WVU will soon begin two-year transition from Cisco hardware to modern, efficient Zoom Phone

Between January 2025 and July 1, 2026, all WVU employees on all campuses will be transitioning from an existing telecommunications system that is becoming cost-prohibitive to a next-generation, cloud-based platform that will better serve the University’s blended work force, Zoom Phone.

Information Technology Services, which has a mix of onsite, hybrid and remote roles, will be the first group to pilot the platform. ITS will create the resources to help ensure a smooth transition for other departments and colleges. The Beckley and Keyser campuses will then follow.

Around mid-October, ITS will begin working with business officers across the University to determine what phone numbers their units want to retain as part of this transition. Those decisions will be made at the college or department level. Typically, ITS will provide 30 days notice of the scheduled change for each unit.

Zoom Phone is a full-service, cloud-based calling solution that will better support a large workforce with many hybrid and fully remote staff. The desktop application also will eliminate the need for expensive onsite hardware that must be maintained and periodically replaced.

Zoom Phone will replace our decades-old Cisco platform and old analog phone services. By moving from on-premises hardware to Software as a Service (SaaS), WVU will avoid deferred maintenance costs exceeding $1 million. 

Zoom Phone also will modernize and simplify the employee experience, with an optional mobile app that will let employees place and receive calls on their personal cell phones using their work phone numbers. Anyone who has made a call using Microsoft Teams will find Zoom Phone easy to use, and Zoom Phone fully integrates with existing WVU Microsoft 365 services for a nearly seamless experience. 

WVU evaluated Zoom Phone against both Cisco WebEx and Microsoft Teams Phone. Zoom Phone was selected for ease of use, the ability to provide both soft phones and physical handsets and the availability of a mobile app. Other key benefits will include:

• Privacy — Zoom Phone has a fully functional mobile app so you can place and receive calls on your work phone number using your personal cell phone. This will eliminate the need to share personal cell phone numbers when you don’t want to.
  

• Secure — You won’t need to use Jabber or the Virtual Private Network (VPN) to make calls from off campus.
  

• Integrations — Fully integrates with Microsoft Teams to avoid disruption for those users.
  

• Locked-in pricing — An eight-year contract will prevent unexpected annual increases.
  

• Same number — If your college or department determines you are getting a new phone as part of this transition, you’ll get to keep the number you use now.