better management of Cisco voip accounts

[LCPSWolf]

Here's a situation that's been bugging me in our district:

we have teachers that have an Exchange email account, a network account (now AD thankfully - in progress away from Novell this summer), and a phone extension via Cisco call manager. They each have a phone in their room with their extension tied to it.

When teachers change rooms, they are instructed to move their phone with them so that the phone doesn't have to be reconfigured. This practice seems strange to me. Does anyone else that uses Cisco Call Manager run into this same issue? If so, how do you get around it?

And I guess on a related side note, new teachers need an Exchange account, network account, and phone extension created and to be assigned to their phone. Does anyone know of a way to better automate all of these steps? We just got a product that will do the Exchange and AD accounts together ....can't think of the name right now, but we had it with Novell as well.

The whole process seems a bit too time consuming - duplication of information and all. Any ideas?

Thanks!

[beeswax]

When teachers change rooms, they are instructed to move their phone with them so that the phone doesn't have to be reconfigured. This practice seems strange to me. Does anyone else that uses Cisco Call Manager run into this same issue? If so, how do you get around it?

We have a similar set up, BUT each teacher has their own phone login so that wherever they go in school they simply login to the phone in that room, which automatically logs them off from any other phone they were logged into. They shouildn't have to carry the unit around with them.

[Spitfire]

Sounds to me like you have a voip phone system, if so the extension number is allocated to each particular phone, it is easier to move the phone than un-install the number and issue it to another phone, this is a real hassle believe me, the other way round is "hot desking" this again is a real hassle to setup initially.

[beeswax]

Sounds to me like you have a voip phone system, if so the extension number is allocated to each particular phone, it is easier to move the phone than un-install the number and issue it to another phone, this is a real hassle believe me, the other way round is "hot desking" this again is a real hassle to setup initially.

I took it as a given that the OP had a voip system. While it may be a hassle to set up the system initially, giving each member of staff their own login does have advantages. It's often (but not always) easier to locate a teacher by dialling their number rather than the number of the room to which the phone is allocated. They can also pick up their voicemail from any phone they're logged in to. No one can make an outside call from a phone which is logged in to it's own extension number rather than that of a teacher. External callers can contact me by calling the school and then adding my extension number (if they know it) without having to trouble the switchboard. If someone calls their son/daughter in Australia from an internal phone and is on the phone for an hour we'll know who's extension it came from and therefore who to bill. Though the flaw in this is that some staff don't log off from their phones and an unscrupulous person could use this to their advantage, and it also means that when someone calls you, the name of the person who is logged in to that phone appears on your screen, but it's not always that person calling you. But that's human beings for you.

[rtswin]

Look into the options for Call Manager extension mobility, this will allow your users to login to the phone, rather than moving the phone.

Although if your users are used to the older analog phones it takes them a while to understand that the number is associated with the user, and not always to the device.

You can of course setup the phones so that there are no logins, and the numbers permanent to the phone.