Columbia University (Beta) frat home all wired up

[hoosier]

December 6, 2004

Case Study: The New Animal House

Digital integrator Link Your House gets Columbia University frat home all wired up

By Michael Gros


It was back-to-school time when digital integrator Link Your House was hired to help renovate a Columbia University fraternity house.
Norcross, Ga.-based Link Your House does a bit of everything, from home installations and small-business integrations to software development and Web design, and works with customers throughout the United States. In February, the company opened a second office in Hewlett, N.Y., to serve the New York metropolitan area, and in June it began low-voltage installation work as part of the renovation of the Beta Theta Pi frat house.

'The renovation includes everything—phone, data, audio,' says Nick McCullough, president of Link Your House. 'In the common areas, we're putting in projectors, movie screens. [It's] definitely more upscale than 'Animal House.' '

For years, Columbia's Alpha Alpha chapter of Beta Theta Pi has been located in a five-story brownstone built around the turn of the 20th century. In preparation for the chapter's 125th anniversary in 2006, its alumni organization embarked on a complete renovation of the building, both its physical features and the technical conveniences available for its residents.

'After having endured several generations of fraternity members, the building was in real need of updating, both in the underlying mechanical systems and in the modernization of the interior systems,' says Matthew DeFilippis, treasurer of the Alpha Alpha chapter's alumni foundation and chairman of its renovation committee. 'With the tastes and desires of today's students, it wasn't a viable building.'

But students are sure to like the digital transformation being implemented by Link Your House. The integrator is installing CAT5e structured wiring and RG-6 quad coaxial cabling throughout the brownstone, along with cabling for projectors and speakers, while the university is putting in the phone cabling. Plans call for the building's apartments and common areas to have TV/video cabling, voice/data cabling and phone lines, while the main lounge will have a partially recessed 5.1 surround-sound system, a projection television with an 80-inch pull-down screen and wall-mount volume controls. Audio zones with ceiling-recessed speakers and wall-mount controls also will be set up in the dining room, library, lobby and chapter room.

With the CAT5e cabling, residents will have access to a front-door intercom and be able to unlock the door remotely. The house also is being wired for security cameras and will have a phone surge-protection system. 'Fraternity renovations don't occur too often, and even when they do, they don't reach the level that we're doing to meet the needs of the modern student,' DeFilippis says.

The Alpha Alpha chapter is paying for the renovation through fund-raising and alumni assistance, DeFilippis says. Once the project wraps up this month, 18 of the chapter's 40 members will live in the building, which has a maximum capacity of 24.

Besides helping to mark its anniversary and preserve its heritage, the chapter hopes the renovation and systems installed by Link Your House will attract new Beta Theta Pi members by offering better amenities than those available in other fraternities or campus housing, according to DeFilippis.

'We have the only fraternity house not owned by the university, and that's given us a great source of pride. Now that we're erecting something better than what they offer in [other] fraternity houses, it's a great feather in our cap,' he says. 'Not all fraternities at Columbia have a house, and those that do, they're typically university'owned buildings that lack the charm and attractiveness of our building. That will be a big attraction.'

The networking and entertainment solutions being installed by Link Your House will be an especially big draw for students, DeFilippis notes. 'Even though most campus rooms have university Ethernet, our audio/visual and entertainment areas will be much better than what's found in student lounges,' he says. The Beta Theta Pi renovation reflects the variety of work that Link Your House can do, due in large part to its diverse technical capabilities. For example, the integrator developed WebcastMaker, an application that allows users to easily create and deliver online seminars, meetings and video-on-demand presentations. The company is positioning the software as an inexpensive option to the popular WebEx tool, and it can develop presentations for customers using the tool or sell them the application, along with training and storage for their presentations, McCullough says.