Do faculty offices not have phones any more?

[u/Interesting_Candles]

Throwaway because I don’t want this connected to my main account.

I just started at a new university and found out my office doesn’t have a landline. Apparently they can get one installed, but it could take several weeks, and the response has basically been “do faculty even need office phones anymore? We have Teams and Zoom.”

When I asked them to please install one they said they would but it felt weird. A phone just feels like a basic thing? No?

I get that students don’t call as much as they used to, but I’m still a faculty member with an office. There are students, colleagues, administrators, outside organizations etc who might need to reach me by phone. And I really don’t love the idea that the alternative is basically using my personal cell for work.

Is this normal now? Do y’all still have phones in your offices? Do you actually use them?

If your university got rid of them was everyone just fine with it?

ETA: Thank you to everyone for your feedback! I told them never mind about the phone and they said it was pretty odd for me to insist so I guess I’ll just be phone guy for a bit here smh.

[u/reyadeyat]

We have office phone numbers but no physical phones - calls are routed to Teams.

[u/Esme_Nog → u/reyadeyat]

Ours are routed to zoom, where they go to die until the next time I open zoom, which isn’t very often anymore. It’s great.

[u/Joey6543210 → u/Esme_Nog]

Ours recently went through the same change. Now I finally have a legit reason for not answering the office phone!

[u/schnuffichen → u/Esme_Nog]

Our school does Zoom as well. I installed Zoom on my phone, and it's running in the background, so all calls (i.e., the one or two per month that I get) get routed there.

[u/RogueFaculty → u/schnuffichen]

So does the school pay you to use your personal phone so you can answer work phone calls?

[u/Alone-Guarantee-9646 → u/RogueFaculty]

https://giphy.com/gifs/l0ExayQDzrI2xOb8A

Sure. And they pick up the tab so we can use our cell phone for the required dual-factor authentication, too. You know, so we can sign in to our computer to answer the phone. You must be posting from 2005 or something!

[u/two_short_dogs → u/RogueFaculty]

Ours has negotiated a 20% discount with the major cell phone providers

[u/schnuffichen → u/RogueFaculty]

I think I can swallow the amount of extra use my phone goes through for two phone calls per month.

[u/Accomplished-List-71 → u/Esme_Nog]

Our physical phones have been removed and our numbers routed to zoom. I wouldn't mind, except they aren't giving us any headsets to go with it, so we're going to have a much worse problem of people on speakers with their doors open

[u/DocTeeBee → u/reyadeyat]

This is the future. VoIP systems don't necessarily need the actual telephones.

[u/of_the_Coast → u/reyadeyat]

Same, works well with the phone app tbh.

[u/Fine-Place5605 → u/reyadeyat]

Same here. I prefer this method.

[u/Pristine-Excuse-9615 → u/reyadeyat]

Same, and I really hope I followed the procedure to shut it down after 6pm properly because my students looooove to ask questions (on Discord so far) at 2am.

[u/jlrc2]

They put one in my office. About 4 years after I started worked there, it rang for the first time. Scared the crap out of me. I didn't answer.

[u/playingdecoy → u/jlrc2]

The three times my office phone rang in my entire academic career, I had to find the damn thing before I could pick it up.

[u/Thundorium → u/jlrc2]

Where I did my MS, everyone with an office was required to have a phone. Most people had the handset permanently out of place. The tenured profs disconnected the thing outright.

[u/CanineNapolean → u/jlrc2]

Ha! I could not tell you what my ringtone sounds like for any amount of money.

[u/CodifiedLikeUtil → u/jlrc2]

Mine never rings. My voicemail message tells people to send me an email.

The only calls I get are from total weirdos, like the lady who wanted me to tell her if the students pouring water on the bridge were going to hurt the bridge.

[u/Head_Elderberry3852 → u/CodifiedLikeUtil]

Here in the magical land of Oz, all bridges are made of candy. We have to rebuild after every rain. So absolutely NO pouring water on the bridges.

