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The Telephone Modernization Project aims to upgrade the University's telephone infrastructure by replacing outdated systems with scalable, efficient, and forward-looking solutions. Key activities include transitioning users to Microsoft Teams Phone, updating technologies for call center operations and call recording, and streamlining data to improve asset tracking.

Project goals

• Enhance the faculty and staff experience: Deliver reliable and flexible communication tools that empower University personnel to collaborate effectively and work more efficiently.
• Transform call center capabilities: Implement a modern call center solution that streamlines operations, reduces the number of systems required to manage calls, integrates advanced features such as call recording, and supports improved customer interactions.  
• Modernize telephone infrastructure: Transition from legacy systems to a more modern, flexible, and scalable telephone infrastructure that meets the university's current and future needs.
• Streamline telephone operations: Reduce operational complexity, eliminate outdated processes, and remove analog lines that are no longer used. Identify and evaluate alternatives for services (e.g., fax lines) where feasible. 

Key activities

• Microsoft Teams Phone migration: Transition individual users to Microsoft Teams Phone, a softphone within the Microsoft Teams application. Softphones use the Internet to place calls using a computer or mobile device and bring together chat, video meetings, and calls into one platform. Microsoft Teams Phone allows users to make phone calls from multiple locations, receive transcribed voicemails, and easily transition from chat to call if needed.
• Shared spaces handset deployment: Identify shared spaces where physical handsets are still needed and ensure handsets are compatible with the new telephone infrastructure.
• Call center implementation: Select and deploy a modern call center solution that reduces the number of systems required to manage calls and integrates advanced features, such as call recording, to align with the University鈥檚 communication needs.
• Analog line reduction: Identify and remove unnecessary analog lines that rely on traditional wiring and have limited capacity for calls and data transmission. Explore and evaluate alternative solutions to transition essential analog line use cases (e.g., fax lines) to modern, more efficient technologies where feasible.  

Contact

If you have questions, need additional information, or would like to provide feedback about the Telephone Modernization Project, please feel free to reach out. Below is the list of contacts who can assist you or direct your inquiry to the appropriate person.

Rebecca Vickers, IT Project Coordinator, rvickers@ohio.edu

Chris Hayes, Senior Manager, Infrastructure Platforms & Enterprise Architecture, hayesc@ohio.edu

Don Pendergast, Senior Director, Digital Infrastructure & Operations, don.pendergast@ohio.edu