ANN ARBOR – Merit Network has rolled out its Merit NOC, MeritVideo, and Merit Storage Cloud services, new offerings that provide new benefits to its Members.
“We’re very excited by Merit’s new services,” said Rob Golden, Merit Network’s vice president of Research and Development. “They are the latest chapter in Merit’s effort to meet our Members’ most pressing needs. These services assist our Members in performing some of their most essential functions: providing and maintaining reliable, robust networks, leveraging the power of video conferencing, and solving the problem of explosive data storage growth.”
Since 1987, Merit’s Network Operations Center (NOC) has been monitoring complex networks, including the NSFNET and Merit’s backbone network. The Center is staffed by NOC analysts that are among the most experienced in the industry. Merit Network recently began offering Merit NOC Services,
24X7 network monitoring, reporting, and trouble resolution. The new service can improve network maintenance coordination and decrease outage times for the Member’s local or WAN network.
“We have significant experience and a customer service perspective,”
said John Labbe, Merit’s NOC manager. “We will partner with Merit’s Members and manage their network services as if they were our own.”
“The economies of running a NOC just do not scale except for the largest organizations. Hardened physical facilities, redundant systems, tool development, staff training and sufficient depth to ensure 24 hour coverage and management all can create significant barriers to implementing a well functioning NOC. The Merit NOC can provide these services at more reasonable price, affording you 24X7 coverage without the expense and overhead.”
Merit NOC Services save staffing expenses and support administrative efficiencies for Member organizations, and by using tools such as Zenoss and Remedy, Merit’s Network Operations Center can readily monitor multiple environments, including computer networks, phone systems, security alarms and systems, servers, applications, and power status.
Merit NOC Services are currently being used by the University of Michigan, Washtenaw Intermediate School District, Michigan Lambda Rail, and other organizations.
In 2008, Merit launched the Merit Video Collaboration Service (MVCS), which provided end-to-end, interactive videoconferencing solutions. The service was well received by Merit’s membership and was recently renamed MeritVideo to incorporate enhanced and additional features.
MeritVideo is a suite of video services that can be customized to fit an organization’s needs and includes multipoint videoconferencing, event streaming, media storage, and professional consulting. MeritVideo provides high-definition and standard-format interactive videoconferencing over IP and ISDN connections, with each videoconference monitored by Merit’s Network Operations Center to ensure the best video and quality possible. MeritVideo also offers flexible media storage options that can accommodate multiple audio and video formats for on-demand delivery, which is ideal for streaming recorded presentations or events from a centralized location. MeritVideo is used by Michigan Technological University, Michigan State University, Michigan Community College Association, Alpena Community College, and other organizations.
Merit recently announced to its Members the creation of the Merit Storage Cloud, a new on-demand storage service that can be customized to satisfy an organization’s growing needs. Cloud computing and network-based storage has been a frequently requested service from our membership, and Merit has developed the new service to meet the demands of higher education, government, and other non-profits. Merit is currently accepting service subscriptions through its Member Portal, with the service scheduled to begin operation on March 31st.
Merit Network is dedicated to developing new services that create organizational efficiencies and deliver cutting-edge applications over its high-speed backbone network. Merit NOC Services, MeritVideo, and Merit Storage Cloud services join MeritMail and MeritVoice as the latest, leading-edge services developed to meet the growing needs of the Merit community.
For more information, click on Merit.Edu
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