Jeff Custard and Teresa Shibao attend the UCAR annual holiday party on 5 December 2003. At the event, nominees for this year's Outstanding Accomplishment Awards were honored.

Photo: Lynda Lester, NCAR/SCD

Noted for achievement

Jeff Custard and Teresa Shibao of SCD's Network Engineering and Telecommunications Section (NETS) were honored this year by a nomination for a UCAR Outstanding Accomplishment Award in Administrative Achievement.

They received the nomination for their work in designing, planning, implementing, documenting, and training users on an entirely new network-based telephone and voicemail system. The new system, Voice over IP (VoIP), is replacing the old PBX system at UCAR.

Jeff and Teresa performed a detailed analysis of VoIP, including comparisons of cost and technology with traditional PBX systems. They then successfully deployed the new system in Center Green I with short notice and minimal pre-existing infrastructure for the required networking or the new VoIP system itself. The entire UCAR-wide VoIP deployment is on track to be completed in slightly more than a year, starting in October 2002 and ending in December 2003.

It is estimated that VoIP technology will save UCAR $200,000 annually in reduced maintenance costs and $863,100 in one-time acquisition costs versus the costs of simply replacing the existing PBX technology with an updated but similar system.

Also nominated for the Administrative Achievement award were Peggy Taylor of NCAR's Atmospheric Technology Division (for her work supporting four ATD field programs), and Terry Woods and Cheryl Cristanelli of UCAR Human Resources (for their establishment of the UCAR Leadership Academy).

Peggy Taylor won the award, but as UCAR President Rick Anthes notes, "Just being nominated is a major achievement in itself."

The Outstanding Accomplishment Awards are UCAR's most prestigious honors and have been given each December since 1967. Nominations are submitted by division directors and program managers and reviewed by an interdivisional committee.