Communication Technologies (ComTech) serves as the telephony, cable television, and network service provider for the NC State University community. This unit is responsible for designing, maintaining, and supporting the campus voice, video, and data network infrastructures and all associated components.
Systems & Development
Team Leader and Director
Unified Communications (Business Communication Systems)
Unified Communications (UC) is more than just a phone system. UC integrates the university voice system with applications in a consistent user interface and experience across multiple devices. It is not a single product but a solution consisting of various communication tools and components that provide email integration, call control, audio, video, web conferencing capabilities, mobility solutions, and presence/collaboration and messaging tools.
Services provided by this team include:
- Cisco IP phone services
- Phones and Voicemail
- Advanced Call Routing – Call handlers to answer calls, greet callers with recorded prompts, provide them with information and options, route calls, and take messages. Hunt pilots route calls to a list of predetermined phones, one number reaching multiple phones simultaneously.
- Virtual meeting spaces
- Audio Conferencing—Conduct a conference call with 15 – 125 participants using Conference Now, Cisco Meet-Me, AT&T Meet-Me, or Webex Personal Conferencing.
- Webex Conferencing—This service uses Cisco Cloud Webex and includes multiple Webex platforms. It supports up to 1000 participants in meetings, training, events, and support, except for events (3000 participants).
- Cisco Telepresence Solutions – Telepresence support and configuration of supported Cisco collaboration endpoints.
- Web Conferencing Services – Includes Zoom, Google Meet, and Webex
- Voice Mobility and Presence
- Cisco Jabber – Unified Communications and Collaboration software tool used to make and receive calls and conference calls, voicemail management, chat, and control your desk phone. Use for Hunt Pilot login/out and toggle Single Number Reach on/off. Google Calendar and Cisco Webex integration are included and can wirelessly connect to Cisco Telepresence devices on campus. Supported PC/Mac, iPhone/iPad/iWatch, Android and Android wearables.
- Mobility Solutions—Unified Communications is a great way to increase productivity and enable the efficiency of remote and mobile workers. Includes Single Number Reach and Extension Mobility
- Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Solutions
- Cisco Call Center – Call Center solutions involving Supervisors, Agents, Call Queues, Prompts, and Conditional Logic. Through a web-based user interface called Finesse. Agents and supervisors can receive calls and view metrics. Integration with other campus systems and detailed reporting and recording are available.
- Cisco Call Recording – Inbound and outbound call recording of Call Center agents or individual VoIP lines from each designated line. Users can log in to a website to hear the recordings of their recorded line.
- Cisco Call Center Development – Design and development of Call Center solutions, including documenting Business Logic, Call Flow Design, System Programming, Queue Development, Skills-based Routing, and Custom Integration.
- Engineering and System Administration of the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Suite
- Unified Communication solutions, development, design, testing, and support
- CVM Nortel telephone switch
- Legacy telephone service – Analog copper telephony service is provided through the AT&T Centrex platform and should be used for any connection requiring PCI compliance.
- Life Safety Lines – Telephony service provides analog telephone service for Life Safety applications such as Blue Lights, Area of Rescue Phones, Fire Alarm Dialers, and Elevator Phones.
- 24/7 Support of enterprise real-time communications infrastructure
Network Monitoring & Management Systems Development
- Network Authentication – These services include access to switches, routers, firewalls, and other ComTech-supported devices and software.
- Network Monitoring—Fusion and AKIPs monitor network device uptime, services, and hardware utilization. They are the main systems for alerting network staff.
- Network Management Toolbox—These tools are offered to local IT staff and other campus partners to help support their environments.
- CiscoWorks, NetDisco, Nucleus
- Custom network-related tools for campus IT system administration tasks (patching, backup, and storage)
- Network, UC, and Business Tools DevOps
Software Development
- Including iTRACS, EPIC development, ELM, Sandbox, Call Center App DevOps, and Infrastructure records management
- ComTech API—This allows end-users and customers to interface with ComTech devices without connecting directly to the service. This provides security and allows ComTech to change vendors and products without the end users having to change their API calls.
Business Management/Operations Systems
- PCR 360 – ComTech Telecom and IT Billing Customer Center
- Reporting, Documentation, Training
Is there information we have not provided that could be useful to you? You can email questions and comments to Josh Jury.
Network Services
Team Leader and Director
Services provided by this team include:
- Design, configuration, and maintenance of all campus networking equipment, including routers, switches, wireless network, firewalls, VoIP, access to the Internet, VPN service, IP host registration, and DHCP/DNS services
- Network Design – Design, configuration, and maintenance of all campus networking equipment, including routers, switches, wireless networks, firewalls, VoIP, access to the Internet, VPN service, IP host registration, and DHCP/DNS services.
- Domain Name Service (DNS) – DNS hosting services for colleges and departments at the university and qualifying related organizations.
- IP Address Registration – This service tracks and maintains IP addresses for all devices used on the NCSU campus network.
- Load Balancers – This service provides stability and redundancy for University applications, systems, and servers behind NCSU firewalls.
- Secured Networks—This includes requests for firewalls and other secured networks, including the “NC State Protected Network,” which offers the day-to-day management of these networks. It could also include Compliance Networks such as PCI, HIPA, NIST, etc.
- Virtual Private Networks (VPN) – Provides remote access to and from the NCSU campus network. VPN options include Cloud VPN, Full-Tunnel VPN, and Site-to-Site VPN.
- Wired Networks – This service includes installing, maintaining, and supporting our routing/switching (L2/L3) infrastructure, connectivity requests, changes to wired ports, and other data network services provided by ComTech.
- Wireless Networks – Wireless connectivity for the NCSU campus, including Eduroam, NCSU ssid (NOMAD), and NCSU-Guest (ssid) access options.
- Wireless Network Access—If you are a student, staff, or faculty member, you can enroll your device with eduroam to get instant access to the wireless network at NC State and thousands of other educational and research institutions worldwide.
- Network Operations Center – Staffed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, to manage the day-to-day operations of the campus data and telephony networks. Responsible for maintaining this infrastructure and repairing, installing, and upgrading all associated components.
- Supports and maintains the campus telephony system by handling adds, moves, changes, and troubles
- Campus voice mail support
- Data Center Management and 24×7 operations
- Batch and EDI processing
- Report archive and distribution
Is there information we have not provided that could be useful to you? You can email questions and comments to Greg James.
Engineering & Technology
Team Leader and Director
Services provided by this team include:
- Planning, design, and construction of all physical layer infrastructure across campus
- Network Infrastructure Design – Requests for new construction, renovations, and other wiring and wireless designs using current campus standards. It also includes other Layer 1 engineering services offered by ComTech.
- Design and construction of wireless infrastructure
- Consulting with university departments to meet infrastructure and connectivity needs (including coordination with Facilities for on-campus construction projects)
- Design of network access (layer 2) implementations
- Keep accurate infrastructure records data and make that data available to the campus
- Providing mechanisms for Centennial Campus partners to obtain needed communication and network services
- Creation and maintenance of campus design standards related to communications infrastructure
- Help for Designers of Communications Infrastructure
The following information is designed for architects, engineers, and contractors designing and installing communications infrastructure on the NC State campus.
Campus Building Designs
All new university buildings will be wired according to the University Wiring Standard (UWS) 3.0. The pathway infrastructure should adhere to UWS 3.0 in existing buildings under renovation. The cabling will match what is currently in the building.
Is there information we have not provided that could be useful to you? You can email questions and comments to Jason Proctor.