Teams Voice | Your questions answered
This is a summary of the questions and answers from the open meeting about Teams Voice held in November 2022. For the latest information see the IT website.
What is Microsoft Teams Voice (article on IT website)
The questions and answers are split into the following sections:
Timescales
1. When will this project take place?
Phase 1 moved around 4,000 people to Teams Voice, and is now complete.
Phase 2, which involved updating the telephony infrastructure will be complete by the end of this year.
Phase 3a will identify and migrate users with complex requirements, such as those that use hunt groups. Phase 3b is the replacement of our contact centre and switchboard solutions. These phases will run in parallel, and we are currently capturing requirements, with delivery expected to start in January 2023.
2. When will call/hunt groups be migrated for customer facing teams? Will staff be able to amend them themselves?
Users which require hunt groups are part of phase 3a, and we are currently gathering all the requirements for hunt groups so that we understand what you need and can replicate, or improve on it, in Teams Voice. We do want to give you the flexibility to make changes to these hunt groups, but we need to first make sure we understand all the requirements and any risks, so that we can give you a solution you are comfortable with but which we can also support.
New phone numbers
3. When will people that share phone numbers be offered separate numbers?
We can offer people who currently share an extension their own phone number. However, you need to consider if everyone needs to make or receive external calls, or is the existing functionality within Teams enough? We have a limited number of extension numbers, and there is a cost to buy more. If you only make and receive internal calls, you do not need an extension number as colleagues can already contact you through Teams (messaging, voice calls and video calls).
4. Can we be moved from having individual extension numbers to a shared extension number?
Yes, we can provide an extension number for a whole team. Please nominate a contact person and contact Attila Rab, the Project Manager (a.rab@leeds.ac.uk). He will collect the information and mark those extensions that can be removed and mark the offices for shared devices.
5. Can new staff be given phone numbers?
We are currently looking at the joiners/movers/leavers processes. For example, when someone leaves the University or moves to a new role, we need to understand if their extension number is related to their previous role.
For new starters we need to know if they need an extension number. For many people, who only make and receive internal calls, they do not need an extension number as they can already contact other colleagues through Teams (messaging, voice calls and video calls). If you have a new starter who does need an extension number you should raise an IT service request by clicking on ‘Request something’ on the IT website.
About the roll out
6. When will we get a list of all staff telephone numbers by school or department?
This is a very lengthy process and we are looking into it at the moment. Not everyone will have an extension number, as not everyone will need one. Once we have migrated users in Phase 3 we will be able to provide more information.
You can see the phone number of anyone with an extension number in Teams Voice by hovering over their profile picture in Teams chat. If they have an extension number it will be displayed at the bottom of their profile information.
7. The Student Information Service use Netcall to take incoming calls. Will that be included in phase three?
Yes, Netcall will be in phase three. We have already started contacting areas that are using Netcall and it will be part of the contact centre replacement.
We will be working with the procurement team to shortlist some options for the Student Information Services team and all others who use contact centres and will demonstrate the different options to get your feedback before a decision is made.
8. What is the costing/charging model is ie costs to schools/services since the move to Teams voice / compared to before?
Line rental stopped for University members of staff from the beginning of August 2022. The only exception to this being companies that are independent of the University who have an existing extension (eg Bright Beginnings, Dental Hospital) who are still paying line rental.
Charges for calls have also now been stopped (including Bright Beginnings, Dental Hospital) as we have moved to a new provider who give us a large number of free minutes per month for local, national and mobile calls. International and premium call charges will normally be absorbed by IT, but if excessive call costs are incurred by an individual then they will be charged back to the department in question.
9. Why has it taken so long to validate extension numbers and why have I been contacted multiple times to do this?
Unfortunately, at the start of this project the data we had on who was assigned to individual extension numbers was very poor. We first asked departments and services to validate the extension numbers in their area. Although this was very useful, it did not address all the issues, so we reached out to individuals using a Microsoft Form, and over 1,300 of you responded. However, there was still some confusion where, for example, several users claimed the same extension number. So we had to phone numbers to confirm the data was correct.
Thank you to everyone who responded and helped us to improve the data quality. We have now combined all these different data sources and have a high level of confidence that all the extension numbers are now correct.
10. You sent departments a list to check their extension numbers. Will you recirculate the same list so we can check that you have correctly migrated the people in phase 1?
