While many of our interactions with colleagues have moved to email, chat, web conferences, and other online communication tools, the telephone is still an important part of our day-to-day lives at Simmons.

In an effort to provide telephone service that integrates with our larger technology infrastructure and creates significant cost savings over time, Simmons Technology installed Voice Over IP (VoIP) phones across campus this year.

VoIP phones replaced our legacy phone system, which experienced frequent outages and was nearing a point at which we could no longer make repairs to keep it functioning at an acceptable level. As an alternative, VoIP represents a stable, long-term solution that maintains our previous phone functionality and provides new features, such as voicemail-to-email (available now), plus mobile phone twinning—forwarding calls from your office phone to a mobile or home phone—and a voice-activated directory (coming soon).

The Technology team’s primary goal is to implement new products and services in a way that ensures their long-term success. We recognize that moving to VoIP has been a significant transition for Simmons employees and we appreciate your patience. Your cooperation and participation are vital to the success of this project and everything we do to support business and strategic objectives.

For employees who need assistance with their VoIP phones, we have created FAQs and videos covering the most commonly used features. If you have additional questions about using your VoIP phone, please contact the Service Desk at 617-521-2222.