Case Study: State of Montana achieves faster emergency response and major cost savings with Avaya unified communications

State of Montana Uses Unified Communications to Reduce Emergency Response Times

The State of Montana’s Information Technology Services Division (SITSD) faced aging, siloed telephony infrastructure—10,000 phone lines across 20 PBXs running on legacy T1 circuits and equipment dating to the 1980s—plus high 911 costs, inconsistent dialing plans, no remote management, and safety/response-time concerns. They needed a modern, centralized unified communications system that would reduce costs and improve resiliency and emergency response.

SITSD deployed Avaya Aura (with Session Manager, Communication Manager, Diagnostic Server and 911 Secure Sentry), centralized primary and backup data centers, migrated to SIP and a seven‑digit dial plan, and rolled the solution out in phases with remote diagnostics. The result: roughly $50,000/month saved on voice circuits, $168,000/year cut in 911 costs, eliminated inter-campus tolls and PSTN dependencies, faster emergency response credited with saving a life, improved uptime, and new capabilities for remote work and proactive notifications.

State of Montana

Jeff Unger

Voice Architect