Overview
Teams Calling is the default calling application for OSU, for both direct internal calls and incoming/outgoing outside calls.
This is an overview of the migration plan for Arts and Sciences. For the units that have migrated this has been a smooth process and a better experience than Skype for Business.
The official OSU documentation is in the Administrative Resource Center (ARC), in the Teams article, under the Job Aids section, in the Teams Calling section.
Attachments to this article are OTDI (central OSU IT support) communications for 'simple' cases, and OTDI communication for 'special' cases.
Contents
Teams Calling Migration Plan
Timeline:
| Date |
Event |
Notes |
| 5/7/2024 |
Short announcement in ASC Administrative Updates |
Will run for 2-3 weeks. |
| 5/9/2024 |
Dean's Council |
Present overall plan |
| 5/14/2024 |
Email Chairs and Directors |
Inform Chairs and Directors of Migration Plan |
| 5/21/2024 |
Department Managers Meeting |
Inform and task with reduction of Standalone/IP Phones |
| 5/21/2024 |
Simple Case Users are Informed of Migration |
Users given T-30 day and T-14 day mails from OTDI, migration starts when they accept E911 |
| 6/21/2024 |
Migration of Simple Case Users Occur |
Migration starts when E911 is accepted, migration may take ~ 30 min afterward |
Simple Cases
- People who do not have Standalone/IP phones, call groups, etc.
- People who have Standalone/IP phones that have are logged out/unused since 2023. (These phone won't be migrated.)
- Group phones that are not logged in since 2023 will be dropped.
These changes will be provided to unit chairs/directors and department administrative managers after their meeting for double checking.
Special Setup / Non-Simple Cases
- Standalone/IP Phone, in use.
- Phone tied to a room, not a person.
- Member of a response group / call group.
- E.g. a number that rings a group.
- Multiple numbers for one person.
- E.g. a grad coordinator we do not want the unit's grad program number to float with them.
In the cases of Call Groups, multiple numbers to one person complex cases OTDI will migrate them as they are in Skype for Business.
Standalone/IP Phones
ASCTech will be collecting old Standalone/IP phones. Almost all current Standalone/IP phones will not not work on Teams.
If an individual / shared space Standalone/IP phone please contact the department administrative manager for use case and purchasing.
- The college is strongly discouraging Standalone/IP Phones.
- Everyone has been in Teams/Zoom meetings since the pandemic, and this is the new phone paradigm.
- Similarly, phones that are tied to a room are discouraged in favor of phones that move with a person.
- Department administrative managers will be sent a spreadsheet detailing current usage.
- This sheet details if the phone is hooked up or has made/received calls.
- Department administrative managers will return the sheet with unneeded phones to OTDI.
- The use cases for Standalone/IP phones will be limited to:
- Front desk type phones where a student needs to man a desk without logging into a computer.
- Can either be Standalone/IP phone or students can request ‘s’ accounts and numbers to be able to log into Teams and receive calls.
- Group phones.
- If the group consults with OTDI, these could be switched to a call group which rings everyone.
- Users with only a Linux desktop.
- The Teams web client can receive calls but not make them due to lack of E911.
- Linux users could run the client on their cell phone.
- Costs of Standalone/IP phones:
- The basic Standalone/IP phone is $100, one that does call pickup is $300.
- Call pickup is the ability of someone on Teams to pickup the call if it has been placed on hold.
- The end unit will need to buy the phone.
- ASCTech will coordinate with OTDI to set it up any needed Standalone/IP phones.
- This takes time and can be as simple as providing the MAC address, or going through several steps.
- There is no guarantee on how long any particular Standalone/IP phone will be supported bt Teams.
Life Safety Phones / E911
Life Safety phones, if required by a Safety Coordinator will be legacy copper lines for $54/month. For a Life Safety phone the department administrative manager can request via OTDI.
Standalone/IP phones are not considered Life Safety phones because:
- Teams lines will not work when the network or power is out.
- E911 is not guaranteed to have the best location information.
- Standalone/IP phones sometimes will log themselves out.
Basically, if there is cell service in the location, a Standalone/IP phone is not much different than a personal cell phone someone would reach for first anyway.
Checking E911: dialing 933 from Teams will place a test call, even though it will say "emergency call in progress" the 911 operators will not be called! During this call the automated system will playback the number calling, the E911 location (if set), and offer a chance to do a recording to test the microphone. E911 location is settable in Teams.
Usage
Teams should be on all OSU managed Macs and Windows machines. Teams is available in Self Service on Macintosh and Software Center on Windows.
There is also a web version of Teams at https://teams.microsoft.com - but note that the webs version can receive calls but not make them. The web version can do direct Teams user to user aduio or cideo chat, which is what most internal OSU calls will be.
Migration Day
After the "Teams Calling is Coming" messages at 30 and 14 days before migration, on migration day you will get an email for the E911 agreement. There will be instructions on how to accept this agreement in OTDI's Service Now portal.
Your migration will not start until you agree to the E911 agreement.
After agreeing to the E911 agreement, migration will take about 30-60 minutes to complete.
Once Teams is restarted, a "Calls" icon will appear on the left sidebar. If you're having trouble completely restarting Teams, rebooting the machine will restart Teams.
Basic Usage
In the Administrative Resource Center, a good starting article is: First things to know about calls in Microsoft Teams. The complete OSU documentation is in the ARC, in the Teams article, under the Job Aids section, in the Teams Calling section. This section will hit some highlights of usage.
Devices
The best devices to use with Teams Calling are what you have been using for Teams and Zoom meetings, typically a headset or webcam and speakers. (ASCTech does not provide these, but these can be ordered from Workday suppliers.)
The ubiquitous USB phones from Skype for Business will not pick up a call on handset lift or dial from their keypad. They will work as a microphone and speaker if you life them up after using the Teams application to dial.
If you have multiple devices connected to a computer you can switch between them in Teams settings.
Phone Call vs. Audio/Video Chat
Phone calls are where a ten-digit number with area code are dialed, for numbers outside OSU.
If an OSU employee is on Teams, the preferred calling is really an audio or video chat - not a true phone call. Here the top two options are internal Teams calls not phone calls.
A phone call can use the keypad in the Calls menu, or dialed from a saved contact or web link.
Mobile Application
On iPhone and Andriod mobile phones the Microsoft Teams app is available in the app stores. With the app you can make and take calls from your mobile phone.
It's possible to forward calls and simultaneous ring a mobile phone, but typically the Teams app is a good solution for making calls away from a computer.
Further Help with Teams Calling
The ARC documentation is very in depth. ASCTech can assist with basic questions, but since Teams Calling is an OTDI service we may need to involve then to assist.