There are a few updates regarding the campus phone system that may be of interest.
The first one is that billing for the monthly line charge on each number has changed. Line charges are now paid for “off the top,” in much the same way as other campus utilities and services. This means that departments no longer receive a monthly bill for each phone number and was effective beginning the start of our current fiscal year (July).
The second one is that the phones on many of our desks may soon be replaced with software. UFIT has begun deploying “soft phones” (Cisco Jabber/WebEx) in some locations with an eye towards making the software available to the rest of campus sometime this fall. Just like your smartphone, our existing Cisco IP Phones are in essence computing devices that require periodic updates and refreshes. Moving to a soft phone allows the software to be upgraded with ease and eliminates the expense of hardware replacements for the handset. There is currently no timeline for rolling out soft phones in our college, but hopefully we will be able to offer the option later this academic year.