Cisco Cisco Wireless Control System Version 4.0 Prospecto
Customer Case Study
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Major University Meets Students’ Expectations for Wireless
The University of Arizona deploys a Cisco Unified Wireless Network across its campus
to provide ubiquitous network access.
Business Challenge
Established in 1885, the University of Arizona is
among the top public educational and research
institutions in the United States. Its main campus,
located a mile northeast of downtown Tucson,
spans 380 acres, with 182 buildings and a
renowned arboretum.
The university offers 334 fields of study at the
bachelor’s, masters, doctoral, and first professional
levels, including top-rated programs in astrophysics,
hydrology, engineering, and astronomy. In fact, the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) gives more space exploration research
grants to the University of Arizona than to any
other university in the nation.
A couple of years ago, university officials began to
realize that a school known for such outstanding
research needed to offer its students and faculty
an outstanding wireless network. For many young
people, ever-present Wi-Fi access is not just a
convenience or a privilege; it is an expectation.
“There were complaints that the University of
Arizona was behind the times because we did
not have a campus-wide wireless network,” says
Michele Norin, executive director of central IT at
the University of Arizona. Although various staff
members had scattered some individual wireless
LANs around the campus throughout the years,
students were frustrated by the lack of ubiquity,
Norin says. The multiple WLANS also posed a security risk, because the IT staff had no control
over access and authentication for each network.
“A student could log into a wireless network in one building, but as soon as they got to another part
of campus, they would either have to log into a different wireless network or there was no wireless
network at all,” Norin says. “We decided that we needed to have a single system for wireless.”
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
●
Higher Education
●
Tucson, Arizona
●
14,466 employees
●
36,805 students
BUSINESS CHALLENGE
●
Attract new students and engage existing ones
by addressing their expectation for ubiquitous
wireless network access
wireless network access
●
Help ensure that the network can support
future plans, such as wireless voice and
public safety applications
public safety applications
●
Lay the foundation for the growth of
mobile computing
●
Mitigate network security risks
SOLUTION
●
A Unified Wireless Network from Cisco
provides remote management of several
thousand access points
thousand access points
●
Separate Service Set Identifiers (SSIDs) help
ensure secure network access for students
interacting with personal information
interacting with personal information
●
Cisco wireless VoIP phones replace
or supplement traditional wired phones.
BUSINESS RESULTS
●
Students can remotely access course
related information from anywhere on campus,
including classrooms, study areas and the
student union
including classrooms, study areas and the
student union
●
Providing ubiquitous wireless access
enhances the university’s reputation
as a leading educational institution
as a leading educational institution
●
A future public safety network will let campus
police spend more time patrolling the campus
and less time filing reports at their desks
and less time filing reports at their desks
●
Student technology fees pay for most of the
network.
●
The wireless network provides secure network
access and enables new applications, such as
tracking university buses
tracking university buses