The Harvard Phone program has instituted customer engagement councils comprised of appointed departmental level representatives from Central Administration and the FAS. The purpose of these councils is to engage in discussions and outline plans to address customer specific issues and standards with the Harvard Phone program development and deployment. The councils provide project oversight and address key change management issues. This model will be expanded and used with other schools as we progress through the program.

In July, 170 HUIT users from 1230 Soldiers Field Road and 60 Oxford Street converted successfully to Harvard Phone service.  Utilizing a new Cisco series Voice-Over-IP telephone set with large display, these early adopters are enjoying high quality voice conversations using their existing telephone number and Harvard dial plan across the University.  In the coming months, advanced features will be incorporated into the service including a soft phone client for laptops, iPads and smart phones, as well as a web-based end user portal for feature changes.

It is highly recommended that schools/departments who currently use Merlin systems start to replace them with traditional Centrex supported devices which in most cases offer similar features and functionality.  Beginning July 1, 2015 HUIT UC will no longer stock Merlin equipment.  Even current stock has minimal refurbished parts.  Merlin’s have been discontinued by the manufacture and are at end of life. 

HUIT UC Client Mangers have already begun the analysis to convert Merlin systems to Centrex for some departments.  In some cases departments have seen a

In December a small group of volunteers across the University agreed to participate in a short proof of concept (PoC) to test the usefulness of the Jabber/WebEx client as a means to increase productivity.  The results showed that most participants found the tool useful when juggling meetings and calls while away from their office.

It is important to note that the way the Jabber/WebEx client was delivered for use during the PoC is not the way it will be delivered in full production.  As a result there were some complications when using the tool during the PoC.