Since early 2017, U of T has been transitioning over 12,000 faculty and staff from a Bell phone system to VoIP. Now that this massive initiative is almost complete, Financial Services and Information Technology Services are excited to improve reporting and billing for end users – with the VoIP Billing Project.
On June 15, U of T will be moving to an automated billing process with custom SAP Reports to increase efficiency and provide more transparency, including complete costs for line charges, hardware, long distance and the details of each charge.
“In the past, Business Officers and Telecomm Administrators would receive multi-page reports that outlined long distance, voicemail and other charges,” says Chris Dimitriadis, manager of F.A.S.T, Financial Services Department. “But these multi-page reports excluded the basic line charges, which were the biggest component of billing. Now staff will be able to see details of all charges clearly using the new SAP reports.”
After June 15, billing transactions will be posted using automated billing and users will have access to the two new reports – ZVC2 – VoIP Recurring and Hardware Charges, and ZVC3 – VoIP Long Distance.
“We’re offering staff increased efficiency with reports that span multiple billing months or a range of months,” says Tony Danas, manager of the Telecommunications Department. “We’re also improving the user experience with faster reconciling and reporting with improved filtering and the ability to view sub-totals and totals.”
In addition to the details of all posted charges, staff will also be able to easily see any rejected charges they may have, allowing them to be more proactive in managing their budgets.
The transition to improved reporting and automated billing is the final phase of a university-wide project to transition from a Bell phone system to VoIP. VoIP is more cost effective and offers a 50 per cent reduction in departmental bills, depending on what service options are selected. It also provides enhanced communications features that allow users to access voice messages via email, make teleconference and videoconference calls, and gives users mobile access. Beyond these benefits, VoIP integrates with U of T’s Campus Police so they can access callers’ locations and respond quickly.
“We’ve spent many years improving our system by switching to VoIP, and the results have been impressive. Now we’re further improving the process so staff can easily see accurate and complete charges,” says Danas. “We’re excited to transition to more streamlined business operations, improve the user experience and help our staff save time.”
For questions related to the VoIP billing reports, please contact your FAST Team Faculty Representative
For questions related to VoIP billing charges, please contact telecom.services@utoronto.ca