Vonage Business Phone Service provided by Drexel IT offers enterprise telephone services for the campus.  The Vonage service provides truly mobile access to a rich set of unified communications features for your Drexel phone service via the Vonage Business Communications (VBC) application installed on your desktop or laptop computer (Mac or Windows) and on your mobile devices (Apple iOS and Android).  More information about Vonage Business Phone Service features is available here.  

Incoming and Outgoing domestic calling is unlimited with no per minute charge.  No charges for voice mail,  texting, or video collaboration.  You can configure voice mail features including sending voice mail (.wav files) to your email and phone forwarding through the VBC app. 

When installed on your mobile phone, incoming calls will ring with a separate ringtone from your mobile phone -- and these calls can clearly be identified as coming to the VBC app's telephone number.

Existing Drexel telephone numbers appearing on Drexel's Nortel/Avaya phone system can be moved to Vonage Business Phone Service, allowing you to use a  Virtual Soft Phone with your existing Drexel telephone number so you can use it remotely, anywhere,  anytime. 

Traditional telephone handsets can be made available for those who require an actual desk or conference phone when working on-camps. Calls may be seamlessly  moved between the VBC app and desk phones.   

When you make outgoing calls, the caller name and number that is provided to the called party will be "Drexel University 215-895-2000". (Note: Upon receiving a call, some mobile phone providers only provide number information without name information.)  Your name and Vonage phone number will not be shown.  If you want to allow others to call your virtual phone, you will need to explicitly share your Vonage phone number.  Callers dialing 215-895-2000 are connected to Drexel's Directory Service. Vonage Business Phone service caller-id behavior operates the same way the University's traditional campus phone system operates.

Use Cases
University community members working remotely who need to make or receive phone calls as part of business operations can request this service.   Consult with the Drexel IT Network Operations Center to see how this app might be best integrated with your office's call center operation or your unique application.  In such a consultation, Drexel IT NOC staff will review this and other possible options that may best meet your needs -- including options to minimize expense. International calling is NOT supported; if you have such a need please call (see ordering below) for a consultation. 

Pricing
(Subject to change.  Last update 9/1/2021)

Activation and first month (full or partial) service: $29
$19 per month after the first month. Includes unlimited domestic calling, voice mail, text messaging, video collaboration, and all taxes and fees.
This is per user pricing. The soft phone application can be installed on multiple devices (i.e. computers, phones and tablets) belonging to the user.
When converting a Drexel Nortel/Avaya PBX phone number to Vonage Business Phone Service, you are  no longer charged the $7 or $8 fee assessed for the Nortel/Avaya PBX service, thus the net expense is only $11 or $12 per month.  Additional savings exist because you no longer pay a per minute/per call charge for each outgoing phone call.  Account mangers can review monthly Nortel/Avaya PBX charges using WebTelephone a component of WebFinance.  

Cancellation requires 30 days notice.

Typical mobile device requirements

• Apple iOS 11.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone / iPad.
• Android 5.5 (Lollipop) or higher. 
  
  
• Functioning up-to-date mobile device
• Voice quality data signal (Wi-Fi or Mobile network)

How to Order 

Department supervisors should email telephone-request@drexel.edu to request a consultation. After successful consultation your organization budget coordinator will need to sign-off on cost estimate.  

 Activation and Initial Use Instructions

Activation Info

^*Note: The caller number display was changed to 215-895-2000 on 4/21/2021.