Computer Science will transition its phone services to an extension based VOIP/SIP system between September 2006 and September 2008. When complete, all faculty, staff, and students will have voice-mail to email at 732-445-2001 (X wxyz). Additional VOIP/SIP services for faculty, staff, and students will be developed during this period and made available when technically and fiscally possible. During the transition full phone service will be maintained for all staff and key personnel. Others may have phone service interrupted or discontinued during this period.
Students will be assigned an extension when they arrive in the department. This extension will remain in effect until the student graduates or withdraws. Current plans call for discontinuing student centrex phone service on November 1, 2006. Voice-mail to email services will be provided prior to phones being disconnected.
Faculty and staff will be allowed to choose their extension with the default being the last 4 digits of the current number. For example, if your number is 732-445-3628, you will be reached under the new system at 732-445-2001(X 3628). Current plans call for discontinuing faculty centrex phone service on December 1, 2006. Voice-mail to email services will be provided prior to phones being disconnected. Faculty may continue full centrex phone service if they arrange to pay for this service from a non-departmental funds (i.e., out of pocket or from Rutgers approved accounts).
This is a work in progress. We are taking every possible precaution to maintain reliable services during this transition and to deliver services as scheduled. Delivery dates and specific services may change during the transition. We will keep users informed of any changes in schedule or services.
| October 16, 2006 | Grad student voicemail to email deployed |
| November 1, 2006 | Disconnect grad student phones |
| November 6, 2006 | Faculty voicemail to email deployed |
| November 20, 2006 | Testing of VOIP/SIP departmental system begins |
| December 1, 2006 | Disconnect faculty phones |
| April 1, 2007 | Last name lookup deployed |
| June 1, 2006 | Begin conversion of staff phones |
| September 1, 2007 | Internal VOIP/SIP system completed |
| September 1, 2008 | VOIP/SIP integrated into I2 community |
CS Grad student voicemail-to-email will go into service for a two week test period. Each student will be assigned a four digit extension in the range 9501-9999. This extension will belong to the student until the student graduates or withdraws.
Automatically generated student web pages will be augmented to include information about voicemail extension. Students will be asked to update any online information containing phone information, and to announce these changes in recitation.
If there are no significant problems identified during our test period all current student phones will be disconnected. Students will be reachable by voicemail using the new extension-based service and by email but it will not be possible to directly dial a phone which the student will answer. Students will not have phones and will not be able to place outgoing calls from their office.
Automatically generated web pages will be updated - out of date information about directly dialed phone numbers (i.e., not an extension) will be removed. Students will be asked to update their online Rutgers contact information to reflect this change.
When these lines are disconnected callers to these numbers will get a message directing them to Rutgers Information (i.e., 732-932-info (4636)). We will provide the Rutgers information service with a complete listing of changes made. RU info prefers to rely on online Rutgers information and it is recommended that you visit https://www.acs.rutgers.edu/facaddupdt/ and update your information before your phone is disconnected.
Faculty voicemail-to-email will go into service for a four week test period. Each faculty will get a four digit extension with the default being the last four digits of their current phone number. For example, if your current phone number is 732-445-3628, your voicemail-to-email number will be 732-445-6450(X 3628).
A few faculty and staff volunteers (i.e., 5 or less) will be provided SIP phones to participate in initial testing of the new environment. These people will be called as 732-445-6430(X wxyz).
Caller ID will be provided on all extensions under 6430. We are using one number for the voice-mail environment (i.e., 6450) and a different number for the VOIP/SIP test environment (i.e., 6430). If you plan on volunteering to test the new VOIP/SIP phones we suggest you inform callers that your new number is 732-445-6430(X wxyz). Unanswered calls to 6430 will accept voicemail and process it identically to that accepted by 6450.
New services will be investigated, tested, and deployed. The specific services and schedules will be developed as we move forward. Documentation will be developed and published as features are tested and deployed.
If there are no significant problems identified during our test period faculty centrex phones will be disconnected. Faculty will be reachable by voicemail using the new extension-based service and by email but it will not be possible to directly dial a phone that a faculty member will answer.
Faculty members will be allowed to maintain their centrex phone if they pay for these services out of pocket or from other Rutgers approved accounts.
When these lines are disconnected callers to these numbers will get a message directing them to Rutgers Information (i.e., 732-932-info (4636)). We will provide the Rutgers information service with a complete listing of changes made. RU info prefers to rely on online Rutgers information and it is recommended that you visit https://www.acs.rutgers.edu/facaddupdt/ and update your information before your phone is disconnected.
