Policy and strategy

Scope of service

The central University telephone system covers the vast majority of University buildings. However, there are a few units which it does not cover, the largest one being Accommodation Services.

A small number of Associated Institutes are also covered by the central telephone system.

Voice over Internet Protocol transition

The University has completed the transition from the “traditional” analogue telephone system to the new Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system. Instead of requiring dedicated telephone wiring, VoIP uses the University’s data network to carry telephone calls. The drivers for this change are:

• The existing analogue system (which is over 20 years old) has become un-maintainable due to a lack of spares and we are in the process of decommissioning the system.
• Maintenance costs for the existing system are very significant, while maintenance costs for the VoIP system are substantially less.
• Eliminate the need to maintain analogue telephone wiring in addition to data network wiring.
• Additions and changes to the system are easier and quicker to implement.

As the analogue system is being decommissioned there will be no further  investment or expansion of the analogue telephone network.  This affects requests for new telephone extensions, which will now be VoIP.

Privacy

Information about phone calls is routinely logged. Currently, only calls from University extensions to external numbers are logged. The information may be used for statistical, billing or other management purposes (e.g. to determine which extension called a particular external number at a particular time). However, calls are not listened to or recorded.