Deployment of new UD VoIP phones runs from June through July

1:39 p.m., May 30, 2013--University of Delaware faculty and staff will start to receive new Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phones when deployment kicks off on Monday, June 3. Deployment will begin with the north side of campus and will roll out campus-wide through July. 

VoIP service is more sustainable, offers advanced features and allows the University to maintain the same low pricing structure as the existing Centrex phone service.

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Deployment of the new Cisco phones will be conducted by the vendor “Dimension Data” over a two-month rollout that will give each faculty and staff member a “like for like” phone. The new phones will be placed alongside existing office phones and are being provided at no cost to departments.

Each phone will be tagged with instructions for finding detailed information about the new phone service. All faculty and staff are encouraged to visit the VoIP website for frequently asked questions (FAQs), telephone-specific training resources and deployment news. 

Faculty and staff will have two phones (existing and new) on their desk until the entire campus is “cut over” to the new VoIP system in mid-August. Existing Centrex phones will still be needed for inbound calls and voicemail and will still function for outbound calls.

New VoIP phones will be able to make outbound calls before the official “cut over” in mid-August. In addition, before the “cut-over,” they can also receive inbound calls from another VoIP campus phone. See the VoIP website for additional information.

While existing phones will still function in their entirety, faculty and staff are encouraged to use their new VoIP phones for outbound calls to become familiar with the new equipment. Callers making outbound calls from a VoIP phone will need to dial a 9 and then the full phone number. There is no change in the dialing requirements from the current phone system to the new one.

VoIP phones will have Caller ID and message waiting on every telephone, free domestic long-distance calling (including Alaska and Hawaii) and improved sound quality.

UD phone numbers will remain the same. More importantly, the cost of telephone service will not increase.

VoIP carries voice conversations as data packets, which are transmitted over the University network rather than a separate phone network, eliminating the need to monitor and repair the existing, separate telephone infrastructure.

Visit the VoIP website for updates on this important project.