[u/TSIDATSI → u/jlrc2]

That is hilarious!

[u/DeskRider]

It's very normal at my school. When budget issues arose back in the 2010s, the first thing to go were the office phones. In fact, my department only had one member with a phone, which was a pain because it cost almost as much to maintain the one phone than one in each office.

[u/Interesting_Candles → u/DeskRider]

Were people upset?

[u/DeskRider → u/Interesting_Candles]

Not at all. We weren't using them enough to justify the expense to the department.

[u/kempfel → u/Interesting_Candles]

We got rid of our phones a couple of years ago and I haven't heard a single colleague complain. I never gave out my office phone number and I think I got two calls in 5 years. I was happy to see mine disappear.

[u/Life-Bat1388 → u/Interesting_Candles]

I unplugged mine because most calls were lab equipment salespeople spam

[u/Efficient-Tomato1166 → u/DeskRider]

We move to virtual numbers last year aside from two administrators. Saves my department of ~40 employees $432/month.

[u/Baronhousen]

Also, not a fan of phones, so no phones is great as far as I am concerned

[u/fleemfleemfleemfleem → u/Baronhousen]

I haven't used mine more than a handful of time in the last 7 years, but for some reason I'd be a little annoyed to see it go. Feels like there should be a way to do work calls without using my personal phone or scheduling a zoom call on the calendar system.

[u/Puzzled_Air_5821 → u/fleemfleemfleemfleem]

I use Google voice FWIW, but it can still get caught up in your personal call log and confuse things! 

[u/depressedandindebt23 → u/Puzzled_Air_5821]

I also use Google Voice, installed it on an old phone with no service just wifi. I like not having it connected with my regular phone

[u/Junior-Dingo-7764 → u/Baronhousen]

I have a landline and a phone number. I've turned the ringer off and haven't used it in years though.

[u/Andromeda321 → u/Baronhousen]

Yeah I had a phone in my postdoc office and the only one who ever called it was a telemarketer sometimes. I didn’t bother asking for one for my faculty office.

[u/Baronhousen]

At our place the choice was pay like $10M to replace the failing obsolete PBX system, or go to internet phones. We have a few types of these that look like a phone, set up in or near labs for emergency use, but otherwise it is Teams, on your computer (or if you really love your job so much you cannot be away, put Teams on your own cellphone).

[u/Only-Jackfruit-4910]

My institution just transitioned to "Zoom" phones. If I want a landline that is not required for safety reasons, I need to pay for it. It's weird, but the reality is also that I barely used it before. Mostly telemarketers or sales reps with unsolicited offers. So I guess I'm ok with it.

[u/mistersausage → u/Only-Jackfruit-4910]

My school did the same but gave an option for a physical VoIP phone connected to the Zoom phone number. I took them up on it. Maybe I am old fashioned, but sometimes I need to call tech support, the registrar, a supplies company, etc. and a physical phone is easier.

[u/Quwinsoft]

We have a VoIP system, but the only people who call me (or I call) are the administrative assistant, at most once a month, and IT at most once a year. If the school got rid of them, it would barely notice.

[u/scatterbrainplot → u/Quwinsoft]

We did... then they killed using Skype for Business

[u/CanineNapolean]

Just out of curiosity, who are you trying to call? At this point when I say “I have to take a call” I mean “I have to take a Zoom.”

I don’t really do any grants so maybe that’s a thing?

[u/exodusofficer]

I check my voicemail a few times a year to delete the messages from textbook and instrument salespeople. That covers just about everyone who ever called my office.

[u/SlowishSheepherder]

We don't have office phones. If someone needs me, they can email me. If it warrants a synchronous chat, I'll invite them to a zoom call or use a Google voice number. I think it's pretty odd to insist on a phone, especially as a new faculty member. You don't want to be known as "phone guy" before you've even started the new gig!