We do not have any plans to recirculate the same list in its previous form. We have high confidence in the data and have just completed compiling the last batch of “standard users”. For each batch of users we have migrated we have sent out a list to those being migrated so that they can check if the extension number against their username is the correct one. If you have any concerns that someone may not have been migrated correctly, please contact Attila Rab, the Project Manager (a.rab@leeds.ac.uk).
11. As a Faculty we have already engaged with the project and numbers have been passed over to IT. Can you give an update on which numbers have been transferred across?
The last batch of “standard users” has been migrated and communication went out to everyone on the list to advise what to expect. Extensions that have not been migrated must have met one or more of the exclusion criteria. We can provide a list of all users and extensions currently on Teams Voice - please contact Attila Rab, the Project Manager (a.rab@leeds.ac.uk).
12. Why do some desk phones no longer connect and others still work?
Where an extension number has been migrated to Teams Voice, the desk phone associated with that number has been disconnected, as calls should now be going through Teams Voice.
However, some phones, for example for those extension numbers which will be migrated as part of the final phase of the project will still be ‘live’ until they are migrated.
13. There was a rollback of the Teams Voice Migration on 12 September. When will the migration go ahead for the users involved and are you confident there will not be a repeat of the problem?
The problem was not with the process, but a data issue. It was caused when a mistake was made in a database when a number of duplicate numbers needed to be manually removed. We have corrected the data and are confident it is correct. Those users have now been migrated.
14. Are "helpdesk" telephone systems in phase 3, and who can we discuss our needs with?
Yes, as part of the contact centre replacement, this is something we are looking into. Please contact Habeeb Onileere, our Business Analyst on h.onileere@leeds.ac.uk
15. NIHR have a requirement for a number of new licences/lines on Teams. We do not currently use University telephony services. Can we obtain the Teams service?
NIHR falls under the advanced use cases with additional technical/business requirements that our Business Analyst will be capturing in due course.
Telephone Liaison Officers
16. Are telephone liaison officers (TLO) still needed? Surely they will need information about whether a user needs a phone or not as this is a decision which should be with the school / service to decide on the necessity?
Yes, telephone liaison officers are still needed. We are working on a process to evaluate who needs to have an extension number as part of their role. Telephone Liaison Officers will be important to determine the right approach and support the team.
17. We have recently requested a number for a new member of staff and have been asked about an "approval". Who would approve this as we do not have a telephone liaison officer (TLO) in place?
Similarly to the point above, we will collaborate with the business to design the eligibility criteria as Microsoft Teams is a very capable solution that can manage phone calls without an actual extension number. Without a TLO in place, it most likely will be the line managers, however an information package needs to be developed for them to be able to make informed decisions.
Using Teams Voice
18. How do you remove a voice mail message and add a new one?
Microsoft provide a full details on how to set up voicemail and manage other call settings. You can also find links to all the Microsoft Teams Voice guides from the IT website.
19. My Teams Voice calls are recorded on a recipient's device as a 'no caller ID' call - is there a way to change this?
This is something that relates to University policy, that in some cases the caller ID needs to be hidden. Currently we have applied a global policy to do this. While this will be OK for many scenarios, we do realise that there will be exceptions where caller ID is required and we are working on a way to implement this.
20. How can I find out what my Teams Voice number is?
- Open Microsoft Teams. The following instructions are for the desktop version of Microsoft Teams.
- Click on the ‘Calls’ button on the left hand side of the screen.
- Your number is below the dialling pad.
21. When will there a descriptor/dummies guide of what cables to move from voip (voice over IP) phones to PCs/laptops?
We have a specialist team, working with our supplier, who are floor walking to make these changes. They will do the cabling and plug it into your computer. If you need this, please put a request into the IT Service Desk and we will come and do it for you.
22. Will we be able to use our own extension number on Teams Voice and manage a reception number at the same time?
Not yet. For the time being, you will be able to use your individual extension number and reception numbers along with other advanced use cases, such as PAs and Hunt Groups will be designed to meet your requirements.
Equipment
23. What will happen where your workstation does not have a microphone or webcam, for example in a lab?
Identified laboratory phones, will not be moved until the associated requirements have been accurately captured. For individuals with direct extension numbers, please contact your line managers.
24. Will the University provide mobile devices for staff members where using a laptop is not practical?
This is not covered as part of the Teams Voice project. If you have a requirement for a mobile phone, please discuss with your line manager.
25. When will the physical handsets be removed from site?
It is an ongoing process. The team has already removed over 1,200 desk phones and are going building by building to collect all decommissioned ones.