The evolving demands of remote and hybrid teaching, learning, and work have transformed what our community expects from telephone service. Successful hybrid or remote work requires a flexible method of communication to keep people connected and offer them new ways to interact, collaborate and enhance productivity. To meet those needs, the University of Michigan is transitioning our telephone system to a unified, cloud-based telephone system, or softphone. Leveraging the Zoom platform, faculty and staff members of the UM-Ann Arbor, UM-Dearborn, and UM-Flint campuses can make phone calls from almost anywhere with their U-M telephone numbers. Zoom Phone provides all the features available in a traditional phone system while adding advanced features that support an improved work experience, such as switching seamlessly from a call to a meeting. ITS will continue to roll out additional supported Zoom Phone features, such as the ability to send text messages from U-M numbers, and phone numbers with multiple-line capability within a year.
To date, ITS has completed the transition of more than 2,000 phone lines and will continue to migrate lines until completion within a year. Users across U-M shared positive feedback about their smooth transition, ease of use, and various features of the Zoom Phone. U-M ITS Chief Information Officer Ravi Pendse adds, "This is a major step forward for integrated communications across our three academic campuses."
Join our session to learn about the telephone upgrade project and our four-phase implementation plan; including what worked well, what didn't, and how Zoom Phone aspects can expand our ITS goals to provide innovative telecommunication systems.
From Copper to Cloud: Transforming U-M's Telephone Service to the Modern Age - Slide Presentation