AT&T SIGNS NEW CONTRACT WITH ANDOVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) has announced a new voice and data services contract with Andover Public Schools, Kansas, a public school district serving more than 4,000 students across eight schools in Butler County. Under the terms of the five-year contract, AT&T will broaden its existing relationship with Andover Public Schools by delivering a Switched Ethernet solution to support the implementation of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

AT&T's Switched Ethernet service will support the district's high volume of voice, video, data and Internet services among buildings throughout the district via the public-switched network. The solution will provide expanded bandwidth to sustain educational applications at all eight schools, such as online student testing to comply with local and state regulations. Additionally, the increased bandwidth will support programs across the network such as United Streaming TV and podcasts.

Under the solution, Andover Public Schools will have identical and common equipment deployed in each building to support the new VoIP system, which provides greater efficiency for employees and is more cost-efficient and easier to manage than traditional circuit-switched technology. The converged network will also consolidate many servers throughout the district into a single and secure district data center, allowing for quick and reliable voice, video and data transfers.

"We needed to upgrade our existing communications network with expanded bandwidth to support the deployment of VoIP throughout the district," said Robert Dickson, information technology director, Andover Public Schools.

"We are confident that the solution provided by AT&T will streamline communications and network management while also supporting educational applications, such as online student testing," said Mark Evans, superintendent of schools for Andover Public Schools.

The Switched Ethernet solution will include disaster-recovery services for increased security and redundancy of the network. This solution will also support streamlined communications for efficient voice and data network management. Additionally, VoIP services from AT&T will convert voice calls into data packets, allowing the district to send and receive calls across a high speed Internet connection. VoIP will enable teachers to work in more than one room and route calls based on where they are physically located each day. The increased flexibility in reaching the teaching staff via phone will provide an overall enhancement in parent-teacher communications.

For more information about AT&T solutions for the education market, including K-12 and higher education, please visit http://www.att.com/edu or call 785/276-5992.

About Andover Public Schools

Andover Public Schools is a public school district serving more than 4,000 students across eight schools in Butler County, Kansas. For more information on Andover Public Schools visit http://www.usd385.org.