While much of campus experiences a lull in activities during the summer, the UCCS Information Technology Department is hard at work.
According to Jerry Wilson, executive director, Information Technology, between semesters is when IT generally tries to roll out its new systems and updates, as it’s the least invasive to campus.
This summer, the campus’s voice-over-IP, or VoIP, telephones phones were the primary target.
“The current system we’re running is about four years old, and in need of a basic upgrade,” Wilson said. “While we were at it, we were able to add some new features that we think will benefit the campus community.”
One of the most exciting features is Presence, which integrates with users’ Exchange calendars and lets others know if the person they’re trying to reach is in a meeting or otherwise away from their desks.
Another feature is the addition of an official campus instant messaging client, which will allow users to send quick messages to each other in real time instead of making a phone call or typing a lengthy email.
“We’ve never had an official IM service on campus before, though it’s a service we’ve received requests for in the past,” Wilson said. “IMing will save users time and isn’t as formal as an email.”
Other features include soft phone technology which allows users to place and take calls through their computers when they’re away from their desk, and an upgrade to the current telepresence equipment that allows users to connect to telepresence sessions via their phone, tablet or computer. Additionally IT will be rolling out WebEx, which allows users to host and attend online meetings with anyone, and easily share presentations with one another.
According Greg Williams, director of networks and infrastructure, Information Techonolgy, the goal of the upgrades is instant communication. By using the new tools, IT hopes collaboration between people will increase, longer in-person meetings will decrease, and productivity will increase.
While many of these upgrades have already been made, Wilson says they’ll all be up and running before the start of the fall 2015 semester.
Once the semester is underway, the IT Department will schedule training sessions to educate faculty and staff on the new features.
Leave a Reply