Voice over IP (VoIP) Telephone Standard

Chuck Frazier, Interim CIO
Ed Poppell, Vice President for Business Affairs

For over four years now, the campus standard for all new buildings has been to install Voice over IP (VoIP) telephones. This memo is to indicate that the same policy will apply to any major upgrades or replacements of unit telephone systems.

Many UF departments and units have already converted their existing phone systems to VoIP. More than 6,000 VoIP phones have now been installed by Computing & Networking Services on the main campus, and by HealthNet in the Health Sciences Center. VoIP has now attained a critical mass and it is time for all other units on campus to begin planning for an eventual move to VoIP. Obviously, this cannot happen overnight and, in some cases, it may take several years to complete. From this point forward, however, any major upgrades or replacements of departmental telephone systems will need to follow the campus-wide VoIP standard. Deploying a standard VoIP infrastructure all across campus enables several service improvements including better emergency notification, and improved network security and state long distance regulatory compliance.

Units or departments needing interim upgrades to their existing telephone systems may seek an exception but must contact either CNS or HealthNet for a case-by-case review and approval. Any questions in the near term should be directed to John Madey in Computing and Networking Services (CNS) at 352-273-1113 or to Tom Livoti in the Health Science Center (HSC) at 352-273-5714.