Whats New @ Telecommunication Systems

• 02/14/07- Unified Messaging
• 08/03/06- Campus Voice Mail Upgrade
• 02/01/06- Campus PBX Telephone Services
• 02/01/06- Expanded Cable TV and Data Service
• 03/29/05- New "884" Telephone Exchange for MSU
• 03/29/05- Wireless Project
• 11/15/04- New Cellular Service Agreements for MSU

2/14/07

What is Unified Messaging

Unified Messaging is an application that allows you to access your voicemail messages using your PC or Mac rather than a telephone. This is particularly useful if you are not at your desk often, or need to access your VM from remote locations where using a telephone is cost-prohibitive. This is a free service, assuming you already subscribe to the Campus Voicemail service. Unified Messaging can be used via a web-browser, or within mail.msu.edu or your Microsoft Outlook client.

Submitting a Service Request

To be eligible to use Unified Messaging, you must already be a subscriber to the Campus Voicemail Service. If you are not a subscriber, please send a service request to the Telecom Department to activate this service on your phone line. Please fill out this form in its entirety. In the Detailed Service Information, please make sure to specify that you wish to activate the Unified Messaging service, your mailbox number, and your email address. Click here to Generate a Service Request.

8/3/06

Scheduled Maintenance - Outage:
Beginning Friday evening on August 11th , the campus voice mail system will undergo a MAJOR system upgrade. As a result, the system will be unavailable from Friday, August 11th at 5:00 pm until Monday, August 14th at 8:00 am.

For status updates please refer to www.servicestatus.msu.edu.

Beginning Monday morning, August 14th, please report any problems to the voice mail help desk at 2-9001.

This upgrade will not affect departmentally owned voice mail systems or the mailboxes on those systems.

Operational Affects:
All messages and recorded greetings recorded to individual voice mailboxes prior to Friday, August 11th at 5:00 pm will be retained during the upgrade.

Most voice mail features & functions will remain the same.

Changes include the following:

• Prompts to enter a mailbox number will require you to enter a 5-digit mailbox number, rather than the 7-digits currently required. This will allow voice mailboxes to match campus 5-digit dialing.
• You may see this change realized if you forward messages, create distribution lists, or dial the main system number to retrieve your messages when away from your phone.
• The upgrade will automatically convert all existing distribution lists from 7 to 5-digit voice mailbox numbers.
• Your message light or stutter dial tone will not extinguish until all of your messages are kept or deleted.
• For only CAMPUS PBX voice mail users who use CONDITIONAL GREETINGS:
• To activate your ‘call forward’ conditional greeting, you must forward your phone to voice mail by using the call forward feature, not Send All Calls. To forward your phone to voice mail, press Call Fwd (or dial *2) and then press your Messages key. Wait for the confirmation tone.
• To deactivate call forwarding, press Call Fwd button (or dial #2).

Summary of the Benefits:

• The current campus voice mail system is a twelve year old technology
• The upgraded equipment allows for all connections into the system to be digital connections. This will improve the quality of the recordings that are made within the system and reduce the recurring costs of making the connections.
• The upgrade will open-up the features that may be provided to campus voice mail customers in the future. Unified messaging is one such feature. (Once rolled-out, this feature would allow a digitized recording of each voice mailbox message to be forwarded in an attachment to an email. The email would be sent to the individual email address chosen by each voice mailbox user.)

2/1/06

Telecom Systems has recently added the Campus PBX telephone service as another centrally administered choice for the campus community. Prior to this choice, campus departments typically selected from a centrally administered Centrex telephone service and/or some combination of Centrex with a department owned telephone system.

Whereas the Centrex telephone service is provided to a campus building direct from SBC’s central office, the Campus PBX uses campus fiber optic connections to tie the department purchased equipment to the central core system equipment.

Centrally administered telephone services (Centrex and PBX) provide many of the same features including: campus voicemail, a dedicated telephone number for each telephone, caller ID, room-specific 911 service, a wide variety of telephone models, unlimited 5-digit campus calling, campus long distance service, ACD (automatic call distribution) services and billing detail per telephone number. Future enhancements for these centrally administered services are expected to include unified messaging (email and voicemail) web-based billing and voice over IP (VoIP) services.

Over the past summer, Telecom Systems has designed and installed Campus PBX equipment for the following MSU departments (buildings):

Department of Police and Public Safety (Public Safety)
Education (Erickson)
Graduate School (Linton)
Geography (located in the newly renovated Geography Building)
Economics (located in the newly renovated Marshall Hall)
Vet Oncology (Veterinary Medical Center)

These departments, with many other previously installed Campus PBX users, have typically experienced advantages over the Centrex users, including: reduced monthly costs, self-labeling digital telephones, 6 party audio conferencing and cellular integration/forwarding services.

