Robert Keller Case Study
Robert Keller's day job, for the last decade, has been chief technologist for the Ferndale School District in northern Washington. For the past 25 years, he has also been an IT consultant who has deployed countless numbers of technical systems and is now deploying trixbox CE systems and providing trixbox support. "trixbox CE is so easy to deploy it has enabled me to diversify my consulting practice. I have deployed about 15 trixbox systems already and have a number of people who want to deploy them."
Keller didn't know much about IP telephony and had never attempted to install a phone system until trixbox CE came out. After running a test trixbox system in his home, he began deploying trixbox for some of his consulting clients and using it to extend the life of the school district's ten-year old Nortel PBX system. "The Nortel system has really reached the end of its life. It can't efficiently meet some of the needs of the district, but we aren't ready to replace it yet, so I've been using trixbox CE to help extend its lifespan."
In 2006, Keller deployed the school district's first trixbox CE system to provide phone support for the help desk. Since then he has found other unique instances for trixbox deployments. "We are building a new elementary school and the construction crew needed phone service. It was really easy for me to install trixbox onsite at the construction shack to give the crew phone service and then connect them back into the Nortel PBX. With trixbox it is easy to provide remote extensions practically anywhere I want."
Keller has now taken things trixbox a step further for the school district. For an investment of less than $14,000, Keller is planning to deploy a trixbox appliance as the primary PBX at a newly built elementary school. "I will be able to deploy everything - the trixbox appliance, 40 phones, the switches, and an uninterruptible power supply -- for an amazingly low cost."
The school district isn't the only beneficiary of trixbox's ease of deployment and powerful feature set. "trixbox CE has enabled me to diversify my consulting practice," said Keller. "I had never done phone systems before, but now I have more than 15 trixbox deployments under my belt." In addition to trixbox deployments, Keller has created an additional new revenue source for his consulting firm, by providing support to users of self-deployed trixbox installations from around the country.
Pleased with his IP telephony success and knowledge, Keller, who built one of the world's first websites, sees tremendous opportunities for trixbox. "I saw the transformation of the web first hand and I think a similar revolution is happening within the IP telephony market. trixbox is helping to lead this charge."