IP VPN helps steel company in network reliability

Computerworld - O'Neal Steel Inc. last year began rolling out an IP virtual private network to consolidate networking functions for voice, data and video traffic, and has begun relying on it for a voice over IP rollout this spring.

The steel company, in Birmingham, Ala., picked AT&T Inc. for the IP VPN, which it used to consolidate network functions at 28 locations with eight different affiliates last year, said Kenny McCrary, technology manager for O'Neal, in a recent interview.

A VoIP rollout over the IP VPN started in Atlanta late last year, with Little Rock, Ark., and Memphis expected to be on VoIP by the end of March, McCrary said.

A consolidation of networking functions was envisioned in 2000 with a business process review, he said. "We wanted to get out of the hardware business with all the routers in remote locations, so we looked at fully managed solutions," McCrary added.

VoIP switching will come from Avaya Inc. products, and McCrary said he expects to save money on long-distance dialing costs, which have been as mich as $18,000 a month.

The IP VPN replaced point-to-point frame relay, which had experienced outages that O'Neal could not afford. ISDN is used as a backup now. "I have nothing but rave reviews for AT&T," he said. "We have a reliable network now" and one that can handle expanded applications such as VoIP. He did not know the cost of the AT&T IP VPN, he said.