From March onwards, Unicamp will implement a digital standard telephone system on all its campuses. The work will be carried out progressively, and will begin at the Computing Center (CCUEC), the body responsible for monitoring the process. “The new system will offer a series of functionalities for users, which should bring positive impacts to the routines they carry out”, says the superintendent of CCUEC, professor Sandro Rigo. The initiative is part of the University's Strategic Planning (Planes).
According to him, the University currently has around 8 thousand branches. “The tendency is for this number to be reduced, due to the retirement of employees and the rationalization that the new system will allow”, he infers. Rigo explains that the contract with the company that won the bid has already been signed. The implementation of the system will be carried out gradually. “We will start with the CCUEC itself, which will serve as a pilot project. Afterwards, we will move on to other teaching and research bodies and units”, says Rigo.
Fernando Moreno Mendonça, associate superintendent of CCUEC, explains that, for a certain period, analog technology will coexist with digital technology, given the large number of existing extensions. “It would be impossible to migrate from one system to another all at once. Our goal is for digital telephony to be fully implemented at Unicamp by the end of the contract with the supplier company, which lasts five years”, adds Luís Roberto Ribeiro da Silva, director of Infrastructure at CCUEC.
The arrival of the new telephone system, notes Rigo, will bring a series of advantages to the University. One of them is that, contrary to what currently happens, the digital standard will have a cheaper operating cost than the analog one. Furthermore, users will have access to several features that are not available today. “One of the possible resources is to install the extension on the notebook or desktop. This will allow, for example, the sending of text and voice messages, similar to what is done through WhatsApp, or video conferencing, as on Skype”, says Mendonça.
Through a specific application, continues Silva, it will also be possible to install the smartphone extension. “In other words, the extension will become mobile, which will allow the person to answer an important call even if they are not at their work station,” he says. According to CCUEC directors, the work of implementing digital telephony should not be very complex because the University already has good infrastructure, notably when it comes to data network cabling.
Rigo points out, however, that the migration from one technological standard to another will require the engagement of Information Technology (IT) professionals from the units and agencies, who will play an important role in this task. “Next week, we will hold a meeting with IT professionals from the first ten selected units and bodies to inform them about the procedures that will be adopted”, says the CCUEC superintendent, who considers that, given the similarity with IT applications, smartphones that are already popular, most users will have no difficulty getting familiar with the new technology.