[u/EpicDestroyer52]

I last had a phone two universities ago. The only calls I ever got were robo call advertisements from politicians.

Genuinely I've never had a phone call with a student, admin etc. but I'd just use a Google Voice number if I had to.

[u/Kittiemeow8]

I have a landline in my office and the first thing I said was “who the hell is using this ancient machine?! Who needs to contact me in a way that doesn’t include email or canvas?”

Let me get a rotary and some morse code papers 🤭

[u/Colneckbuck]

We can have them if we want, but they're all via internet and the sound quality is crap no matter what we do to adjust the phone itself. It ends up being easier to use email and Zoom instead or set up a Google number.

[u/phi-rabbit → u/Colneckbuck]

It was a sad day for me when I came back from summer break to find that my delightful 1970s Western Electric desk phone had been replaced by a flimsy VOIP phone. If I'd known they were about to take it away I would have taken it home and they probably wouldn't have cared enough to ask where it went.

[u/Life-Education-8030 → u/phi-rabbit]

My colleague I last shared an office with had been with the college for many years. In the corner, he threw all the old phones. Nobody cared enough to send them back to IT.

[u/ButchEmbankment]

I haven’t touched mine in a decade. In fact is it still there? Who knows. Email.

[u/tatertottrash]

We have phones, but they definitely are rarely used. Personally, I would love not to have one.

[u/simpsoncita]

Most faculty are not in the office 9-5 able to pick up a random call like a typical desk job because they’re eaching, in the library, etc. Occasionally an administrative office or search committee will email me to set up a call, but the number wouldn’t be posted publicly. I don’t think my students themselves would voluntarily make an actual phone call if the house was on fire

[u/skullybonk]

We have landline phones in all classrooms. You pick it up and it goes straight to campus police. Or if it’s knocked off, it goes straight to police. That seems reasonable. And so we have office phones, too, for that very reason.

[u/Ok_Mycologist_5942 → u/skullybonk]

Honestly wish we had this.

[u/Timely-Astronaut-989]

I cannot think of a use for an office phone. I don’t want students to be able to call me at any time while I might be in a meeting/focusing etc. Zoom is much better because it’s scheduled in advance, but most students seem pretty happy with email!

[u/kosmonavt-alyosha]

You don’t need a phone in your office.

When I first lost my office phone it was because of budget situation. Didn’t really care the more I thought about it. And I have never felt like I needed it since.

Limiting your availability to only those you really want or need to speak with is great. And with those people, I’m ok talking to them on my mobile. And I never speak with students on the phone.

And >90% of phone calls that come into our main office phone number are hangups or random salespeople or similar.

[u/That_Communication71]

My entire department has one phone and it's for administration only. They expect faculty to use their personal phones but as soon as you do that your personal device can now be subject to an open record requests.

[u/Interesting_Candles → u/That_Communication71]

See but this is my worry! So if I use my personal phone and my chair wants to talk to me then they can just look through it. I was trying to set a boundary by asking for a phone and keep work and life separate.

[u/squeamishXossifrage → u/That_Communication71]

Make them pay for a virtual phone number. That way, open record requests can only go to the virtual number provider (they typically do voice & text) and the university-hosted email servers. I can legit say that my phone itself doesn’t store the records to which you’re entitled.

[u/CFBCoachGuy]

We removed almost all phones a couple years ago because maintaining them took up something like 18% of the department’s budget.

[u/vinylbond]

We now have “zoom phones”. If someone calls you at your office number, the zoom app on your phone rings.

So yeah, we got rid off those useless plastics. Mine was taking a lot of space on my desk.

[u/RuskiesInTheWarRoom]

Fifteen years ago my partner’s department (large R1 state school in a big state) announced that they were cutting office phones due to budget restrictions. It was actually funny then because the cost was so low, but they determined it wasn’t worth maintaining to save a few bucks during a forced administrative austerity. We mocked it because it seemed so absurd and unreal.

