The Office of Technology Systems continues to make progress with upgrades to CSI’s telephone systems. Following last year’s upgrade to critical phone system servers and this year’s Exchange (email) server upgrades, we are now capable of proceeding to the next phase–the replacement of the life-cycled voicemail system (Audix) with the latest technology called Unified Messaging (UM).

Why are we doing this?

The existing voicemail system (Audix) has reached the end of its life cycle, it is obsolete, and limits new technology initiatives. Introducing Unified Messaging (UM) into CSI’s telecommunication environment will yield several benefits such as: (1) providing a more efficient means of communication, (2) integrating with other Microsoft applications, and (3) the ability to access voicemail messages from your CSI email account. Simply put, voicemails can now be accessed the same way that you currently access your CSI email.

When will this happen?

To give CSI staff and Faculty time to begin the fall semester without complications, the new UM voicemail system will go live the third week of October. Exact dates will be provided in future notifications.

How will this affect me?

-Voicemail users will be required to create a new voicemail away message. Instructions on how to create this message will be distributed in October.

-All messages residing on the old phone system will no longer be accessible after a determined date. More information will be available shortly. In the interim, please be proactive by retrieving current voicemail messages.

-A new password will need to be created to access the new system.

-Phone commands for basic voicemail functionality will be changing. Instructions and training will be made available; further details will follow.

-Call centers and some auto-attend features have already been reconfigured for the new UM system. The Telecom office will be working with the remaining offices who are using auto-attend features in the upcoming weeks.

The Office of Technology Systems will be sending additional notifications prior to the October cut-over date. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me.