Delivering communications with Microsoft Teams

The University will move away from traditional desk phones to use Microsoft Teams for voice and video calls, instant messaging, conferencing, and screen sharing.

This work is part of a strategic plan to help improve efficient and flexible ways of working, and to reduce the cost of providing communications services.

Benefits

• You will be able to use Microsoft Teams to make telephone calls within and outside the University, enabling you to make and answer calls wherever you are.
• Conferencing and collaboration will be easier, as Microsoft Teams integrates into other Office 365 applications.
• Replacing our legacy phone systems with Teams will help to achieve £700k of savings over the next five years.

Replacing desk phones

All staff desk phones will be replaced by Teams and a headset. This will happen in phases.

Starting now, phones that have not been used in the last 12 months or are unassigned will be removed and the extension number deleted.

In the next phase we will contact staff who use desk phones to discuss their replacement options.

Some phones and numbers will remain in place and connected, for example:

• where there is an essential business or risk need
• if it is essential for a member of staff to make and receive external telephone calls

We’ll discuss your requirements when we contact you.

We will also continue to support fixed telephone lines where required   but there will need to be a business case to support it.

Mobile phones

If you have a mobile phone, you can install the Teams app and sign in using your University of Essex account to make and receive calls to other Teams users. 

Learn more about Teams

• Get started with Teams (Microsoft.com)