Major Shift Underway for UIC’s Legacy Phone Lines
Departments asked to help review outdated phone services
A campus-wide effort is underway to evaluate and reduce the number of outdated Centrex (legacy) phone lines at UIC. The initiative comes in response to a significant and unexpected price increase from the university’s legacy telecom provider, AT&T — with monthly charges seeing a 1,200% increase.
“We were placed in a tough position,” said Jelene Crehan, Director of Network Engineering and Infrastructure “This was not a planned change, but we’re committed to helping departments navigate through it and provide a modern solution for our essential services.”
What is Changing?
UIC has used Centrex lines for decades, but many of these older phone lines were never included in previous migrations to internet-based telephony. Some remain tied to alarms, fax machines, or personal lines. Others may simply be unused or could be replaced with a modern Zoom line at no added cost.
What Departments Need to Know
Technology Solutions will be reaching out to departments with a list of remaining legacy lines. Teams will be asked to review and identify each line as one of the following:
- Maintain– for alarms, faxing, or critical workflows that require maintaining the current number, as it may be published or practically doesn’t make sense to issue a new number
- Convert to a NEW Zoom number – migrate to a new number using Zoom phone
- Disconnect– lines that can be retired as they are no longer in use or no longer needed
Please note that no active or critical lines will be removed without full departmental confirmation.
“This is a collaborative effort,” said Jelene “We want to avoid disrupting actively used services — we’re asking for input to help make informed decisions that protect both operations and budgets.”
Why This Matters
If left unchecked, the rising costs tied to legacy services could impact future funding models and service rates across campus. By reviewing these lines now, UIC can reduce waste, invest in modern tools, and prevent future disruption.
A campus knowledge base article and FAQ will be shared in the coming weeks.