1. Unified Messaging at Williams College A Cost Model Analysis By Mark Berman Copyright Mark Berman, 2002. This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author

2. The Background Williams College is an elite Liberal Arts College E-mail has been in use ubiquitously since 1991 Voicemail was introduced in 1996 E-mail is used regularly by all students, faculty and administrative staff Voicemail is not as widely used

3. The System Avaya Communications is the vendor for the Octel voicemail system They recommend a third-party solution called “Message Bridge” Message Bridge will pass messages from the Octel system to any standards compliant e-mail server

4. TechnoTrivia A required upgrade to the Octel system will allow FAX reception in voicemail The Message Bridge converts audio messages to.WAV and FAX messages to.TIFF Any multimedia capable computer can receive, store, edit, forward, or include these messages in other documents

5. Added Value The ability to receive FAX will reduce need for FAX machines on campus Metcalfe’s Law states that the value of a network is equal to the square of the number of users

6. What is Modeling A model is a simulation or representation of an object or process Physical networks or computing equipment can be usefully modeled, check out Opnet: WWW.OPNET.COM

7. What is Cost Modeling? Costing is the allocation of expenses and benefits associated with a system or project A cost model is a system of static, variable, and probable costs and benefits presented in an understandable way

8. Types of Costs Past and Future Costs Sunk Costs Direct (parts/labor) and Indirect Costs Fixed and Variable Costs Long-run and Short-run Costs Unit Costs $Walljack=$Network/#Drops

9. Valuing Benefits Difficult in Higher Ed Utilization Measures and Projections Cost Avoidance Cost Recovery Competitive Factors Metcalfe’s Law: The Value of a Network = #users 2

10. The Modeling Process A Life Cycle model was used The following steps were followed: Define Requirements Describe the System Life-Cycle and identify activities in each phase Develop a Cost Breakdown Structure Establish/Estimate costs for each activity Develop a cost model using Analytica Identify Benefits and Drawbacks & assign Values Evaluate the Cost Model and make a recommendation

11. The Cost Breakdown Structure

12. Variable Definitions Basic Purchase price (Hdwr & Sftwr) Installation & Configuration Integration with existing systems Data Entry Training and Support Systems Administration Network and E-mail system impact Maintenance & Support Retirement and Decommissioning

13. The Model

14. Results StatisticResult Min$150,200 Median$159,500 Mean$159,500 Max$168,300 Std. Dev.3659

15. Analysis Using original purchase price as value of existing voicemail system Model sets cost of proposed system Metcalfe’s Law shows that the increase in value of the network exceeds the cost of the proposed system PURCHASE IS JUSTIFIED! Let’s look at the model in detail…

16. How to get Analytica http://www.lumina.com/reg/acanalytica.htm

17. That’s All! Questions?