Internet telephony
Many campus units are considering removing wired telephones as a cost-cutting measure. Wired phones have certainly become less important as most of our communications move to email and cell phones, and the budget situation in most departments is severe enough that everyone is looking to save money where ever they can. Some departments have already begun to disconnect their wired phones and replace them with internet-based solutions; many others are evaluating the idea.
Unfortunately, internet telephony is still immature relative to wired telephony, and there are concerns with any approach, many of which may not be apparent until after the decision has been made.
The biggest concern is in the area of life safety: 911 service from internet phones is different in important ways than 911 service from wired phones. One major difference is that internet service generally doesn’t work during a power outage, while wired phones often continue functioning. (This could be critical during an earthquake). Also, internet or cell phone 911 service does not provide accurate location information to the emergency responders; with a wired phone, they will immediately know your exact building and room, while cell 911 gives only an approximate, 2-dimensional location, and internet phone service may provide no location information at all.
UCPD will soon come out with a policy which requires departments who’ve removed their wired phones to install some number of red emergency phones per floor. Note that leaving a normal wired phone or two will not be enough to meet the requirements of this policy. Imagine a scenario where there’s been an earthquake, or someone is having a heart attack; no one is going to think to run over to the fax machine to call 911. Emergency phones, visible and colored, ideally with a signal light, will be required to address the safety issue.
There are other unexpected issues which arise from internet telephony. For example, some departments are using a product called MagicJack which you may have seen advertised on late-night TV. As a product on late-night TV, “the large print giveth, and the small print taketh away.” The caveats with MagicJack are that you’re basically agreeing to allow them to install spyware on your computer, and to allow advertisers to know what phone numbers you’re dialing and target ads based on those phone numbers. Creepy. And at least one department is setting up a full-on Voice-Over-IP (VOIP) PBX, essentially becoming their own 24×7 telecom service provider. It seems hard to imagine that that will really be a cost savings in the long run.
I won’t tell you not to pull out your wired phones; I know how bad the budget situation is for most departments. But I will tell you to consider all the implications, particularly around life safety, and take appropriate steps to manage the risks involved.
