Learning the Cyclone ropes
Two cinch bag-clad young men and their moms navigated campus earlier this week. They're part of an estimated 5,800 would-be freshmen who have accepted their admission offers to Iowa State and are participating in new student orientation this month. The two-day sessions continue through June, with the last one beginning Sunday, June 30, and concluding on July 1. Photo by Bob Elbert.
IT Services staff is working through kinks in phone installation
Editor's note: Iowa State University no longer uses Aastra telephone products. Information about current phone hardware is in IT portal's voice and conferencing services.
Work continues to transition Iowa State telephones to a new cloud-based system that will result in better service and functionality and save an estimated $600,000 each year.
Virtually all of the new phones will be installed and switched to the new system by July 9.
As with any new system, there are a few bugs to be worked out, and IT Services staff are working to ensure the new phones are working properly, and that people are trained in how to make best use of their new capabilities.
Issues that have been identified to date include:
- Intermittent service failures such as outages, fast busy signals or limited incoming calls. Most issues have occurred in the first 1-2 days after service moves to the new system and can be quickly resolved. Service failures that persist beyond 1-2 days should be reported to the Solution Center.
- Fax machines may require minor configuration changes. Call the Solution Center at 4-4000 if your fax machine is not working.
- The new phones have gone live with generic set-ups for buttons. Soon, users will be given flexibility to make the changes themselves, or they may submit a request for the changes to the Solution Center.
"Iowa State is a busy institution, even in the summer, so we appreciate everyone's patience as we switch to the Aastra telephones," said Angela Bradley, an ITS director who is leading implementation of the new system. "We especially appreciate how nice faculty and staff have been to the installation teams as they make their way through campus."
Changing to the new system also has caused brief ITS delays in responding to work orders. According to Bradley, ITS will resume its normal five-day turnaround by Aug. 1.
Training on the new phones is available for faculty and staff who want hands-on training. Sessions have been scheduled for the weeks of July 8 and 15; details are available on the IT Services website. Regular monthly training will resume in August. Trainers also will visit call centers and administrative users to answer specific questions and to help faculty and staff get the most out of the new system.
Be sure to email or call the Solution Center at 4-4000 to report issues or if you have additional questions. You also may contact the voice/data coordinator in your department or unit for questions specific to your work.
Aastra 6737i: Call lists, ring tones, conference calls
Aastra 6737i (PDF user guide)
View callers list
The "callers list" stores up to 200 incoming calls. Telephone icons beside the call indicate whether your call was answered or not. Answered calls display a phone with the receiver raised. On unanswered calls, the recever is in place. To access the list:
- Press the "callers" softkey and use â–² â–¼ to scroll through the list
- Within the list, the softkey provides options to dial, edit or delete calls
Change ringtone
At present, only five ringtones and a silent mode are available on the phone. To change your ringtone:
- Press the "options" key, scroll down to "preferences" and select by pressing â–¶
- Press â–¶ to select "tone" and â–¶ again to select "ring tone"
- Scroll for desired tone. (NOTE: If tones aren't yet ringing as you scroll through, listen to tones here.)
- Stop on the tone you like and and press "done" softkey
Initiate a conference call
The 6737i supports up to three parties in a conference call.
To add a third party to a pre-existing phone conversation:
- Press the "conf" key
- Dial the number of the third party or press the line # key if the third party is holding
- Once the third party has answered, press the "conf" key again to connect everyone
To cancel while the third party's phone is ringing:
- Press the "cancel" softkey
- Reconnect to the second party by pressing the (lit) line key or the "hold" softkey
If the third party answers, but can't join in:
- Press "drop" softkey
- You'll automatically be reconnected with the second party
To drop a party from an active conference:
- Use up or down arrow to point to the party to be dropped (listed on screen)
- Press "drop" softkey
- Other parties will remain connected
If you want to leave the conference:
- Press the "leave" softkey
- The other parties will remain connected
Aastra 6739i: Call lists, ring tones, conference calls
Aastra 6739i (PDF user guide)
View callers list
The "callers list" stores up to 200 incoming calls. To access the list:
- Press the "callers" key on the front panel
- Press the â–² â–¼ softkeys on the screen to view callers
- You'll have options to dial callers, post callers to your directory or delete calls
Change ringtone
At present, only five ring tones and a silent mode are available on the phone. To change your ring tone:
- Press “options” key
- Press “audio” on the touchscreen
- Press the button next to “ring tone”
- Scroll tones and select one (NOTE: If tones aren't yet ringing as you scroll through, listen to tones here)
- Press the “goodbye” key to exit the menu
Initiate a conference call
The 6739i supports up to three parties in a conference call.
