Stevens Institute of Technology tames the “Wild West” of campus communication with Zoom

Education thrives on connection and building relationships between students, faculty, and departments. But when communication is disjointed, learning and support can suffer.

Not long ago, Stevens Institute of Technology faced a disconnected educational experience. The institution’s motto, “Inspired by humanity, powered by technology,” reflects a people-first outlook. However, their communication tools couldn’t keep pace with modern learning needs.

Faculty, staff, and students relied on numerous outdated systems. The phone system ran on aging Cisco hardware with limited features, while classrooms and meeting rooms were a technology free-for-all.

Without modern, standardized tools, the school struggled to provide support quickly, and hybrid learning options were inconsistent at best. Associate Director of Academic Multimedia Services Harry Ortiz likened it to the “Wild West.”

“People just used whatever was in front of them — Google Meet, Zoom, Webex — there was no consistency. We needed classrooms that were hybrid-capable and provided a seamless experience,” Harry said.

Stevens had already invested in its internet infrastructure, ensuring more than 99% uptime. The next step was finding a unified, cloud-based communications system that could be the foundation for student support services, collaboration, and hybrid learning. Zoom was the answer.

The first step was to address student concerns. When students contacted the university for help, calls bounced between departments, preventing callers from receiving quick answers.

Stevens adopted Zoom Phone and Zoom Contact Center to effectively handle calls at scale. Students call with requests about everything from health and safety and emergency services to financial aid services and enrollment management. The platform’s intelligent call routing quickly connects students with the appropriate department based on availability and other customizable rules. Auto attendants and interactive voice response (IVR) menus guide callers to the right place without endless transfers. These features have helped to decrease response times and faster resolutions.

On the backend, the school’s directors get powerful insights from the analytics capabilities within Zoom Contact Center. They can track call volumes, monitor performance, review response times, and use call recordings for training to keep teams effective and responsive.

As hybrid learning became the norm, Stevens needed seamless classroom learning experiences for all students, regardless of location. Zoom Rooms offers a consistent, high-quality platform with features like HD video and audio and flexible hardware options to foster an engaging learning environment so students can actively participate from anywhere.

“Zoom’s tools open up multiple opportunities for faculty to communicate and foster discussion. Students can participate in group projects, collaborate in real time, and engage more actively in their courses,” explained Associate Director of Learning Technology Wei Li.

Breakout rooms, digital whiteboards, and live polling make courses more interactive, while live transcription and recording give students the flexibility to review lessons and revisit lectures at their own pace.

“Getting a class recording is incredibly simple,” Harry said. “Students just enter their email on a prompt, and within minutes, the recording’s in their inbox.”

Standardizing classrooms across campus using Zoom Rooms has made life easier for faculty, too.

“Faculty don’t want to spend the first 10 minutes of class troubleshooting technology,” Harry said. “With Zoom Rooms, they can just plug in and start teaching.”

Zoom’s seamless integration with other classroom and meeting room technology has been another win. They use the Poly X52 Samsung display, an all-in-one unit with a built-in camera and microphone. They also rely on the Poly TC10 touch controller, which is cost effective and easy to deploy. Other partners include DTEN, Epson, Shure, JBL, Logitech, and Dell. To date, 75 classrooms and meeting spaces at Stevens run on Zoom Rooms, and they plan to expand to 90 spaces by the end of 2025.

Stevens further expanded its Zoom footprint by migrating 2,000 lines from an outdated Cisco phone system to Zoom Phone.

“The Zoom admin portal is easy to understand, and Zoom has done a good job in documenting the process,” said Senior Director of Client Support and Learning Technology Services Michael Scalero. The Stevens team also leveraged Zoom Professional Services, which made the process even simpler.

The impact of streamlining cross-campus communication was immediate: onsite hardware decreased by 84%, reducing costs and increasing flexibility.

Instead of being chained to their desk phones, faculty and staff can now make and receive calls from anywhere, on any supported device. Shared line groups help staff members answer key office numbers so calls don’t get lost in voicemail limbo.

At the same time, Zoom Meetings has become the backbone of daily collaboration. Faculty use it for live lectures, group projects, and study sessions, while departments rely on it for meetings, project discussions, and virtual events. Combined with automatic meeting summaries and smart recordings offered by Zoom AI Companion, work becomes much more manageable.

“Zoom AI Companion features like meeting summaries and smart recordings make it much easier to catch up and revisit key points without having to manually take meeting notes,” Louis said.

The summaries clearly outline key points and next steps, helping everyone stay aligned. Smart recordings with search functionality and smart chapters are also helpful for quickly navigating to important and relevant discussions. Overall, Zoom AI Companion improves work efficiency and productivity.

Since rolling out Zoom, feedback from students, faculty, and staff has been overwhelmingly positive. Surveys showed satisfaction levels soaring past 90%, far exceeding expectations. For Harry, that’s the ultimate success metric.

Beyond making life easier, Zoom has delivered serious cost savings. Thanks to simplified infrastructure and a reduced hardware footprint, the school has saved 30% on classroom technology costs.

“In the past, outfitting a classroom required a tall equipment rack, now everything fits neatly inside of a podium,” Harry said.

Customer support has been another standout. “We get excellent customer service from Zoom every time,” Wei added. “Whenever we need anything, our rep responds immediately, always offering best practices and solutions. We feel fully supported.”

Zoom has transformed campus-wide connections at Stevens, making learning more accessible and interactive. The campus has left the Wild West behind, leveraging advanced communication tools to create an innovative learning environment.