Seaford Union Free School District Improves Education with Enterasys Infrastructure

ANDOVER, Mass., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Enterasys Networks, a Siemens Enterprise Communications Company, today announced that the Seaford Union Free School District in New York has deployed Enterasys solutions to upgrade the district network and provide classroom access to new teaching tools, including streaming video to conduct classroom multimedia presentations, a middle school news program, video production classes, and a new network-based testing and grading program.

"School districts have a tendency to be a bit behind on the technology curve," said Fred Kaden, director of technology for the Seaford Union Free School District.  "When you are serving more than 1,000 computers, the last thing you have time for is network issues.  Now that we have upgraded to Enterasys C-Series and S-Series switches, we can provide better quality instruction in the classroom and our network has been running without a hitch."

The new Enterasys network serves the entire district, including two elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school.  Prior to the upgrade, the 3,200 faculty and students acted as administrators of their own machines.  With Enterasys Network Management Suite (NMS) software, the limited IT department can now easily centrally manage the network with automated policy management.  "We've been amazed at the capabilities of Enterasys NMS," said Kaden. "With the ability to control the network down to an individual level, we're able to prevent malicious activity and avoid network downtime."

Each classroom in the district can utilize the network to stream video over the Web to show in the classroom, which has proved beneficial when sharing news events or community resources, such as the latest video from the police department.  Furthermore, the Enterasys switch ensures there is adequate network capacity for any classroom real-time streaming requirements.  The network upgrade has also allowed the district to offer new classes, including higher-level engineering and digital photography, which utilize the infrastructure for instruction.  Finally, the district has also eliminated its old Scantron testing and grading sheets in favor of a network-based testing program, saving 27 cents per Scantron page.  

In addition to lowering costs, the Seaford IT department has also realized time savings as the yearly project of re-imaging machines over the summer has been reduced from six weeks to one week.  "We used to have to hire two temps every summer because we had to image each individual computer," said Kaden.  "The remote administration capabilities have been huge for us, saving us weeks of time each summer."

Seaford has plans to leverage their network for several new projects.  The district is currently installing IP cameras throughout the district for security purposes.  The new network allows all equipment to reside on a separate VLAN so the necessary security applications will not impact the instructional side of the district, while also enabling the IT department to easily manage the video with Enterasys' automated networking capabilities.  The district is also planning to deploy centrally managed wireless access throughout the schools.

"The interoperability and installation of the Enterasys network was 100 percent seamless.  The switches were pre-programmed, so we plugged it in and it ran beautifully," said Kaden.  "The result is an enriched educational environment that is made possible by the new network infrastructure"

About Siemens Enterprise Communications GmbH & Co KG

Siemens Enterprise Communications GmbH & Co KG is a premier provider of end-to-end enterprise communications, including voice, network infrastructure and security solutions that use open, standards-based architectures to unify communications and business applications for a seamless collaboration experience. This award-winning "Open Communications" approach enables organizations to improve productivity and reduce costs through easy-to-deploy solutions that work within existing IT environments, delivering operational efficiencies. It is the foundation for the company's OpenPath® commitment that enables customers to mitigate risk and cost-effectively adopt unified communications. Jointly owned by The Gores Group and Siemens AG, Siemens Enterprise Communications GmbH & Co KG includes Cycos and Enterasys Networks. For more information about Siemens Enterprise Communications GmbH & Co KG or Enterasys please visit www.siemens-enterprise.com or www.enterasys.com

SOURCE Enterasys Networks