Voice Mail System Upgrade Over Spring Break


In less than two weeks , during our Spring Break, the Technology department is upgrading the District’s voice mail system. We will be deploying updated Cisco hardware and software that will use virtualization technology. Migrating from existing physical servers to virtual servers will drive down operational cost, enable us to use new software enhancements while allowing us to decrease our overall footprint and power consumption.
This is the first of a three phase upgrade plan for the District’s phone system. The second phase will take place sometime during the Summer months with the goal of downsizing from seven physical servers down to two and the final phase ( long-range goal to be finalized in 2015) will be the update of desktop phones.

What you need to know:

The upgrade has been scheduled for Wednesday, March 28, starting at 4:00 p.m. The voice mail system will be unavailable during the upgrade period of 4 to 6 hours.

What will stay the same:
  1. How you access voice mail does not change (press the “Messages” button; from home, call 847.626.3900)
  2. Your recorded voice mail greeting and your PIN (password) will not change.
  3. Your existing messages (30 days old or newer) will be transferred to the new system.
  4. Voice mail prompts will remain be the same.

What's new:
  1. Voice Mail delivered by e-mail. When someone leaves a voice message on your phone, you will also receive a copy of that message in your Google D219 e-mail account. The e-mail header will tell you who left the message and when, while the e-mail attachment will contain a sound file (wave) with the actual message. You will still be able to retrieve messages from your phone like you normally do.
  2. Resume disconnected calls. If you hang up or get disconnected while listening to your messages (for example, because another call comes in), no worries. Simply call back into the system within 10 minutes, and it will prompt you to resume where you left off.
  3. Automatic deletion of old messages. Since you will now have the option to download your messages as wave files through your D219 e-mail, the voice mail system will automatically purge your saved message after 30 days. Keep in mind that deletion does not apply to e-mails from your D219 account; you will need to proactively delete them once they are no longer needed.

There will be more exciting features that will be rolled out as we get more familiar with Cisco’s new Unity Connection Voice Mail system.   Stay tuned for future announcements!
Questions or concerns? Contact Sebastian Manu by e-mail (sebman@d219.org) or by phone (x3964).

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