Nortel Wins $300 Million/10 Year Contract To Bring VoIP To Social Security Administration

With expected influx of baby boomers and the need to cover the communications need of Social Security Administration has brought about a new VoIP Porject at SSA known as Telephone System Replacement Project or TSRP. Nortel Government Solutions is the team leader on a 10-year, $300 million project, which will bring SSA and its field offices to over voice over IP.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) has confirmed selection of a team led by Nortel Government Solutions to deploy one of the world's largest enterprise VoIP networks under the 10-year, US$300 million Telephone Systems Replacement Project (TSRP).

The SSA selected Nortel Government Solutions, a U.S. company wholly owned by Nortel [NYSE/TSX: NT], in July 2007 because its solution offered the best value. Deployment was delayed pending resolution of a competing bidder protest.

TSRP is expected to expand and improve services for an anticipated influx of new users, including retiring 'baby boomers.' It will include a centrally managed contact center solution with carrier-class unified messaging and interactive voice response (IVR) capable of supporting 55,000 field office agents. This will provide a common, more friendly 'look and feel' for users and faster, more efficient call handling through skills-based routing that matches each caller's inquiry to the most appropriate agent.

The SSA also expects its new VoIP network to help consolidate monthly public network service charges, decrease operating and maintenance costs, and establish a platform for future services.

"SSA has confirmed its initial assessment that our combination of software, services, government contracting expertise and world-class Nortel products offers the best value for this project," said Chuck Saffell, chief executive officer, Nortel Government Solutions. "We've committed the necessary resources to meet SSA's aggressive deployment schedule and we're eager to get started."

Core network rollout begins immediately and is expected to be complete within 180 days. The schedule calls for replacement of existing telephone systems in 205 of the SSA's nearly 1,600 field offices in the first year and another 500 per year after that. The contract also includes network integration operation, maintenance, user support and training.

The new SSA VoIP network will feature Nortel's Communication Server 1000 switching, Media Processing Server 500 IVR, unified messaging solution with Unified Messaging 2000 core platform and CallPilot*, and IP Phone 1100 Series handsets.

The Nortel Government Solutions team includes General Dynamics, Black Box Network Services, Shared Technologies, York Telecom, High Wire Networks, NetIQ, NETCOM Technologies and Pal-Tech.

Nortel Government Solutions is also involved in a number of major VoIP transitions for U.S. Government customers worldwide, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Energy, the U.S. Senate, the Department of Transportation, the U.S. Air Force and other elements of the Department of Defense.

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tag: Government VoIP, Social Security Administration, enterprise VoIP network, Nortel Government Solutions, Telephone Systems Replacement Project, TSRP, IVR, CallPilot, General Dynamics, Black Box Network Services, Shared Technologies, York Telecom, High Wire Networks, NetIQ, NETCOM Technologies, Pal-Tech.