Telephony 2.0
Okanagan College has replaced conventional telephones with Microsoft Teams at all campuses.
Historically, OC used Mitel phones in classrooms, offices, and other spaces on all campuses. With the conjunction of hybrid work environments and collaboration platforms like Teams, desktop phones are losing utilization at OC. For faculty and staff, Microsoft Teams has full telephone functionality, requiring only an internet connection. This gives OC employees a modern telephony experience along with improved mobility.
IT Services' Telephony 2.0 project encompasses the College's shift from using standard landline telephone services to using Microsoft Teams calling.
Introduction to Teams calls
Microsoft Teams calling uses Voice over Internet Protocol- as the name suggests, this tech allows regular phone calls to transmit over the Internet as opposed to traditional phone lines.
Teams has all the features you're used to using with telephones, including voicemail, call forwarding, and much more. Not only that, but Teams calling is calibrated to work with the OC switchboard.
Instead of fighting with your deskphone, you can now reach every telephone feature you could need within a handful of clicks- wherever you are.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. In case of an emergency, please dial 911 on your Teams phone.
In a situation where you place an emergency call, be sure to state your name and CURRENT LOCATION, ie. campus, building, and room number, or your current location if you are off campus.
You will receive a notification on your device that you are being called through your Teams app. You can choose to accept, deny, or forward the call.
It is possible to dial touch tones (ie. "Press 1 for IT support, press 2 for People Services").
If you are in an internal call with another OC user, click "More" (the three dots), and then click "Dial pad". You can select numbers from there!
If you are in an external call with a number outside of OC, click "Keypad", and you are good to go.
Once you are migrated to Teams Calling:
1. Navigate to the "Calls" tab on Teams.
2. Type the recipient's name into your Teams dialpad, and hover over their icon. If it says "Available", press the phone icon in the top right corner to call!
3. If they are not active on Teams, simply type the person's name, or dial the desired local.
Yes! Once your service has been activated, you can call external numbers directly from your dial pad under the "Calls" tab on Teams. Simply dial the desired number, then press "Call".
In-depth explanations of Teams phone functionality can be found on the Microsoft Teams phones Docs.
OC faculty and staff can also access the MyPD training module for Microsoft Teams.
Teams uses Voice over IP (VoIP), a group of technologies that allows for telephony communications over the Internet.
Where a conventional telephony service communicates via traditional phone lines, VoIP services use various intermediaries to relay communications to the Internet. VoIP services, like Teams, require only a device and an internet connection. As such, Teams telephony gives users the freedom of mobility and an even simpler user experience.
In short, no. Using Teams Calling eliminates the need to be tied to a workspace or office location; you can now take calls anywhere that you login to Teams.
Teams desk phones may be purchased through IT on a case-by-case basis.
Public area phones, including emergency phones, will generally remain in place.
No, Teams can make and receive calls without any additional devices. However, headsets often assist in call volume and clarity, especially in an office setting.
Headsets will be provided (as available) to staff who frequently take calls and meetings.
Your local number will likely remain the same, and can be used to reach you via telephone, just as before. If your local/extension changes, IT Services will alert you of this change.
You can see your number and extension in the Teams "Calls" tab, right below your dialpad.
When you're in a call, select More actions (...) and then Transfer.
Start typing the name of the person you want to transfer the call to and select them when they appear.
To access your voicemail, go to the Calls tab, and notice the History row near the top of the center column. From here, select Voicemail.
You can listen to the recording of any voicemails you have received, along with an automatic transcription of the audio message.
Voicemails will also arrive in your email. The amount of voicemails you can store is in tune with the amount of OneDrive storage you have. For OC staff, OneDrive storage is 5TB- that's a lot of voicemails!
From Teams, click the three dots (...) in the top right corner. Click Settings, and then Calls. Scroll to the bottom, and notice the call groups you are a member of are listed. From here, you can simply flip the switch to log yourself in (or out) of call groups.
Yes!
To start forwarding your calls, select Settings and more next to your profile picture at the top of Teams. Then select Settings > Calls.
Under Call answering rules, choose Forward my calls, and then select where you want your forwarded calls to go: voicemail, another person, or a call group.
Step 1:
On the login page of your Yealink Teams device, you will see a prompt to go to the following link: https://microsoft.com/devicelogin
Follow that link via the browser that you are signed in to your @okanagan.bc.ca account on.
Step 2:
Enter the code shown on your device into your Yealink Teams phone.
Step 3:
Continue by signing in with your @okanagan.bc.ca account information on the phone.
Your Yealink Teams device is now logged in and operational!
If you are using a work computer, simply turn off Teams or close your computer.
If you have Teams on your mobile device, you can set Quiet time.
To do so:
- Open the Microsoft Teams app on your phone.
- Click your profile picture in the top left corner.
- Click Notifications
- Under Block notifications, click the During quiet time setting
- From this menu, you can configure Quiet hours as well as Quiet days. If you wish to have work calls silenced outside of work hours, select start and end times for your Quiet hours