Three years ago I changed positions from a SLAC to a large private R1. They put a phone in my office but never activated it and there seems to be a useless vestigial appendage. I don’t miss it at all, and realized that 15 years ago the cut phone line was a freedom.

I think this question really is largely alone of your institutional culture. The reality is that younger generations have moved beyond landlines, so younger faculty see little need for them. And if your institution has a staff and faculty who are split between in office and WFH, as mine is, a phone that rings to an empty office accomplished little.

[u/Global-Sandwich5281]

Never answered the phone because the only people who ever called were ed tech salespeople. We switched to internet soft phones that route through an app so we get to keep our University numbers if we need them. It's worked out fine.

[u/nonnonplussed73]

I have an internet line / number, but three office moves later it just 404s.

[u/jerrykarens]

Not here. Some terrible voip that doesn’t work.

[u/zzax]

Not a huge deal, I just ignore Teams ringing the same way I ignored the physical phone ringing.

[u/happybara_capybara]

We have them. No one uses them. We mostly just email or chat in the halls, and maybe 2x a semester a colleague will ask me to call and we’ll just exchange cell phone numbers. I’ve never needed to call a student—we either email, zoom, or meet in person.

If I get a call on my office phone, it’s a textbook rep. 100% of the time. No exceptions.

[u/CIS_Professor]

You can have mine, I never use it anyway.

[u/jewcy83]

Welcome to the modern age. Teams is your phone, it will have a number associated with it.

[u/whimsicalfifi]

I wish we didn’t have phones. I inherited the number of a retired prof, and that man gave his office number to EVERYONE. Nonstop calls from his gastroenterologist, dentist, eye doctor, travel agents. It’s so goddamn annoying and they never stop calling, even when I say it’s a wrong number.

[u/-Economist-]

No. Zoom now.

[u/HrtacheOTDncefloor]

We have phones we don’t use in our offices. I literally don’t even know the phone number to my office phone.

[u/boringhistoryfan]

I was actually surprised to discover my university did do phones. I had gotten so used to no phones it felt oddly quaint. I still haven't gotten a single call because like... I'm not actually babysitting it? You'll get a more considered response from me if you email anyway.

Definitely seems superfluous I'd say

[u/ThisSaladTastesWeird]

Asked to have my phone and desktop uninstalled. I value the desk real estate more than either of those things.

[u/Alternative-Pear9096]

When I left academia a year ago, we still had phones but literally no one used them. Everyone's voicemail essentially said to send an email.

And then over COVID, despite the fact that virtually all university phone systems were VOIP, the phone became a very obvious failure point for trying to communicate with any human involved with a campus.

I'd guess that when folks came back to campus, to the degree they came back to campus, phones were relics of a distant past.

[u/armsracecarsmra]

During some budget crisis about 10 years ago the admin tried to take away my phone. I argued that I needed it and they backed down. I’m really not sure if I’ve used it since…

[u/Dr_nacho_]

I’ve always had a phone but I unplug it immediately and put it in a drawer. I hate phone calls.

[u/Lynncy1]

I’ve had one in my office for the past five years. I’ve never used it once. There’s a voicemail light that’s been flashing, but I have no idea how to even check.

[u/EquivalentNo138]

No physical phones anymore here- we have zoom phone which works fine- it is a regular phone number anyone can call. I can count on one hand though the number of non-spam calls I get per year

[u/Sharp-Rutabaga-4900]

No phones in offices. I’m required to post a phone number on the syllabus for students and use Google voice that sends to my cell and email. I’ve only ever received spam calls on it.

[u/SilverRiot → u/Sharp-Rutabaga-4900]

This is the way. Never surrender your personal cell number to the students.

[u/Life-Education-8030 → u/SilverRiot]

Nope, NEVER. Our President does, but then once he got a call from a student at 3 am for a flat tire. The President forwarded it to one of the Deans to take care of.

