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Rates listed here are for direct distance dialling, not operator assisted dialling

Rates listed here are for direct-distance dialling, not operator-assisted dialling

The Telecommunications department at the University of Toronto has negotiated agreements with its telecommunications suppliers in order to provide the University with a quality level of service consistent with the lowest possible rates. Below are  the rates for the most-frequently ordered telephone services.

Please be advised that a ‘customer not-ready’ fee will be applied when a Bell technician arrives at a customer’s premises on an agreed date and the technician cannot proceed for any of the following reasons:

• site contact not available to instruct technician of work required,
• customer project postponed
• customer design change that pushed out the schedule
• any other client-related issue that changes the schedule when the tech arrives to do the work and the department is not ready to have Bell perform the work

Cancellation charges that will be applied on orders cancelled less than 2 business days prior to the service due date will be one month’s service charge plus the one-time-only installation charge or $262.50 – whichever is less.

If you are able to make outgoing calls but don’t hear your set ringing for incoming calls:

• check your volume control to make sure your volume bar is turned up enough and not in an “off” or “low” volume position
• check to make sure that you have not manually call forwarded your telephone to another number and forgotten to cancel the call forwarding feature

Voice Grade Data Lines Only

To rule out set problems, test another set of exactly the same type in place of the problem set at the same jack location. If the other set works or the problem has cleared up, you probably do have a set problem.

Email telecom.services@utoronto.ca or call 416-978-2000

Line static and interferences can result from a line or a set problem.

• Check your connections for loose cords, especially the cord connection into your handset.
• See the suggestions in Set Problems to rule out a set problem before reporting a problem with your line
• Check to see if there is an electrical transformer for another device immediately behind the set. Sometimes electromagnetic waves emanating from the device can affect your set.

If your digital display has disappeared or appears to be scrambled, check the attached AC adapter (black box-power transformer) to make sure it is still plugged into the electrical wall/floor outlet or power bar; this is what controls the appearance of the digit display on your set.

Did you wait to hear the feature acceptance tone (3 beeps)?

Did you wait to hear the confirmation tone (2 beeps)?

If you are hearing only a fast busy tone, the feature you are trying to activate is not being accepted.

• Try to enter the numbers again or cancel
• Check with your department’s Telephone Coordinator to see whether the feature you are trying to use has been assigned to your set

Check all of your connections to the jack, to the set and also into the handset.

1. On the Home screen of your Polycom phone, navigate to Directories
2. Select Contact Directory
3. Select Add or Plus sign
4. Enter the information needed and press Save

Your BroadConnect VoIP voicemail can be configured to your preferences

Voicemail-to-email is included in your VoIP Standard or Premium license, but needs to be activated and an email address added. Once activated, your voicemail messages will appear with attached .wav sound files, along with the caller’s ID, in the email inbox you have specified.

Setting Voicemail Preferences in Communicator 7

To set voicemail preferences in Communicator 7 on your computer, do the following:

1. Open Communicator 7 on your computer
2. Click the gear icon on the left to open Settings
3. Click the dark bar near the top and select Voicemail from the dropdown.

Please see the diagram below for a description and explanation of the options.

Voicemail-to-email is included in your VoIP Standard or Premium license, but needs to be activated and an email address added. Once activated, your voicemail messages will appear with attached .wav sound files, along with the caller’s ID, in the email inbox associated with your VoIP license.

1.  Log in to the voicemail by dialing *86 or press the Message key
2. Enter your password
3. Press *
4. Press 8 to change the password
5. Enter and confirm the new password

There are minimum standards to ensure that your voicemail remains secure:

• Minimum of 6 numeric characters
• Cannot be repeated number consecutively
• Cannot be the previous set password

Communicator 7 is the application used for the communications tools available to you on your desktop and mobile devices. The password can be changed from the desktop version of the application. To change the password:

1. Open Communicator 7 on your desktop computer
2. On the left icon menu, click the settings icon (the gear icon), then click Forgot password? A new page will open
3. Enter your username, which your 10-digit phone number (no dashes or spaces), and your email address. You will receive an email with a link to reset your password
4. Click the link in the email. A new page will open
5. Enter your new password in the two boxes.

• Password cannot contain login ID
• Password must contain at least one number
• Password must contain at least one uppercase alpha character
• Password must contain at least one lowercase alpha character
• Password must contain at least one non-alpha character
• Password must be a minimum of eight characters

You probably already know that you can make and receive calls on your computer with VoIP, but what kind of hardware do you need in addition to the computer?

