Gwinnett County Public Schools

A reliable communications system provides a safe and secure learning environment while empowering student success.

Country: United States Of America
Industry: Education
Solution: Autonomous Network, Video Surveillance

Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) is the largest school system in the state of Georgia with 142 schools, 183,000 students and 22,000 employees. The district continues to invest in digital learning as part of their mission to support world class teaching and learning. The advanced network foundation enables GCPS to deliver a secure and supportive outlet for students to learn STEM topics including artificial intelligence, machine learning, healthcare medicine and the arts with technology.

We’ve worked with Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise for many years and they have always been willing to come to the table with a wide range of support and solutions. They are a true partner who understand our needs.

Dr. David Johnson, Director Cybersecurity Architecture, Gwinnett Public Schools

Gwinnett Schools Customer Reference Video

Challenges

The district strives to provide a safe and secure learning environment while empowering student success. Working with a digital divide among students challenged them to elevate all students through technology. The GCPS team recognised using efficient and effective tools would help achieve advanced communications, campus safety, network automation and ease of management.

Action

The GCPS systems run on an all-IP Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise network providing consistent reliable communications inside and outside of the network. To deliver a collaborative environment for all, GCPS built hotspots for students without internet at home.

The district 1:1 Chromebook initiative, virtual reality learning with Meta headsets to explore the Taj Mahal, and a high school-wide E-Sports curriculum all benefit from a high performance, reliable, secure network.

Safety and security are paramount to operating a large district. The network and communications systems are part of the core foundation supporting physical security, camera monitoring, E-911, secure computing and more.

GCPS has found a true partnership with ALE and jointly created a strategic approach to advancing technology. ALE offers system design, has uncovered funding resources, and helped find resolutions when problems came up.

Results

Technical Benefits

Provides consistent, secure, reliable communications and connectivity at the edge
Network feeds 140 schools with no delays in traffic
Cybersecurity: Universal Network Profiles provide secure role-based access control simplifying IT
Delivers district-wide voice reliability using centralised OXE from the data centre with media gateways
The ALE 400 Series phones offer a modern look, with 360-degree audio and commercial grade features
50 OmniSwitches support E-Sports activities in the high schools

Financial Benefits

Save money with long term investment while future-proofing to address evolving needs
Longevity built into the phone system through integration with modern IP network

User Experience Benefits

Ensure connectivity and resources to collaborate over the internet
Deliver seamless, reliable consistent network and communications in/out GCPS
24/7 x 365 service and support: “When we pick up the phone to call, ALE is always willing and able to help. That is priceless,” - Shaun Miles, Director of Enterprise Infrastructure and Network Services
Staff have accurate tools and access to technology to lead successfully