Final telephone rollout under way

Date Released: Wed, 30 November 2011 00:00 +0200

As part of stability testing over the last few weeks we have already rolled
out into the Struben, Hamilton, and AMM Buildings. We also included the
Research Office. We then formally started rolling out phones into the rest
of Campus on Friday starting with the Eden Grove and Alumni buildings. We
are currently busy with the Main Admin Building excluding the Academic
departments therein.

Our targets for the next few days are:

1. The Library.
2. The Steve Biko Building.
3. The Estates Division.
4. Grounds and Gardens.
5. Building Maintenance.
6. The Dean Of Science.

One thing I need to be very clear on and that is there are known
instabilities between the current and new Systems. Much work was done to try
and eliminate these but we were unable to clear these completely. These are:

1. Not Answered call - just rings.
2. Not Answered call - rings a few times then stops.
3. Answered Call - No sound.
3. Answered call - Just get music on hold.
5. *2 Call pick up does not work - call drops away when picked up.

(these only happen from the new "black" phones to the old "silver" phones)

These problems only happen on internal calls, are very intermittent and only
happen occasionally. The standard solution is to dial again. If it happens
again wait a while and try again...

The only way out of this is to replace the current "silver" phones as fast
as possible. Once all the "silver" phones are gone then the problem is
removed. WE have devised a strategy to try and deal with this a smoothly as
possible. We have targeted the "heavy" usage Departments as this is where
the instabilities in general have hit the hardest. These are mainly Admin
Departments but we have targeted some Academic Departments as well. These
are:

1. Law
2. Geography
3. New Arts Building.
4. Pharmacy.
5. Chemistry.
6. Biological Sciences Building.

(Most of these have had many problems due to instabilities)

We believe that by changing these buildings/departments rapidly we remove a
lot of the load on both the current old System which will reduce the amount
of instabilities experienced and improve the situation for everyone. We
intend to roll out some 500 phones by the end of next week to achieve this.
Once we have gotten the heavy users out of the way we will continue to roll
out phones across campus until the last "silver" phones is gone. However
this is lately to take until early February to complete.

Unfortunately, this is not an ideal time to roll out at speed given the fast
approaching holiday season and pressure of academic reports, but in order to
rid the Campus of these problems we cannot delay. We have split this project
into 3 phases:

1. High intensity roll out - until 15 December. (after this things really
slow down) +- 500 phones
2. Low intensity roll out - 17 December to 09 January (will roll out where
we have access to departments/buildings) +- 150 phones.
3. High intensity roll out - 09 January to 10 February - +-700 phones.

I would like to call for Departments who would like to take advantage of the
first phase as volunteers. The incentive here is that you get away from the
instabilities in the shortest amount of time. Unfortunately, it is
impossible to find a time that will suit everybody. We cannot do everybody
all at once. Bear in mind this affects all users on campus and the faster we
move the less hassle for everyone. Also, we have to do entire buildings at a
time to roll out effectively and cannot roll out "piece meal" individually.

I would like to ask all departments both Academic and Administrative to
indicate a preference in terms of when they would like to receive the new
phones. Access to all offices and rooms with phones will be required.
We will co-ordinate our movements to all departments/buildings with at least
24 hrs warning both by phone and this list.

Bear in mind that this is a massive and quite complex task and things can go
wrong but we aim to keep this to a minimum.

All the phone features you currently enjoy will be available to you again
once you have the new phones. The passwords that you created to login in to
the phones will be retained, but those who have Voicemail will be required
to create a new voicemail box, and a new password will be requested. Should
you experience any problems with the new phones please report the problem to
the IT help desk at 8288 or email support@ru.ac.za clearly including your
name, extension number, contact details and a description of the problem.