Service Summary | Key Features | Getting This Service | Availability | Policy |

New Telecommunications Vendor

Mason’s current telephone system is end-of-life, and with a workforce increasingly dispersed, a new solution is needed. Mason has selected a new telecommunications vendor, Vonage, Inc, which delivers advanced features (e.g., mobile applications, ring/accept calls on any device, presence awareness) and integrates into Mason’s tools (e.g., Office 365). For updates on this initiative and additional resources, see Telecom System Replacement Roadmap.

Service Summary

Telephone lines and voice mailboxes are provided for faculty, staff, departmental spaces, and student organizations. These services are in transition as we work towards retiring the Avaya system and implementing the new Vonage system. For project updates, visit the Telecom System Replacement Roadmap.

Each department has an assigned Telecom Coordinator who handles the administration and requests of telephone services for the members of their departments. Telecom Coordinators use the Pinnacle system to submit requests for moves, adds, changes, disconnects, billing, and incidents.

Avaya Service (Retiring 2024)

The Avaya telephone system is end-of-life. Certain features and functions (such as “Find Me” and “Voicemail to Email”) are no longer available for Avaya and CallPilot. For more information, see Avaya Voicemail and Key Features.

Vonage Service

Vonage is the university’s phone service provider. Vonage provides a hosted enterprise-class communications platform known as Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS). Once migrated, the Vonage service is available via:

Key Features

The Vonage system has several advanced features available, including:

  • Softphone mobile, desktop, and web applications
  • Calling
  • Voicemail
  • 1:1 external SMS messaging
  • Call hold, transfer, and park
  • Call flow options: call forwarding, follow me, and simultaneous ring
  • Call blocking
  • Presence / Availability Status
  • Integrations for managing calls in MS Teams, and voicemail to email in Outlook

Getting This Service

To request telephone services, contact the Telecom Coordinator for your department. If you are unsure who your Telecom Coordinator is, contact your office manager or Telecom Administration. Telephone service requests are generally fulfilled within five business days.

Availability

ITS Telecom Admin is available Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.