GDC Delivers Multimedia Solution to S & T Telephone for Distance Learning in Rural Kansas
General DataComm Industries, Inc. (NYSE: GDC) announced recently that it has delivered a turnkey multimedia solution to S & T Telephone Cooperative, an independent telephone company serving customers in north-west Kansas, to support distance learning applications for a consortium of schools in its operating area.
The video network will eventually be used for telemedicine services in the region as well. The value to GDC for the video network solution is approximately 1.5 million dollars.
S & T adopted the GDC solution as part of a plan to migrate the schools from their existing analog video distance education system to a higher quality and bandwidth- flexible, digital packet network. The new network connects 18 rural K-12 schools to expand educational opportunity for students within participating schools. Among other benefits the schools connect with Fort Hays Community College (FHCC) allowing high school juniors and seniors to access freshmen level college courses. For FHCC, the network is expected to provide an effective mechanism for recruiting students. For the students, it offers a way to accumulate college credits at no cost.
“We want the students in our rural schools to have access to the same educational opportunities as students in larger communities,” said Mike Gross, Subsidiary Manager of S & T Telephone. “GDC has been wonderful to work with and they are helping us put our commitment to excellence into practice.”
“GDC is a trend setter in providing distance learning solutions for participating schools in Kansas,” said Chuck Johnson, CEO of General DataComm. “The high quality of our video platform creates a meaningful interactive experience among teachers and students.”
The S&T distance learning network features GDC’s award-winning MAC 500 video access concentrator, GDC’s APEX ATM switching technology, and Todd Video Network Management’s TC Reliance videoconference scheduling software. The MAC 500 provides low delay, low bandwidth, MPEG-2 DVD quality video and audio as well as high speed Ethernet for Internet access. The MAC 500’s, deployed at the various user locations, communicate over a mesh ATM network consisting of GDC APEX switches located S & T Telephone’s central office locations. The fully integrated TC Reliance scheduling system from Todd automates and simplifies the management of classroom sessions.
About S & T Telephone Cooperative Association
Since 1952 S&T has evolved into a total communications provider, supplying telephone service, Internet access, and quality CATV programming to its members throughout an eleven county area in NW Kansas. Located in Brewster Kansas, S & T also supports schools and hospitals in the region with state of the art communications services.
About General DataComm, Inc.
General DataComm (NYSE: GDC) is a leader in the design, development, and manufacture of broadband, multimedia, and network access communications for service provider, government, and private enterprise networks. VITAL Network Services L.L.C. provides a full range of professional and traditional support services worldwide for converging data, voice, and video networks.
Contact Information:
General DataComm, Inc., Middlebury
John Wood, 203-577-6222