The only additional hardware needed is either a headset, which includes earphones and a microphone, or, if you are not in a shared space, a microphone and/or speakers. There is a wide variety of options available at any of the well-known electronics retailers, so no specific models are recommended here; rather, below are some guidelines on what to look for when seeking a unit to connect to your computer. Apart from the factors mentioned here, there are the personal considerations of comfort and ease of use: these are quite unique to individuals and will depend on how long you need to wear the device in a day, what your particular use case is, and factors such as ear and head shape. A device that may be perfectly comfortable for one person to wear for a full day may irritate another person after only an hour, so some trial and error may be expected.

Connecting the audio devices

3.5mm headset jack

Depending on the capabilities of and connectors on your computer, the audio hardware can connect via Bluetooth, USB cable, or 3.5mm (mini) cable. The advantage of a Bluetooth headset is that you are not tethered to your computer; you can move a few meters away and remain connected to the call. Not all computers support Bluetooth, however, so make sure to check if yours does before going this route. USB and 3.5mm are the other common audio connector types for cabled devices; again, check your computer to see what yours has in term of inputs. Many newer computers don’t have jacks for 3.5mm connectors, and many older computers may not fully support the type of 3.5mm connector on headsets, so if you’re unsure, best to avoid these and go with Bluetooth or USB.

Plantronics, a popular headset manufacturer, has a proprietary connector called Quick Disconnect used on some of its wired headsets. You choose whether you need a USB or 3.5mm connector for connection to your desktop, and the Quick Disconnect allows you to easily disconnect your headset from that cable, enabling you to leave your station without removing your headset. See the Plantronics Quick Disconnect page for more information.

Headset Options

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1. Log in to the voicemail by dialing *86.
2. Enter your password
3. Press 7 to delete all messages

To enable Call Forwarding:

1. On the Home screen of your Polycom phone, select the “Forward” icon or press the More key, then press the Forward button.
2. Select the Forwarding Type (Always, No answer or Busy)
3. Enter the number to which you would like calls forwarded in the Contact box and press the ‘Enable‘ key

To Disable call forwarding:

1. On the Home screen of your Polycom phone, select the “Forward” icon or press the More key, then press the Forward button.
2. Select the Forwarding Type (Always, No answer or Busy)
3. Press the Disable key.

To initiate a 3-way conference call with your Polycom VVX411 phone, do the following:

1. While on an active call, press the More soft key on your Polycom VVX411, then press the Conference soft key. The first call is placed on hold
2. Dial the 2nd number.
3. When the 2nd party answers, press the More soft key, then press the Conference soft key to connect the calls.

C7 Communicator Desktop Application Upgrade Procedure:

If you try to log into Communicator 7 on your desktop and you get a notification that the application needs an update please follow the instructions below for both Windows and MacOS users.

For Windows:

Step 1: Log in to the current version

Step 2: Click on Yes when you get the upgrade notification

Step 3: Click on OK

Step 4: Download and run the .msi

Step 5: Choose default options

Step 6: Log in

C7 Communicator Desktop Application Upgrade Procedure:

For MacOS:

Step 1: Log in to the current Communicator 7 version

Step 2: Click on Yes when you get a pop up notification to upgrade

Step 3: Click on OK

Step 4: If you receive a prompt to allow downloads select Allow

then go to Downloads folder on your web browser and double-click on the downloaded Communicator 7 .dmg file to run the installer

Step 5:New installer window will open. Select Communicator 7 using the trackpad’s left button and move it to the Applications folder if you wish to locally install the application on Mac
Note: You may receive a prompt on your Mac to enter your personal Admin password to allow the installation

If you receive a prompt that there is already an application with the same name existing, select Replace

Step 6: After installation, go to your Applications folder and open the Communicator 7 application with a new icon

If you receive a prompt to allow the Communicator 7 app downloaded the internet to open it.
Select Open

Step 7: Log in.
Upon starting the new Communicator 7 application, you should a new version 22.7.8.47 on login page.

There are minimum standards to ensure that your voicemail remains secure. Please create your voicemail password using the following guidelines:

• Minimum of 6 numberic characters
• Cannot be repeated numbers consecutively
• Cannot be the previous set password

The VPN will affect the quality of service, since it goes through an additional set of routers. Dropping the VPN connection in the middle of an active call will cause the call session to be dropped for security reasons.

