University of Central Lancashire

The University of Central Lancashire has recently upgraded its Apcentia communications system order to help facilitate the university’s transition to total IP integration, which is taking place over the forthcoming months. The system, supplied by C3, is used to deliver prepaid services and information services to both students and staff. The system currently runs more than 3.5k voicemail extensions and 2k prepaid users and has the capacity to support in excess of 50K prepaid telephony users.

Prepaid facilities are offered to both students and staff and include prepaid Internet dial-up as well as telephony. These services are used primarily by students who reside in the University’s halls of residences. Demand for prepaid services is continuing to expand despite increases in mobile phone ownership and attractive packages offered by mobile operators.

Students are not charged for making calls within the university complex or for incoming calls - these are charged to the caller at standard national dial rates. Students only pay for outgoing calls, including email and Internet connections, which are handled on a pre-paid basis using prepaid phone cards.

Disposable or top-up phone cards can be bought from different outlets, such as shops and cafes, throughout the university. Students can add as much credit as they like to their accounts using an automated self-service payment system. The University also uses its Apcentia system to run many different voicemail and automated information services such as library information services for example. The system is now able to send an email message to each student with information updates as well as a voice message. Other information services provided include help desk facilities and close-down information services.

Says Mick Thacker, Telecoms Manager:

“This upgrade allows us to continue to provide reliable, competitively priced prepaid facilities and voicemail facilities to an ever growing number of students and staff coming to the university. This upgrade will also help us with our transition to IP.”

In the future the University intends to make further use of the system by extending its prepaid facilities to external halls of residences, which would mean a significant increase in users, and by using the automated attendant to handle the many thousands of routine calls received during the very busy clearing period.