ITS News

The Vanderbilt Telephone system is undergoing a series of upgrades that will pave the way for evolution of the Vanderbilt Voice Network.

The initial phase of this upgrade was to implement the latest software releases for the current system. This software has not been updated for nearly 4 years. As it has been a great deal of time  since the last software update, it will first be required to update the "firmware" in individual circuit package components throughout the system before the software in the systems can be upgraded. The charts below show the results of this "chip kit" upgrade. The "chip kit" upgrades were completed in 3 different phases: Student Network (24), 3rd/Remote Network (60), Admin Network (1,012). The final phase was completed by 6/24/05.

This software upgrade also required that we change out the processors in each of the 21 major components (switches) of the
system at the same time that we upgraded the software. Since the system is currently divided into 3 Networks, the upgrade
was phased such that each Network was upgraded separately, minimizing inconvenience to telephone users:
   
    Student Network (3 switches)    - complete at 6 AM, 4/15/05
    3rd/Remote Network (7 switches) - complete at 6 AM, 5/15/05
    Admin Network (11 switches)     - complete at 5 AM, 7/24/05

In addition, the Red Phone Emergency Telephone system was employed to maintain service for critical departments while we performed the upgrades in the 3rd/remote and Admin Networks.

Therefore, as of 7/24/05, the voice network complies with the most current software available to it. This will allow further
enhancements to features for telephone users, including a small trial later this academic year of the VOIP technology which was included with the new software.