Telephone Support Services By Raymond Poon

Starting from 1 July 2002, the support services for both IP phones and conventional PABX phones have been transferred to the Computing Services Centre (CSC). As a result, the following arrangements have been made.

1. Requests for Telephone Support Services

   To request for CSC's phone services such as cancellation, addition and relocation of telephone lines, you are required to raise a request through the "On-line CSC Work Request Submission System" under the "e-Communication" menu of the Intranet. Requests in paper form normally will not be accepted. To make enquiries or to report problems, please call the CSC Help Desk at ext 7658.

2. IDD Services

   The IDD calls made through the PABX will be discontinued starting from 1 October 2002. Departments are advised to use International Calling Cards issued by the local carrier of their choice to make international long distance calls from Hong Kong to overseas or vice versa. Invoices can be arranged to be sent directly to the department and then settled by the Finance Office (Treasury) upon certification as usual.

   In response to some departments' suggestions, the CSC has enlisted help from the Business Operations Office to arrange some local carriers on-campus to distribute and collect the calling card subscription forms during the period from 20 to 22 August 2002. Departments can also contact the local carrier direct to subscribe the calling cards themselves. Below are the Web sites of some major local carriers for consideration:

   PCCW
   http://www.pccw.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=PCCW/PCCWHK/
   ProductsServices/ProductContent&cid=1007415925598&pagelang=eng
   

   New T & T
   http://www.wharfnewtt.com/idd/callingcard.html

   CTI
   http://www.incnets.net/idd/products_icc.html

   New World
   http://www.newworldtel.com/2products/2_2_2_1int_calling_card.html

   Hutchison Global Crossing
   http://www.hgc.com.hk/eng/res_prod_card_frame.html

   The following information may be useful when arranging subscription of the calling card.

   1. Departments may request an itemised invoice which will include details of each call such as caller's phone number, receiver's phone number, call duration and call charge for expense control.
      
      
   2. If the Business Registration Number is required in the subscription form, simply fill in "the City University of Hong Kong Ordinance" for this purpose. Part I of the Ordinance can be printed from "The Council" under the "Council, Senate, MB & Committees" menu of the Intranet as supporting document if needed. The same document can also be found in the University Calendar published by the Registrar's Office.
      
      
   3. Some carriers also allow filling in a spending limit per month in the application form for each of the calling cards being applied. However, if the monthly IDD expenses exceed HK$5,000, departments may need to go through the central purchasing process.
   
   
3. Installation of IP Phone System in Festival Walk Offices
   
   
   The implementation of the IP phone system in Festival Walk Offices will tentatively start in early September 2002. To make the migration smooth, all existing fax lines will remain unchanged. Also the existing CityNet phones will be retained, in parallel with the use of IP phones, during the transitional period. Existing phone users at Festival Walk can derive their new IP phone numbers by using a 5-digit prefix 34426 plus the last 3 digits of their existing phone numbers. For instance, the existing telephone number 26281234 will become 34426234 after being switched to the IP phone system. The CSC will contact the departments concerned and furnish them with detailed information in due course.
   
   

4. Installation of IP Phones in Student Hostel

   The IP phone system for Phase I of the Student Hostel has been operational since 1 August 2002. It is expected that the installation of 460 IP phones for this Phase will be completed in mid-August.

5. Provision of Telephones in the Main Campus

   Apparently the current provision of PABX phone lines and handsets are disproportional to the number of staff in post. Perhaps this is due to a large number of unused phones or phone lines being left behind by staff in various departments who had left, transferred or relocated. This is indeed a great waste of resources as each of these phone lines will cost the University at least $24 per month. In this connection, departments are requested to inform the CSC of any unused telephone numbers and return the handsets as soon as they are no longer needed.

   In the light of the plan for phasing out the existing PABX system in the main campus, starting from 1 October 2002, whenever technically feasible, departments requesting new phone lines or relocation of existing phone lines in the main campus will be provided with IP phones. As such, for those departments that will be relocated or those that will add over 10 new phones within a short period of time, please inform the CSC two months in advance so that network cabling and site improvement work can be completed and new IP phone equipment ordered on time. It is expected that the IP Phone System will gradually replace all 4,000 telephones on the existing PBX system in the main campus within 3 years.

Copyright© Computing Services Centre, City University of Hong Kong. Best viewed in 1024x768 with IE. Javascript enabled. Last modified on Friday, 13-Jan-12 16:00:51 .