To add a third party to a pre-existing phone conversation:
- Press the "conf" softkey
- Dial the number of the third party or press line # key if third party is holding
- Once the third party connects, press "conf" softkey to connect everyone
To cancel while the third party's phone is ringing:
- Press "cancel" softkey
- Reconnect to second party by pressing the (lit) line key or the "hold" softkey
If third party answers, but can't join in:
- Press "drop" softkey
- You'll automatically be reconnected with second party
To drop a party from an active conference:
- Use up or down arrow to point to the party to be dropped
- Press "drop" softkey
- Other parties will remain connected
If you want to leave the conference:
- Press the "leave" softkey
- The other parties will remain connected
More tips on the new phone
Editor's note: Iowa State University no longer uses Aastra telephone products. Information about current phone hardware is in IT portal's voice and conferencing services.
The new phone models on campus are the Aastra 6739i model(left) and the Aastra 6737i (right). Photo by Bob Elbert.
In this week's exploration of the new Iowa State phones, you'll learn how to:
- Find out who called you
- Change your ring tone
- Do a conference call
The new telephone system website includes installation and training info.
Click on your phone model -- Aastra 6737i or Aastra 6739i -- to get started.
Summer projects will close roads, sidewalks
As certain as flip flops and iced coffee, summer also means a few road construction projects around campus. Here are details on three significant ones that may impact your commute to campus.
West side of campus: West end of Osborn Drive
Plans to improve electrical service to the northwest part of campus will set up construction zones along the east side of Bissell Road during the next 45 days.
Where is that?
This campus map (PDF) provides a visual of when and where lane or road closures will occur this summer (scroll down to see the South 16th Street project).
The west end of Osborn Drive is scheduled to be closed for 14 days after the July Fourth holiday weekend. Pammel Drive at Bissell Road will remain open when the work moves there near the end of July, but lane closures will create a single lane of traffic in each direction.
During the project, pedestrians should expect temporary sidewalk closures at these locations:
- From the front (west) doors of Sweeney Hall north to Osborn Drive
- From the north side of the Armory east to Hach Hall
Drivers can expect temporary lane or driveway closures at these locations:
- Coover/Sweeney driveway
- Osborn Drive
- Pammel Drive
- Armory west parking lot
- Armory north parking lot
East side of campus: University Boulevard between Lincoln Way and Stange Road
Concrete patching work on University Boulevard between Lincoln Way and Stange Road is scheduled to begin July 15 and be completed in two phases. Phase 1 includes work between Lincoln Way and Sixth Street. To shorten the duration and maximize the construction quality of Phase 1, this section of University Boulevard will be closed for an anticipated 10-14 days. Alternate routes onto campus will include Beach Road, N. Hazel Road to Sixth Street, or Grand Avenue to Sixth or 13th streets. Phase 2 construction (Sixth Street to just west of Stange Road) will require lane closures in late July/early August with a single lane of traffic in each direction.
Veterinary Medicine campus: South 16th Street/Christensen Drive/South Riverside Drive
This project features several improvements to improve traffic flow through the South 16th Street corridor, including:
- Widen the approaches on South Riverside Drive (Vet Med entrance A) at South 16th Street
- Construct a right turn lane on Christensen Drive (Vet Med entrance B) at South 16th Street
- Lengthen the right turn lane on South 16th Street at University Boulevard
The work is scheduled to begin in early July and last approximately three weeks. Work on Christensen and Riverside drives will require road closures, so a temporary drive will be constructed across the grass lot between the two roads to provide access to the Veterinary Medicine campus. Lane closures will be necessary to complete the right turn lane extension at University Boulevard.