1. On the Home screen of your Polycom phone, navigate to Settings
2. Select Status
3. Select Network
4. Select TCP/IP Parameters

IP address is your IPv4 Address
Gateway is your IPv4 Gateway

1. On the Home screen of your Polycom phone, navigate to Settings
2. Select Status
3. Select Network
4. Select Ethernet

ITS is currently using HP 5130 PoE switches to connect the VoIP phones. These switches are LLDP/PoE enabled for the voice VLAN feature.

There are two modes we can look into:

·         if every user has a dedicated network port to connect a VoIP phone, you can configure each switch port as an access port (untagged VLAN)

·         if users only have single network drop, the pass-through port will be used to connect a computer. We will configure a switch port to be hybrid mode to enable the voice VLAN feature via LLDP.

For switches not supporting LLDP, VLAN discovery mode is an alternative; however, without DHCP server, the VLAN discovery mode will not work. You may refer to this thread in the Polycom Community support discussion board for more information:

http://community.polycom.com/t5/VoIP/FAQ-Utilizing-VLAN-s-with-Polycom-phones/td-p/38100

Please visit the downloads and training site

C7 Communicator Desktop Application Upgrade Procedure:

If you try to log into Communicator 7 on your desktop and you get a notification that the application needs an update please follow the instructions below for both Windows and MacOS users.

For Windows:

Step 1: Log in to the current version

Step 2: Click on Yes when you get the upgrade notification

Step 3: Click on OK

Step 4: Download and run the .msi

Step 5: Choose default options

Step 6: Log in

C7 Communicator Desktop Application Upgrade Procedure:

For MacOS:

Step 1: Log in to the current Communicator 7 version

Step 2: Click on Yes when you get a pop up notification to upgrade

Step 3: Click on OK

Step 4: If you receive a prompt to allow downloads select Allow

then go to Downloads folder on your web browser and double-click on the downloaded Communicator 7 .dmg file to run the installer

Step 5:New installer window will open. Select Communicator 7 using the trackpad’s left button and move it to the Applications folder if you wish to locally install the application on Mac
Note: You may receive a prompt on your Mac to enter your personal Admin password to allow the installation

If you receive a prompt that there is already an application with the same name existing, select Replace

Step 6: After installation, go to your Applications folder and open the Communicator 7 application with a new icon

If you receive a prompt to allow the Communicator 7 app downloaded the internet to open it.
Select Open

Step 7: Log in.
Upon starting the new Communicator 7 application, you should a new version 22.7.8.47 on login page.

One of the end user experiences that will be immediately affected is 5-digit dialling (direct extension dialling). Currently, Bell Centrex users are able to dial 946- and 978- numbers using only the last 5 digits of the phone number.

Once a phone line is moved from Bell Centrex to BCT (VoIP), that number will no longer be reachable from a Bell Centrex line using 5 digits.  Users will be required to dial all 10 digits of the phone number. If they call the number using only 5 digits, they will hear a ‘your call cannot be completed’ message. BCT users will be able to dial both Bell Centrex and BCT phone numbers using only 5 digits.

The chart below shows the circumstances under which 5-digit dialling will and will not work:

With VoIP, you don’t need a physical phone in the traditional sense. To make and receive calls, you can use an application on your computer, along with headphones or earbuds with a microphone, or an application on your mobile phone. To make a call to one of your contacts, you right-click on their name and select Call:

You can also manually dial the number from the application:

Telecommunications is a central cost recovery unit which provides a wide variety of services to departments. The Telecom Admin fee covers the staffing and operating costs of this unit.
Telecom manages 3 separate contracts on behalf of the University:

Bell Centrex – while most departments have already migrated to VoIP, we are still obliged to offer the ability to have and maintain copper telephone lines throughout the University. We are actively seeking a new contract with Bell and we will communicate more once we receive additional details.
Bell Mobility – we support close to 4,000 Bell Mobility lines across the university offering tiered cellphone plans to departments as well as access to a portal for ordering phones and accessories.
BroadConnect Canada – Telecom is the central point of contact for the University’s VoIP provider, Broadconnect, which provides over 12,000 VoIP lines. Telecom manages the contract, handles public procurement obligations including the initial RFP process through which the University procured the VoIP services.
Specific to VoIP, Telecom provides support to all U of T departments dealing primarily as an escalation point for local IT support. Telecom offers guidance on network setup, troubleshooting and access to the servers to execute changes. In some cases, Telecom provides detailed troubleshooting and support in cases where a department does not have the local expertise to field technical questions.