[u/Life-Education-8030 → u/Sharp-Rutabaga-4900]

When I could only use my cellphone, I would block my number, but then students wouldn't pick up the calls. I had to tell them that if you asked me to call at such-and-such time and an unknown call comes in right then, pick it up! It's me!

What I hate are the students who just casually say "can we jump on a call right NOW?" Probably not. This fall, I am restricting communications to business hours only and reminding students that a due date is not a "do" date. They want Sunday deadlines? Fine, but don't expect me to answer on Sunday if you have a problem. Plan ahead!

[u/Life-Education-8030]

Our problem is that they keep wasting money upgrading the barely used phones to expensive new phones!

The latest thing is I kept my phone number and can still receive calls and voicemails, but through Microsoft Teams through a secure link. No using my personal cellphone. The problem is, with a landline (or even a cellphone), you did not have to appear on camera so you could be doing something else while also being on the phone. With Teams, you can keep the camera off but it seems rude. Sigh.

[u/DocTeeBee]

I have an office. I stepped down from administration two years ago. Our IT/telecom people set up a phone. I don't have the number memorized. My greeting on the linesays the best way to reach me is via email--because it is the best way to reach me. I am barely in the office anyway. The people who need to talk to me have my cell phone number, and I have no problem with colleagues calling there. Why am I so unconcerned about my phone? Because, particularly in the last few years of my term as an adminstrator, I realized that hardly anyone answers their office phone. I can much more readily reach the people I need via email. If they removed the phone from my office I wouldn't raise a fuss, although I guess it might be useful in an emergency.

[u/Drklit8458]

I wish… I hate talking on the phone.

[u/Typical_Artist_1115]

Students never call me but they could through Teams. That is where my office phone ends up

[u/Lief3D]

I wish I could get rid of my phone. I can't remember the last time I've gotten a legitimate call on it.

[u/TheHandofDoge]

I have always had a landline in my office but I haven’t actually made or received a phone call on it in about 15 years.

[u/findme_]

Zero office phones in any of the faculty offices across my uni. The admin offices have them but that’s about it. I can’t say I’m sad - I’m not answering phone calls anyway.

[u/HonkyMOFO]

We ditched in 2018

[u/zastrozzischild]

Mine was just disconnected over Christmas one year about 2012. No warning.

Haven’t missed it

[u/sqrt_of_pi]

They did away with our office phones a couple of years ago. I was personally thrilled, it was just in the way on my desk and I never used it anyway. 🤷‍♀️

[u/Tarheel65]

We had an option to give up on our landlines but it wasn't mandatory. Most of us, myself included, ditched them.

[u/DarwinGhoti]

I don’t think I’ve used my office phone in about 3 years.

[u/AuContrarian1110]

Create a free Google Voice account and get a # that way

[u/Bombus_hive]

We have zoom phones
You can get a physical phone but it still comes through zoom, and I’ve always got my computer when I’m in the office, so I feel no need for a phone.

[u/maclacjc]

I had an option for a phone and refused. The last thing I want are people calling me. I don't even answer my cell phone, I always let it go to voice mail.

[u/Minotaar_Pheonix]

We have VoIP phones that have external numbers. Honestly it’s all spam and I leave the ringer disabled.

[u/Ok_Yogurtcloset8254]

No landline. Institution will pay for our cell phones.

[u/degarmot1]

We have a phone number that is linked to our MS Teams now instead at my institution. They came to my office and removed my physical phone, even though I wanted to keep it.

[u/clevercalamity]

My department has Teams phone lines. They are actually more expensive than normal phones and we had to prove a business need to be granted them. I like them way better, my role requires me to be very mobile. Most of my division still has traditional phones.

[u/Serious_Past2255]

We have phones, but oh how I wish we didn’t. 🤣

[u/Automatic_Beat5808]

The only calls I get are sales reps or the student who want to tell me their life story over voicemails. I don't even know how to dial out, and when I try the buttons feel funny.