Faculty will be asked to update their online Rutgers contact information to reflect any changes.
An automated LDAP-based last name lookup service will be operational.
Replacement of direct dialed lines used by staff and key personnel will begin. Phones will be replaced with VOIP/SIP phones that can be reached by dialing 445-2001 (X wxyz). All services will include caller-ID and voice mail.
Calls to 2001, 6450 and 6430 will all be handled by the same asterisk server. We will publish only 2001 as the Computer Science phone number but continue to handle calls to 6450 and 6430 as if they were to 2001.
The auto-attendant will be upgraded so that callers may dial an "O" to get to a human. They will be connected to the Computer Science Main office.
Installation of the extension-based VOIP/SIP phone system completed. Long distance will still be provided by the RU phone company. Over the next year long distance service will be transitioned to a VOIP-based system based on SIP protocols.
Computer Science's VOIP/SIP phone system will be fully operational.
Each user will get a four digit extension. Callers may leave voice mail by dialing 445-2001(X wxyz). Incoming messages will be recorded, made available from a web interface, and sent to the user as in enclosure in their email. In addition users will also be able to play back their message over a phone.
Rutgers online info should be updated to reflect changes to your phone information. These updates can be done at https://www.acs.rutgers.edu/facaddupdt/. After logging in, proceed to the campus information section and replace the primary phone number with 732-445-2001 and the extension with your VOIP/SIP extension. Be sure to click "update record" at the bottom of the form.
Voicemail users can retrieve their voice mail from http://pbx.cs.rutgers.edu/recordings/index.php.
You will be prompted for your extension and password, after which you should navigate the phone tree to get the desired result. Option 0 (i.e., zero) let's you set mailbox options including your personalized messages.
Personalized messages come in several variants. When a users calls, the call is transferred to voicemail if no one answers or the callee is on the phone. The system will respond in one of two ways depending on whether the callee is on the phone or not available. The following table describes the possible ways the system can be configured.
The recorded messages are played in precedence order. If there is a
personalize message it takes precedence of the recorded name. If there
is a recorded name it takes precedences over the default message.
Unfortunately the system is not without problems. Once a message has
been recored, there is no way to remove it - it can be changed but not
removed. Once you record your name or personalized messages, messages
of lower precedence cannot be reactivated without manual intervention
by a system administrator.
| Greeting Recorded | Message played when callee is unavailable | Message played when callee in on the Phone | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| None (the default) | The person at extension dddd is unavailable. Please leave your message at the tone. When done hang up or press the # key. | The person at extension dddd is on the phone. Please leave your message at the tone. When done hang up or press the # key. | Extension is given, name is not |
| Recorded Name (e.g. "John Rutgers") option 3 under mailbox options |
"John Rutgers" is unavailable. Please leave your message at the tone. When done hang up or press the # key. | "John Rutgers" is on the phone. Please leave your message at the tone. When done hang up or press the # key. | Name is given but not extension. Your message can provide both name and extension if you record your name as "John Rutgers at extension dddd" |
| Personalized Message | Personalized "unavailable" message option 1 under mailbox options |
Personalized "on the phone" message option 2 under mailbox options |
If these messages are recorded, they cannot be removed. No other options can be reactivated. |
During the transition period it will not be possible to dial "O" and reach a human. We will do all we can to encourage users to make use of online resources, as opposed to phones, for information and assistance. When the VOIP/SIP environment is fully deployed in September 2007, dialing "O" will connect the caller to someone in the Computer Science main office.
We plan to develop and deploy an automated lookup service by April of 2007 based on user's last names. Until this system is deployed callers must know their party's extension to leave voicemail.
Voicemail messages will be backed up using the standard Computer
Science policy. No backups of messages will be kept beyond 60 days of
their deletion.
Last Name Lookup Directory Service
The auto attendant will allow users to spell a user's last name and lookup their extension in a directory. It will be upgraded when the full phone system goes online in September of 2007. One critical upgrade will be the ability for the caller to be directly connected to a human operator for assistance.
In the initial deployment of this service scheduled for April 2007, it will not be possible to dial "O" and reach a human. We will do all we can to encourage users to make use of online resources, as opposed to phones, for information and assistance. When the VOIP/SIP environment is fully deployed in September 2007, dialing "O" will connect the caller to someone in the Computer Science main office.