Case Study

Suburban Boston School Plans Ahead to Future-proof Its Communications Infrastructure

Client: Suburban Boston School

Location: North of Boston

Technology: Communications Infrastructure

Sector: Education

Lifecycle Phases Showing KTS Involvement:

Plan

Design

Install

Service

Solutions implemented by KTS:

Infrastructure

Wireless

Security

Audio Visual

Cellular BDA

A well-established customer of KTS, a private prep school located west of Boston, was planning ahead; they wanted to upgrade their network switches, but recognized that they also needed to upgrade their communications infrastructure for the switch upgrades to be of benefit.

The Work

They contacted KTS to work with them to plan the communications backbone cabling upgrades. The school had been using multi-mode fiber optic cabling and recognized that, with the rapid changes in technology happening year over year, multi-mode fiber would soon fail to be fast enough to support their needs. It was time to transition to single-mode fiber.

Single-mode fiber paired with upgraded network switches would allow the school to keep pace with changing and increasing needs, eliminating data bottlenecks for the foreseeable future.

The school had anticipated the need for this fiber upgrade and included it in their budget to avoid having to act in haste at a later date. They invited KTS to the planning table, and KTS was able to plan the work and replace the multi-mode fiber with single-mode fiber throughout the campus.

KTS installed 12-strand, single-mode fiber in five data closets across the campus, upgrading the school’s communications backbone to anticipate future needs.

Challenges

Some of the buildings on the campus are old. KTS has extensive experience working in older and historic buildings and diligently set about finding pathways they could use to snake the cabling; this included small spaces and steam tunnels.

Benefits/Impacts

The school is now prepared for their needs going forward. As their needs grow, they have a communications backbone that can meet current and future needs. This advanced planning means they are ahead of the curve on technology changes and can feel confident they have minimized the opportunity for costly surprises.