Planner inspector analysts (PIAs) from the Planning and Engineering Unit of Telecom Systems have played a key role in establishing the service, which now includes over 1,600 users. The PIAs are Jeff Carpenter, Gail Clancy and Mary Beth LaForgia who have each managed, designed, trained and implemented projects for various departments. Physical Plant crews from Telecom Systems and Building Services have also been involved in preparing the facilities, the equipment installation and the programming efforts. The supervisors for the crews involved include: Rich Carroll (Voice Operations), Brain Watts (Broadband Operations), Rich Brown (A&I Electrical) and Deb Russell (Carpenter Crew).

Please contact MSU Telecom Systems with your Campus PBX questions or requests for estimates at 3-5515 or email at telesyst@pplant.msu.edu. MSU Telecom Systems is committed to providing cost effective state of the art communication solutions to the MSU community.

PIA II Mary Beth Laforgia reviewing install with Education Administrative Assist. Eric Mulvaney

Telecom Systems Students Danielle Long and Julia Matthews pre-testing instruments.

2/1/06

As of fall semester 2005, the campus cable TV service has been expanded to approximately 2,300 apartments in Spartan Village, Cherry Lane, Faculty Apartments, and University Village. The residents in these apartments previously could attain cable service direct from the local cable company (Comcast). However, now uniform programming is provided to all residents on campus, including the initial 9,500 outlets originally in dormitories and academic buildings.

The project became economically and technically feasible after the completion of the fiber optic cable distribution throughout the apartment complexes. Approximately 7 miles of fiber cable and 80 new communications rooms were added to the apartments. This was the final phase of a 10 year plan to provide fiber optic connectivity to all buildings on campus. The fiber optic cable carries multiple services throughout campus including: voice, video, cable TV, and data. In addition to having the fiber cable in place, newer fiber cable TV distribution equipment became more readily available at a reduced cost.

Midway through the project, University Housing had an additional request for Telecom Systems. High speed data service was needed in approximately 1200 units of Spartan Village that had not yet been hard wired for standard MSU data service. Telecom Systems completed the task by collaborating with Academic Computing Network Services (ACNS) and University Housing to design and install a cable modem termination system. This allowed a crossover between MSU’s data network and the new cable TV service.

The cable TV expansion project took approximately 18 months to complete. Telecom Systems staff logged close to 4,000 hours against the work order number. The project proceeded in the following sequence:

• Estimate stage
• Design and identifying fiber optic equipment manufacturer
• Procurement of fiber optic equipment
• Fiber terminations and fiber optic equipment installation and testing
• Installation of coax directional couplers, splitters, and taps in each apartment building

• Installation of main coax feeds to connect several buildings back to a fiber optic cable TV node
• Cutover from the existing service (Comcast) to MSU’s cable TV system

The new cable system that feeds the apartments is a complete two-way network, capable of sending 110 channels on the forward path and 6 on the return. For more information about campus cable TV, please refer to the Telecom webpage at www.telecom.pp.msu.edu. There you will find a cable TV section with a complete description of the various services available and current channel line-up information.

Left to Right - Joe Godby Broadband Mech. 2 and Robert Cupp Broadband Mech. 2 make adjustments in one of the apartment comm. rooms.

Left to Right - Nick Tijerina Broadband Mech. 2 and John Vallie Broadband Mech. 2 are fine tuning the signal in the cable TV headend at Communication Arts Bldg. Behind - Joe Godby Broadband Mech. 2 there to help.

3/29/05

New Campus Telephone Numbers to Begin with 884

The MSU campus community will soon start to see campus telephone numbers that begin with 884. From a campus telephone these numbers should be dialed by using the last five digits just like any other campus number.

Reduce Local Call Charges by Dialing Five Digits

MSU campus telephone users are reminded to complete their on-campus calls between exchanges 353, 355, 432 and now 884 by using only the last five digits of the campus telephone number. A campus-to-campus call placed using all seven digits is processed and charged as if it were a local call. Local calls are charged at $.09/call whereas an unlimited quantity of five-digit dialed calls are included with each campus telephone line.

Dialing instructions may be found on page 8 of the MSU 2004-2005 Faculty/Staff Directory.