Telecom provides ongoing training and information sessions to help answer many of the questions that users might otherwise pose to their local IT. Telecom also maintains a collection of support and training materials such as user guides and video tutorials.

Telecom provides expertise in Call Centre setup as well as providing practical assistance in setting up call queues and reports.

During the 3 year migration period, which has now ended, departments were paying 3 components: the BCC line fee, the migration fee and the Telecom admin fee. Now that the migration period is over, departments that have migrated are only being charged 2 components: the BCC line fee and the Telecom admin fee.

Departments used to pay $33 per line all in for Bell Centrex. Now they are paying $17.75 for a standard VoIP line or $19.75 for a Premium line which include a personal audioconferencing bridge which they used to pay for separately.

Starting in Summer 2020, the new automated billing system for VoIP will be introducing enhanced VoIP billing reports. This is a major improvement on the old Bell reports that did not allow for any kind of analysis other than manually checking data. The new reports provide Business Officers the ability to drill down into much more detailed information per line.
Also coming Summer 2020, the UofT Phonebook integration project currently underway will allow for seamless updates to the U of T phone directory. Typically, it was incumbent on Business Officers to manage their departmental directory through a very antiquated system. The legacy phone directly was out of date so a new solution is being built to ensure that any updates to the VoIP user data is also reflected in the U of T directory.

Lastly, a new emergency dashboard used by Campus Police provides real time data of emergency calls to 8-2222 and non-emergency calls to 8-2323. This completely replaces the old system used by Campus Police that was handled with paper updates faxed from Telecom to Campus Police where updates were manually entered. With the new system, updates are done is in real time and operators receiving a call know exactly who is calling and can see the street address in a person’s VoIP profile. Telecom is continuing to work on enhancing this service to provide prompts to users to confirm their location data to ensure that user profiles are kept current.

The current Bell Canada Centrex contract was valid until November 30^th, 2019 with an extension into 2020 to provide extra time for the remaining departments to move. This means that the current pricing is not guaranteed to remain the same. It is highly likely that the per line pricing negotiated in the next Centrex contract will be significantly (as much as 2x to 3x) higher due to the fact that the total number of Centrex lines is expected to be much lower and the University will no longer benefit from the volume discounts it currently enjoys. Apart from the increased cost of Bell Centrex phone lines as compared to VoIP, especially once the current contract expires, there are many other reasons why it is preferable to migrate to the enterprise VoIP service:

• Bell Centrex phone lines will not be able to make use of 5 digit dialing except to other Centrex phone lines.
• Bell Centrex phone lines will continue to incur high costs for moves, adds and changes to the service location.
• North American long-distance costs will continue to be levied for Bell Centrex phone lines, whereas calls within and between continental North America are free and unlimited under the VoIP service.
• If a department has chosen to wait until after the 3-year migration window that UofT Telecom Services has planned, that department will incur significant phone line cancellation fees. One of the benefits of a department migrating their Bell Centrex lines during the 3-year window was that cancellation costs are averaged out for all phone lines migrated so as not to disadvantage early adopters or reward late adopters.  Those costs are rolled into the interim monthly fee for the VoIP service.

The company supplying VoIP services to the U of T community is BroadConnect Telecom.

Departments have always paid a Telecom Admin fee in order to cover the staffing and operating costs of the central Telecommunications unit.
As part of the new VoIP billing process, one of the primary goals was to increase transparency. Whereas the Telecom Admin fee used to be built into the Bell Centrex line fees charged to departments, the new VoIP billing process splits out the VoIP line fee from the Telecom Admin fee. This is why you are seeing a separate Telecom Admin fee in your departmental phone bill.

Depending on where you are and whether or not the network you are using has emergency backup power, your VoIP phone and/or computer may lose power.  If that happens, you will not be able to make phone calls using the VoIP system.  We recommend that you keep a Bell line active as an emergency line or use a cell phone to make calls during power outages.

Yes.  During the 3-year period in which the University will be migrating Bell Centrex lines to VoIP, departments can expect to realize a ~30% savings compared to legacy Bell Centrex service.  After the 3-year migration period, the savings will increase to ~50%.  The VoIP system will also significantly reduce long distance costs and will nearly eliminate the cost of moves, adds and changes. Lastly, the cost of Bell Conferencing accounts can be eliminated by using the “My Room” functionality included in each ‘Premium User’ VoIP line.