University of Glasgow

Background

The University of Glasgow, founded in 1451, is one of the world’s leading research institutions and a member of the prestigious Russell Group of UK universities. With a global reputation for academic excellence, the university serves a diverse student and faculty population. As part of its "World Changers Together" strategy, the university continuously modernizes its infrastructure to enhance learning, research and collaboration.

For more information, visit the University of Glasgow website. 

Objectives

The University of Glasgow faced significant challenges with its legacy telephony and contact center systems. The existing on-premises Cisco IP PBX and ISLX PBX, along with a Cisco Unified Communications Manager/Unified Contact Center Express solution, were outdated and incompatible with Microsoft Teams. These systems struggled to support the university’s growing communications needs across multiple sites, including historic Grade II listed buildings with analog infrastructure. The university sought a solution that would provide:

• A seamless migration from legacy telephony to a modern, cloud-based system.
• Improved resilience and manageability of communications.
• Integration with Microsoft Teams for a superior unified communications experience.
• A future-proof solution that could support ongoing digital transformation.

With thousands of faculty members, students and administrative staff relying on efficient communications, the university needed a solution that ensured reliability, flexibility and scalability.

The University of Glasgow faced significant challenges with its legacy telephony and contact center systems, which were outdated and incompatible with Microsoft Teams.

Seamless Migration to Microsoft Teams Voice Calling and Cisco Webex Contact Center

To address these challenges, the University of Glasgow partnered with AudioCodes and Nasstar to implement a comprehensive telephony migration, moving to Microsoft Teams voice calling and Cisco Webex Contact Center. The solution was designed to modernize communications while maintaining continuity for legacy systems. Key components of the deployment included:

Mediant Virtual Edition (VE) session border controllers (SBCs)

AudioCodes’ market-leading, Microsoft Teams-certified Mediant Virtual Edition (VE) session border controllers (SBCs) were deployed to regulate voice traffic between different voice networks and platforms, such as the PSTN and Microsoft Teams. Two Mediant VE SBCs were deployed in a high availability configuration to ensure continuous operation in case of network problems or failures.

MediaPack 1288 analog gateways

AudioCodes’ best-of-breed MediaPack 1288 analog gateways were deployed to enable the continued use of legacy analog devices, including fax machines and PBX systems, within the new IP-based telephony infrastructure.

405HD IP phones

More than 1,000 AudioCodes 405HD IP phones were deployed and registered to Microsoft Teams via the Microsoft SIP Gateway, with local SBCs providing failover functionality.

One Voice Operations Center (OVOC)

The AudioCodes One Voice Operations Center (OVOC) management platform was chosen to provide centralized monitoring, provisioning and management of SBCs, analog gateways and IP phones, ensuring optimal performance and quality of experience.

The phased migration plan included converting 800 analog phones to SIP, deploying Microsoft Teams-certified telephones and integrating SIP/call plan carrier services. The solution also featured local survivability mechanisms to ensure communications resilience across the university’s sites. Additionally, thorough testing and quality assurance were conducted throughout the migration process to ensure a smooth transition, minimizing disruption to staff and students.

By integrating Microsoft Teams with Cisco Webex Contact Center, the university successfully created a hybrid communications environment that maximized efficiency and reliability. The flexibility of the AudioCodes solution allowed for easy scalability, ensuring that the infrastructure could grow with the university's evolving needs.

Results

The implementation of the AudioCodes-powered solution transformed the University of Glasgow’s communications infrastructure. By migrating to Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex Contact Center, the university established a unified, cloud-based communications platform that replaced fragmented legacy systems. The integration of AudioCodes SBCs provided enhanced resilience and reliability, ensuring continuous system operation even during network disruptions. At the same time, the seamless connectivity with legacy analog devices allowed the university to modernize its telephony infrastructure without sacrificing essential functionality.

With the deployment of OVOC, the university significantly improved the manageability of its communications network. Real-time monitoring, analytics and remote device management simplified administration, reducing IT workload and increasing efficiency. The transition to a cloud-based system also led to substantial cost savings by eliminating the need for on-premises hardware maintenance while enhancing operational effectiveness.

Additionally, the new system provided greater flexibility for staff, allowing seamless remote access to the telephony system. The improved quality of experience (QoE) monitoring ensured consistent performance and a better user experience for both faculty and students. Beyond meeting the university’s immediate needs, this future-proof solution positioned it for ongoing digital transformation, paving the way for further technological advancements in communications infrastructure. By leveraging AudioCodes’ end-to-end voice networking expertise, the University of Glasgow successfully achieved a scalable and resilient migration to Microsoft Teams, ensuring its communications systems remain robust and adaptable for years to come.

“The migration to Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex Contact Center, powered by AudioCodes, has been a game-changer for our university,” said Steven Jack, IT Specialist at the University of Glasgow. “We now have a resilient, future-proof communications system that integrates seamlessly with our existing infrastructure while dramatically improving reliability and manageability. This project has modernized our telephony while maintaining continuity for our historic campus.”