51³Ō¹Ļ upgrades to C Spireās new VoIP phone system
Contact: Sasha Steinberg
STARKVILLE, Miss.ā51³Ō¹Ļ is upgrading the campus telephone system to C Spireās hosted Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system, thanks to a new Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services (MDITS) statewide contract for telecommunication services. The new system will offer enhanced features.
51³Ō¹Ļās Information Technology Services (ITS) is preparing to migrate approximately 6,000 phone lines from the current legacy phone system to the new VoIP phone system, with a targeted completion date of June 30, 2019.
Steve Parrott, 51³Ō¹Ļās chief information officer, said moving to C Spireās new VoIP phone system will allow 51³Ō¹Ļ to take advantage of new features and provide improved functionality for those using the universityās phone system.
āOne of the most notable differences with the VoIP phones is the amazing voice quality,ā Parrott said. āEveryone will keep their current 51³Ō¹Ļ phone numbers through this migration process, and we will standardize on a specific VoIP handset.ā
Parrott said the standardized handset will include a high-quality speakerphone, color screen display, the ability to have up to 12 line appearances or custom speed-dial buttons, and the option to add side-cars with up to 56 additional line appearances or speed-dial buttons.Ā
āThink of these phones as mini-computers, as the phones will boot-up similarly to your desktop computer,ā Parrott said.
Included among the numerous features and functions of the new VoIP phones is caller-id with the callerās name being displayed on the phoneās screen for all incoming calls internal to 51³Ō¹Ļ.Ā
Parrott said one of the most significant changes with this transition is the availability of unlimited domestic (i.e., calls to numbers within the continental U.S.) long distance for all VoIP phones at no additional cost.Ā
āThis will have an enormous financial impact for 51³Ō¹Ļ, as the university uses at least a couple of million minutes of domestic long distance each fiscal year,ā he said. āDepartments will no longer be charged for domestic long distance calls once they are migrated.ā
Installation of the new VoIP phones on the Starkville campus starts in mid-September and will proceed building by building throughout campus until complete. The effort is being coordinated by ITS and other campus departments, along with C Spire. ITS also will explore the applicability of this technology for other 51³Ō¹Ļ campuses and locations.
āC Spire has been wonderful to work with in helping ITS kick this project off, and we look forward to partnering with them for a successful and long-term campus-wide deployment,ā Parrott said.
For more on 51³Ō¹Ļās Information Technology Services, visit .
51³Ō¹Ļās ITS Service Desk can be contacted at 662-325-0631 or servicedesk@msstate.edu.
51³Ō¹Ļ is Mississippiās leading university, available online at .