3/29/05

Wireless devices and services are becoming very common in our lives. When some faculty and staff hear the term wireless they may think about cellular phones, the growing number of campus WLANs (wireless local area networks) used to access the campus data network, or cordless telephones used in busy offices. Telecom Systems and other Physical Plant departments are involved in the implementation of these and many other wireless technologies.

Responsibilities and Collaboration

Analysts, engineers, and technicians at Telecom Systems assist with the many facets of wireless at MSU including:

• Consulting and design for new systems, both licensed and unlicensed
• Installation indoors, on rooftops, and on towers
• Inspection of new and existing installations
• Analysis of compliance with safety guidelines, MSU standards and applicable electrical and structural codes
• Testing of existing systems to identify problems
• Maintenance and repair of existing systems

Telecom Systems acts as a central resource both within the Physical Plant Division and within the MSU community to coordinate these activities. Our staff regularly works with Physical Plant roofing, structural, electrical, and engineering departments to ensure safe and functional installations. Elsewhere on campus, staff collaborates with ACNS (Academic Computing and Network Services) and other departments on projects. Off campus contacts include vendors, contractors, consultants, and government agencies like the FCC.

Past Project Example

Telecom Systems recently completed the design and installation of two high-speed data links to off campus health care facilities. Existing equipment had failed and a timely, cost-effective installation was critical. The projects required the coordination of several on-campus and off-campus entities. On-campus support included electricians, the set-up crew and the campus department ordering the service. Off-campus support was needed from the hospital’s technical, maintenance, and security staff. In addition, a contractor, a safety consultant, and a product vendor were involved. This project was a success despite the tight time schedule and it resulted in a low cost, reliable system serving an important campus department.

Selected Upcoming Projects

Several diverse wireless projects are on the radar for this spring, summer, and fall including:

• Design and install data links to a health care facility working with MSU Health Team
• Manage and inspect Nextel as they install cellular equipment in several locations
• Install outdoor WLAN antennas for ACNS
• Conduct a feasibility study for connecting fifteen buildings to the campus data network via wireless for ACNS
• Bring a current antenna installation up to applicable code for Grounds
• Coordinate and inspect an antenna installation on a tower for DPPS
• Implement signage to warn of antenna installations on rooftops working with Physical Plant safety personnel

You may contact a consultant at Telecom Systems to assist you with any wireless project. Visit us online at http://www.telecom.pp.msu.edu

11/15/04

Cellular service, personal communication service, and mobile wireless are all terms for a technology that rapidly has gained popularity over the last twenty years. The cellular industry is constantly evolving and the number of users nationwide keeps growing. You may be surprised to know that the number of cellular subscribers grew from just 91,000 in 1985 to over 158,000,000 in 2003 according to leading cellular industry trade group CTIA. Granted, the MSU community makes up a small portion of this statistic, but Telecom Systems, in cooperation with MSU Purchasing, has worked to give the MSU community preferred status with select wireless carriers.

What did Telecom Systems and Purchasing do?
First, we drafted and issued a Request for Information (RFI) to the six national wireless carriers with service available in mid-Michigan. The purpose of the RFI was to investigate services and products that were not available when a previous agreement for cellular services was signed several years earlier. The process was a great opportunity to meet with corporate marketing and technical staff to learn more about each company. Next, we took what we learned from the RFI process, combined this information with knowledge about the needs of the MSU community, and created a Request for Proposals (RFP).

What was the Result and How Can I Benefit?
We evaluated the RFP responses and selected two carriers, Verizon Wireless and Nextel Communications, for service agreements with MSU. Main features include:
• A choice between two national companies
• Service and product discounts for MSU-liable faculty and staff accounts
• Service and product discounts for personal-liable faculty, staff, and student accounts
• Dedicated account teams to serve MSU customers
• Ability to convert existing accounts to take advantage of new agreements
• Implementation of service improvements for the MSU campus

Added Bonus!
Wireless carriers, especially Verizon and Nextel, are interested in improving coverage (signal strength) and capacity (simultaneous users) on and around the MSU campus. We are pleased to announce that Telecom Systems, in cooperation with other responsible Physical Plant and MSU departments, is working to improve coverage and capacity at MSU. In fact, Verizon recently activated new equipment and Nextel is anticipated to add equipment soon.

More Information
MSU faculty and staff can find more information about the new cellular agreements online.
• Verizon: http://purchasing.msu.edu/Contracts/Verizon.htm
• Nextel: http://purchasing.msu.edu/Contracts/Nextel.htm

As always, you may contact a consultant at Telecom Systems to point you in the right direction.