Private School Gets Networking, Unified Comms Upgrade

By The Business Solutions Network

What began as a simple wireless AP install grew into a complete communication solutions opportunity for an integrator.

In Business Solutions magazine, we love stories where a solutions provider doesn’t just perform an install, but rather, uses a project to become a trusted advisor and springboard into additional upsell with the customer. The story’s even better when the ending involves recurring revenue. Such is the case with Matrix Communications and its project for Hill-Murray School, a private school that provides a Catholic Benedictine middle and secondary education to students in St. Paul, MN.

The story begins back in 2011, when a Matrix account executive uncovered a need for wireless networking infrastructure at the school. With an increasing number of mobile devices being used in the classroom (one for each student), Hill-Murray’s existing wireless network couldn’t support the amount of traffic being generated in each classroom. Frank Millo, VP of sales and operations for Matrix, says there was a lot of competition for the wireless project, based simply on price. Because selling on price is never a winning sales strategy, Matrix had to sell the customer on its value and the strength of its brand to win the business. Shortly thereafter, a proof-of-concept pilot was put in place, and Matrix received the green light for the project. “We installed 80 Extreme Networks wireless APs for coverage in every classroom,” says Millo. “The entire rollout took about a month. This resulted in students being able to use their wireless devices with no trouble.”