Frequently Asked Questions
General
Email
Phone or Voice Service
Wireless
General
The Network Infrastructure Upgrade only provides for the replacement or existing telephone and network services. If there is a need for additional services the vice-president for your area should be contacted and a request made to the Measure P Project Center.
Because of the nature of cabling work it will not always be possible to provide a specific date and time when work will be done in your area. In addition to the published Schedule of Work, the Campus Bulletin and Blast Voicemail messages will be used to provide the most current scheduling information.
Please do not direct your questions to the Verizon technicians. To submit a question go to the FAQ page. Using the FAQ page will allow the answer to your question to be shared with the campus community.
Email
The Pegasus email client will be phased out and replaced by MS Outlook. The use of MS Outlook will allow the District to fully utilize the features of Nortel's Unified Messaging system
The District is researching options for replacing the current District hosted student email system with one hosted by a provider such as Google or Microsoft.
Phone or Voice Service
Your new telephone will continue to provide you with the same features that are provided with your current telephone. The new telephones do use a different technology than that provided by the Ericsson telephone system. The new technology is known as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). For more information please see the Wikipedia article on VoIP.
The new system will also provide what is known as Unified Messaging. This feature provides access to your email, voicemail, and in some cases your fax, from Microsoft Outlook. Please visit Nortel's web site for a more technical discussion of Unified Messaging. The implementation of Unified Messaging is planned for the spring of 2009.
Yes, you will be trained to use your telephone and its new features. More specifically, the contract with Verizon provides a training program known as “Train the Trainers.” This means that a small number of college staff will be trained on the use and maintenance of the new telephones. This group of trainers will then provide training for the rest of the faculty and staff. The training schedule is in development but it will generally be scheduled shortly before a building's new telephones become operational. In addition, Quick Reference and User's Guides will be provided for all telephone users.
The basic operation of the new telephone will not be complicated or require a significant amount of training. However, because there will be a period when the college will actually have two working telephone systems the faculty and staff will need to be trained how to make calls between the two systems. The process to be used to connect the two telephone systems is still in development.
It is not possible to move your telephone messages from the old system to the new Nortel system. If you wish to save important messages they will need to be transcribed to either a word-processor or hand-written notes. SORRY!!
Yes, you will continue to use the same telephone number after the telephone system upgrade is completed. However, during the installation of the new Nortel telephone system it may be necessary to use a form of an access code along with the current four digit numbers when placing calls on campus. This will be necessary because during the transition from the Ericsson to the new Nortel telephone system there will be separate but connected telephone systems. Your telephone number can only be associated with either the old Ericsson or the new Nortel but not both systems at the same time.
Employees of the District are eligible for discounted wireless services. To learn more about the discounts offered by Verizon please visit their web site:
Verizon Wireless
When checking for eligibility, please be sure to enter your campus (pasadena.edu) email address.
The new telephone system will offer a call center manager service. The service is provided on the basis of individual software licenses. The contract with Verizon provides twenty individual licenses. A request has been made to Verizon to provide the cost for additional individual licenses.
Nortel offers a headset for their telephone. In addition most brands and models of headsets will work with the telephone. A Bluetooth ear piece requires a USB interface.
Wireless
Wireless technology is transitioning from the current 802.11g standard to 802.11n. While it is the intent to install 802.11n technology, the standard has not been finalized. A final decision on what wireless technology to install will be made in the summer of 2008.
Work on the 802.11n standard dates back to 2004, and is due to be released in June 2009. This wireless protocol should be up to 20 times faster than 802.11b, and up to 3 times faster than 802.11a and up to 4 times faster than 802.11g, with an indoor range of about 70 meters (depending on type and number of walls) and an outdoor range of about 250 meters with one wall.
Additional information may be found in the Wikipedia article on 802.11n.
All buildings on the main campus and CEC will have access to the wirless network. There will also be access in the major outdoor venues include the Quad, Alumni Commons, and Sculpture Garden. There will be no access in the parking garages (Lots 4 and 5).
Technical support for students and members of the community using the wireless network will be limited to online documentation that is still in development. Faculty and staff should contact the Help Desk for assistance with District owned equipment.
No, the wireless network will not be as secure as the wired netwrok. At this time, the wireless network will only provide access to the internet. It is anticipated that security for wireless networks will continue to improve and that some time in the future it will be possible to provide access to many of the District's network applications.
The wireless network will provide access to the internet and be available to all students, faculty, staff and members of the community.
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