General Dynamics to install VOIP at Pentagon

General Dynamics Network Systems won an $18.4 million contract from the Defense Department to design and install voice-over-IP for DOD's Renovation and Construction program office.

The award represents continuing work on the Wedge 2-5 stage of the modernization project. Wedge 2-5 refers to a project phase that involves the renovation of four million square feet of space in the Pentagon. The work includes modernizing the physical plant and the information technology and telecommunications infrastructures.

Wedge 2-5 also includes completing a new building-wide telecommunications backbone to provide integrated voice, video and data communications over unclassified and classified DOD networks. DOD plans to complete the renovation project by December 2010.

The contract modification, announced recently, specifically addresses VOIP, said Daniel Busby, vice president and general manager for Army infrastructure sector at General Dynamics IT.

The VOIP aspect of the modernization work is part of a larger effort undertaken by the Defense Information Systems Agency to deploy the technology at several installations, Busby said.

The aim is to "design and deploy a telephony system that is capable of supporting and meeting the subscriber and network demands of the Pentagon user community," Busby said. "This includes all call processing support, multiple classes of service, priority service, required adjunct and back-office components and continued support for legacy telephony equipment."

The award modification also includes work on several other projects for DOD organizations.

"This work is primarily for parts of the Office of the Secretary of Defense staff, specifically acquisition, technology and logistics, and includes work for offices of several field operating agencies and the military services," Busby said.

The contract also authorizes audio-visual work in several conference rooms, upgrades to a press briefing room and additional security equipment, Busby added.

General Dynamics Network Systems is a unit of General Dynamics Corp. of Falls Church, Va.

The parent company, which has 81,000 employees and had annual sales of $24.1 billion in 2006, ranks No. 4 on Washington Technology's 2006 Top 100 list of the largest federal IT contractors. The 2007 Top 100 list is due out May 14.

Buxbaum in a freelance writer in Bethesda, Md.