WOOLWICH, ON – A seamless high-speed optical fibre network from Atria Networks has successfully linked Woolwich Township with the recently-opened Woolwich Memorial Centre.
Said Brian Detzler, Woolwich Township Facilities Manager and Project Manager for the new $23 million multi-purpose complex, “This Centre’s optical fibre network allows for the integration of our digital phone and data network services. The speed and quality of this network connection effectively forms one ‘virtual building’ for voice and data communication despite their physical separation.”
Woolwich Township’s project planning and management team worked with Xenium I.T. Corp., contractor for the IT component of the Memorial Centre project, to carefully examine all available possibilities for integrating the new Memorial Centre with the Township’s voice and data system. According to Detzler, there were three options; the Township owned some of its own fibre network; there was Atria Network’s proposal to connect the Township to Atria’s high-speed optical fibre network and there was a bid from a wireless service provider.
“We considered all possibilities and determined Atria’s offering was superior in reliability and cost,” he said.
The major obstacle to going with a wireless network between the Woolwich Memorial Centre and the Township Offices, for example, turned out to be potential reliability of that connection. According to Detzler, “We had a wireless provider available, but there were questions of obstructions to wireless reception … they could be overcome, but with future construction (of new buildings possibly interfering with wireless transmission and reception) there could be other obstacles.”
“This facility (the Memorial Centre) has a seven-day a week, 6:30 to midnight schedule for operations and public access. We needed reliable network service into the complex.”
Even though the Town already owned some fibre cable, the cost and time for design and installation on a very short and demanding Memorial Centre construction timetable, “led us back to Atria,” says Detzler. “Their performance in terms of meeting the project timetable was very appreciated… they were fast, and proved to be an excellent supplier with whom to work.”
The results? “The Voice Over IP (VOIP) telephone service over the Atria Network is excellent,” said Detzler.
Detzler is firm, however, about the experience. “If we did it again, we’d choose Atria. We made a correct decision, from a business perspective, deciding factors were their efficiency, low cost and high reliability. Down the road, we’d consider making more use of the Township-owned fibre, but slowly, adding it in with road projects, which is not a short-term program.”
In the bigger picture, the existence of Atria’s web of high-speed fibre in many of southwestern Ontario’s cities and towns presents a potential infrastructure boost to future investment and economic development across the entire region, not just Woolwich Township.
“Both the public and the private sectors need to consider the advantages of Atria’s high-speed network as an opportunity, a resource to aid economic development in this Region,” Detzler adds.
“High-Speed” Project Completion
Woolwich Township chose Xenium I.T. Corporation to look after the Township’s I.T. services and infrastructure. Xenium President Frank Kuschmierz was I.T. Project Manager for the Township of Woolwich on the Memorial Centre Project and worked with Brian Detzler to ensure that the network component of the project was successfully brought in on time and on specification, for all I.T. services related to the new facilities.
Barry Gerth was Xenium’s on-site Technical Specialist for the Memorial Centre project, who worked with Atria on the optical fibre connection. For Gerth, the project “was an enjoyable and successful baptism of fire,” since it was one of his biggest projects since joining Xenium. According to Gerth, “I joined Xenium about 16 months ago,” and as the Memorial Centre project geared up, we and the Township had to hammer out needs and expectations.
“The main requirement was to attach the new Memorial Centre facility directly to the data and software applications at the Township’s Administration Office,” says Gerth. The existing Township offices’ voice phone system allowed four-digit dialing, and the goal was to make the voice and data connection between the Township and the Centre as fast and reliable as possible.
“Discussions (between the Township and Xenium with Atria) got serious at the beginning of 2009, and the technical decisions were made in the late Spring and early Summer of 2009… which meant the implementation had to be pushed as fast as possible… a bit of a crunch, but we got it done,” says Gerth. “The VLAN configuration was based on specific hardware to manage traffic, and since the Centre’s opening there’s been no down time.”
