Webster University Adopts New VPN and Video Conferencing Solution

Webster University, based in St. Louis, MO, will implement a global virtual private network (VPN), a custom video conferencing solution, and network security services with the goal of improving delivery of education to its students and campuses around the world.

Webster University operates metropolitan, military, and corporate locations around the world and traditional residential campuses in Asia, Europe, Africa, and North America. "Over the past year, Webster has been re-evaluating its global IT supply chain," said Kenneth Freeman, vice president and chief information officer for Webster, in a prepared statement. That re-evaluation has resulted in a global collaboration agreement with AT&T.

As part of the university's new collaboration with the telecommunications giant, the university will implement an AT&T VPN (AVPN), which is a multi-label protocol switching (MLPS) based network that can connect managed and unmanaged locations and support point-to-point protocol (PPP) and multicast connections, according to information on the company's site. The university will also implement AT&T's network-based firewall and Web security services to help reduce cyber-security threats, as well as a custom video conferencing solution that will let Webster students from around the world attend classes simultaneously.

"This new collaboration with AT&T will allow us to engage, educate, and interact with students in a way that our previous network would not allow," said Freeman.

Webster University is a private, non-profit university based in the United States. It serves 22,000 students at campuses on four continents.

Information about AT&T's education solutions can be found at att.com/edu.

About the Author

Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].

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