The Challenge
Golden Valley Electric Association (GVEA) is a full generation, transmission, and distribution (GT&D) power utility serving Alaska’s Interior. Like many utilities, GVEA relied on a legacy ROLM PBX system that had served the organization for over 20 years. While reliable in its time, the aging system couldn’t support modern workflows, lacked redundancy, and presented increasing maintenance challenges as parts and expertise became scarce.
The stakes were high: GVEA operates critical infrastructure including a 24/7 SCADA/Dispatch center that coordinates emergency response for power outages across a service territory larger than many U.S. states. Communications failures during emergencies could directly impact public safety.
My Role
I led the complete replacement of the legacy PBX with a modern Cisco Unified Communications platform, delivering enhanced reliability, new capabilities, and a foundation for future communications needs.
System Design
- Architected Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) cluster for high availability
- Designed Cisco Unified Contact Center Express (UCCX) deployment for both business and emergency operations
- Engineered site-diverse redundant ISDN PRI trunks eliminating single points of failure
- Planned endpoint deployment strategy for 250+ phones across multiple facilities
Industrial and Generation Facility Deployment
Beyond office environments, the project extended to specialized industrial facilities across GVEA’s diverse generation fleet:
- Gas Turbine Plants: VoIP endpoints in control rooms and maintenance areas of multi-megawatt combustion turbine facilities
- Coal-Fired Generation: Communications infrastructure at the primary baseload generation facility
- Wind Turbine Operations: Connectivity for renewable generation sites in remote locations
These industrial deployments required ruggedized equipment, consideration for electrical noise environments, and integration with plant operations. Operators needed reliable communications to coordinate with dispatch during generation events and emergencies.
Call Center Implementation
The project required two distinct call center environments:
Business Office Contact Center
- Customer service operations for billing, outage reporting, and general inquiries
- Skills-based routing optimizing call handling
- Integration with business systems for caller identification
- Reporting and analytics for operations management
SCADA/Dispatch Emergency Center
- 24/7 operations supporting grid management and emergency response
- Priority routing ensuring critical calls reach operators immediately
- Recording and logging for incident documentation
- Redundant paths ensuring continuous operation during emergencies
Telco Coordination
- Negotiated ISDN PRI service agreements supporting the organization’s requirements
- Coordinated cutover with multiple carriers
- Managed number portability and service transitions
- Established diverse routing to eliminate carrier dependency
Managed Services
I established this as a fully managed service, meaning my team:
- Performed all system maintenance and upgrades
- Handled all moves, adds, changes, and deletions (MACD) for endpoints
- Provided help desk support for end users
- Maintained documentation and change management processes
Remote Work Enablement
When organizational needs required work-from-home capabilities, the platform was ready:
- Deployed Cisco softphone clients for remote workers
- Configured secure connectivity for home-based endpoints
- Extended contact center capabilities to remote agents
- Maintained call quality monitoring across distributed workforce
Results
The deployment delivered significant improvements across multiple dimensions:
- Reliability: Site-diverse redundant trunks eliminated single points of failure
- Capability: Modern features including unified messaging, presence, and mobility
- Operations: Purpose-built contact centers for business and emergency operations
- Flexibility: Platform supported evolving needs including remote work initiatives
- Sustainability: Fully managed service model ensuring ongoing operational excellence
The system served as a cornerstone of GVEA’s communications infrastructure, supporting both daily business operations and critical emergency response for years after deployment.