to needs while meeting budgets and still offering quality customer care.” Web Site: www.adc.com From North America, Call Toll Free: 1-800-366-3891 • Outside of North America: +1-952-938-8080 Fax: +1-952-917-3237 • For a listing of ADC’s global sales office locations, please refer to our Web site. ADC Telecommunications, Inc., P.O. Box 1101, Minneapolis, Minnesota USA 55440-1101 Specifications published here are current as of the date of publication of this document. Because we are continuously improving our products, ADC reserves the right to change specifications without prior notice. At any time, you may verify product specifications by contacting our headquarters office in Minneapolis. ADC Telecommunications, Inc. views its patent portfolio as an important corporate asset and vigorously enforces its patents. Products or features contained herein may be covered by one or more U.S. or foreign patents. An Equal Opportunity Employer 103844AE 11/06 Original © 2006 ADC Telecommunications, Inc. All Rights Reserved CASE STUDY OTC also deployed ADC’s Category 3 cable in each of the facilities to provide separate voice systems. “For E-911 and other operational purposes, we like to keep our voice network separate and secure,” explains Friedrich. “This also makes adds, moves, and changes to the voice system much simpler.” In the new Psychology Complex, OTC installed ADC’s new WFX Wi-Fi Array, a next generation, high-capacity Wi-Fi solution. “We have wireless throughout the entire campus with many different types of devices,” says Friedrich. “We are evaluating the coverage and cost benefits of the ADC WFX Wi-Fi Arrays, and we anticipate possibly deploying them in other facilities in the near future, such as the new classroom building that will see almost 30,000 student visits daily.” ADC’s WFX Wi-Fi Arrays include an embedded array controller to control and optimize up to 16 integrated access point configurations that deliver up to 864 Mbps of Wi-Fi bandwidth over a large area. With the WFX Wi-Fi solution, customers can install fewer devices. This innovative approach simplifies deployment and management of Wi-Fi networks, maximizing the amount of bandwidth and coverage available at a lower cost. RESULTS By implementing and maintaining all telecommunications cabling infrastructure and services on campus, FSU’s OTC is able to keep costs down and easily manage every task at hand. The solid relationship with ADC and quality cable and connectivity components has enabled OTC to continually match needs and technologies with budgets as they did with the FSU College of Medicine and new Psychology Complex. ADC continues to present and demonstrate new products and technologies to further help OTC fulfill their ultimate goal of customer service. As the university moves forward with additional construction projects, the relationship with ADC will prove to be invaluable. “We consistently utilize our partnership with ADC for the warrantees, onsite training, and product quality we need for a successful campus network infrastructure,” says Friedrich. “It has become evident to me over the years that every university needs partners they can count on, and we try to partner and depend upon all our vendors in the same way that we have with ADC. With these types of relationships, OTC and FSU just can’t lose.” Located on west campus, the new five-story FSU Psychology Complex includes a psychology clinic, 49 research labs, and a 220-seat auditorium. Phase 1 of the facility features 10 telecommunications closets where over 143,700 feet of ADC’s TrueNet Category 5e cabling terminates to support 958 possible network connections. . www.adc.com From North America, Call Toll Free: 1-8 0 0-3 6 6-3 891 • Outside of North America: + 1-9 5 2-9 3 8-8 080 Fax: + 1-9 5 2-9 1 7-3 237 • For a listing of ADC’s global sales. Florida State University ADC’s TrueNet ® Cable, WFX Wi-Fi Solution, and Customer Service Deliver Performance CASE STUDY Since its inception in 1851, Florida