Work has been underway to test Teams Calling - our new digital telephony solution that will allow you to make and receive phone calls via Microsoft Teams.

In early August, a small test user group received access to Teams Calling and tested various scenarios to ensure the system works as expected and meets our requirements. The process to review the results is now underway and the Unified Communications team will make any necessary adjustments this month.

Gino Emmitt-Pearce (ITS Test User) said, “It’s great news that the team are also testing the accessibility features of the new telephony system at this early stage.” 

Colleagues should be aware that no migration or testing activity will take place while Clearing is underway (starting from 17 August).

Towards the end of August the ITS and Sussex Projects division will migrate a large pilot group, and our first group of Super Users will be trained by members of the project team. We will then be able to migrate the rest of the University over to Teams Calling from early September through to late October.

The new functionality, introduced through the Telephony Modernisation project, will mean you can use your existing extension number to make and receive calls to numbers inside and outside of the University from wherever you are working. Teams Calling will meet the needs of our modern workforce and will replace Skype for Business and our existing desk phone network, which is outdated and increasingly unsupported.

The rollout will be supported by Change Champions in every School and division, and comprehensive training materials will be available to make sure you are ready to start using Teams Calling as soon as it’s available.

The Telephony Modernisation project is part of our Digital Infrastructure Programme (DIP), which aims to provide Sussex with modern, sustainable, integrated and secure infrastructure services to support all of our digital operations.

You can read more about Teams Calling and Telephony Modernisation on our project webpage.