The Move to MITvoip

November 2009

After a technology pilot, IS&T began transitioning MIT's telephone service to Voice over IP (VoIP) early in 2008. MITvoip, which provides desktop phone service to MIT faculty and staff, includes several popular features that take advantage of its connectivity. These include voicemail-to-email delivery and its web portal for configuring call-forwarding features, from simultaneous ringing to "find me, follow me" options. MITvoip has both reduced costs and increased convenience, allowing users to move their own phones and local administrators to perform assorted functions via the Web.

Current Status
Most buildings that have up-to-date MITnet infrastructure have been transitioned to MITvoip. At the end of October, there were 8,500 active MITvoip accounts in service and over 8,000 VoIP telephones deployed across campus. IS&T closely coordinated the transitions with local telephone administrators.

Today MITvoip is the default business-class voice service offered to the MIT community. Traditional analog and ISDN service are being installed only in special cases and in locations where MITnet upgrades are still pending.

Future Work
Buildings needing network upgrades will be transitioned to MITvoip after those upgrades have been approved and scheduled. Meanwhile, IS&T is surveying buildings with MITvoip service to identify any phones that were missed or are no longer needed. IS&T also hopes to offer support for additional VoIP devices, and is evaluating options to enhance MITvoip security and allow the routing of calls directly to VoIP long-distance carriers.

Feedback
If you have comments or questions about this service, send email to the MITvoip Team.