Success Stories

Holy Cross College

Industry: Education
Founded: 1966
Location: Notre Dame, Indiana
Telephone System: Cisco Call Manager
Network: Microsoft Exchange
Cisco Solution: Cisco Unity™

Holy Cross College is an independent, Catholic higher education institution founded by and operated within the tradition of the Brothers of the Congregation of Holy Cross. It offers the first two years of collegiate study in the liberal arts to men and women who want to improve their education and whose determination and ability indicate that their purposes can be served by the College. Located just north of the city limits of South Bend, Indiana, Holy Cross College is adjacent to the campuses of the University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary's College.

Adding Institutional Value

An effective communications system is a fundamental component of today's educational infrastructure. Post-secondary institutions worldwide are adding value to existing services and offerings by adopting more advanced systems that deliver a wider range of features. When Holy Cross College migrated to IP telephony in August 1999, it significantly expanded services available to faculty and staff members.

Flexible and Efficient Communications

"We made a major leap from a 15-year old traditional telephone system without voice mail to IP-based telephones with unified messaging," says Brother Charles Drevon, director of campus technology. "We wanted to manage communications more efficiently. With the old system, messages would sometimes be lost or misdirected. With Cisco Unity, we have better messaging capability and more flexibility with how we direct our incoming calls. For example, our receptionist can now forward incoming telephone calls to a live or automated attendant when she needs to leave her desk. I also like that Cisco Unity's call handlers are customizable -- it's easy to set and change the greetings people hear when they call into the college."

Staying Connected from a Single Inbox

Cisco Unity delivers all message types, regardless of media, into a single inbox, providing centralized communications control. People at Holy Cross also have the flexibility to access and manage all their messages using a desktop PC, touchtone telephone or the Internet. "The president of the college isn't on campus every day," Drevon notes. "But it's easy for him to stay connected because he can access all his messages over the Internet when he's away."

Faculty members also find it easier to stay connected with Cisco Unity. "Faculty can call into the system to retrieve their voice and e-mail messages even when they're off campus, which is very convenient," says Drevon. "Also, many people on staff don't have much experience with voice mail systems, so they take advantage of their PCs to play back voice messages."

Maximize Resources Using the Internet

Cisco Unity's Web-based system administration console helps the campus technology department maximize college resources. Although adjunct professors at Holy Cross have individual workspaces, they often share a common telephone. "With Cisco Unity, I can create multiple voice mailboxes for a single extension," Drevon says. "This way, even though our adjunct professors share the same telephone and extension number, they each have their own voice mailbox."

Visiting faculty can also use ActiveAssistant™, Cisco Unity's personal Web interface, to record outgoing greetings in their own voice. With ActiveAssistant, Holy Cross faculty and staff use the Internet to configure their voice mail settings based on personal preferences, helping them get the most out of each workday.

Built to Simplify Maintenance

Cisco Unity's true unified architecture features a single directory service and a single message store, minimizing administration and support costs. "I'm responsible for tech support across the entire campus," notes Drevon. "Cisco Unity's Web-based system administration feature saves me time and effort. The administration console's graphical interface i