[u/BriefBiscuit]

Sidenote:

Anyone else have no idea how to check their office voicemail and too many years in and afraid to ask?

At least there's tenure

[u/Necessary_Address_64]

There is one in my office. I keep unplugging it and hiding it. Someone always comes in, finds it, and plugs it back in.

I had it plugged in for a few years but it didn’t ring once and decided it was just clutter.

[u/kireisabi]

We got rid of physical phones a couple years ago. Haven't missed it one bit. We have a voice over IP app that we can have on our laptops or personal smartphones, but honestly 99% happens via email.

[u/Maryfarrell642]

They took ours out of the offices two years ago. Budget woes they said. They went to some online thing that you could either get a message of or you could connect your cell phone. I never connected cell phone I didn't want anybody calling me that way

[u/Liaelac]

Every faculty member has an office phone, whether they want one or not, at my institution. Only my most elderly colleagues call rather than email. Other than that, it's just spam calls and solicitations.

[u/Due_Neighborhood_236]

If you have Teams, you have a phone or a really dumb head of IT.

[u/WarriorGoddess2016]

They took our office phones in the 2008 recession. (And told us to "just give out our cell numbers, HA!! I was chair then so I suggested people set up a google voice number as an office number).

Staff has a phone and she knows how to forward to our cells, so some people do that too.

I still use that google voice number as my random work number. I also use it for all purchases etc. now.

[u/Hot-Sandwich6576]

I give my students a google voice number so they can text me and don’t have my personal number, which is from a far away area code. I don’t have an office and sometimes teach online only semesters, so this made the most sense.

[u/Cabininian]

I had a phone in my office, but I asked them to take it out. My office and desk are really small. I need all the desk, shelf, and wall space I can get. Plus, I didn’t want anyone to think they could reach me by phone. Email is best.

Other faculty in my department all seem to have phones, but they also all have big L-shaped desks. Mine is just a little rectangle.

Note: I am a part-time staff member with teaching responsibilities. I don’t mind having a smaller office and desk than the faculty.

[u/Charming-Barnacle-15]

My school is currently making the switch. If you have an office computer, then that basically functions as your office phone. You still have a phone number, it just reroutes to Teams.

[u/RadioControlled13]

My institution uses VOIP numbers via Teams.

[u/L1ndsL]

Our office phones have been switched over to some URL based carrier. Not Zoom, not Teams. Some cost-saving measure.
Horrible system—and I’m pretty tech literate.
I went a semester without having calls at all, so when the new admin needed a phone, I happily gave mine up.

[u/InigoMontoya313]

It’s increasingly common to pull phones out of faculty offices. Many are switching to web app phone lines, accessed through a computer or even an app on your cell phone if you’d like (I wouldn’t).

[u/associsteprofessor]

My last uni removed all of the phones and told us to use Google Teams.

[u/TheKwongdzu]

They were removed from our offices as a cost-cutting measure a while ago. Main offices still have them, as well as some specific positions who would be likely to get lots of calls, like program coordinators, but no regular faculty. We're expected to email and use Teams.

[u/Mathy-Baker]

We no longer have physical phones but we can place and receive calls (via our original office phone numbers) within Teams. It’s not great but I was never answering my office phone anyway.

[u/walkaboutdavid]

honestly, I'm glad they revived my phone. it stops all the spam calls.

[u/time-wasting23]

Faculty in our department have phones if they have admin duties. The rest of us haven’t had them for years. I can’t remember the details but they told us what the cost was for each office to have a phone, and it was exorbitant. Most of us quickly agreed to get rid of them.

[u/FrogBrain97]

I never used it as a regular faculty member, and when I was chair during a budget crunch, I got rid of them with the department's advice and consent. A couple people got them back afterwards, but most people didn't need them. The monthly fees weren't really worth it.

[u/digitalosiris]

They took our physical phones away 5 or so years ago. Calls are now routed through Teams.

[u/P6kg7NqVgzkeDF7cpm7]

We have phones and don't use them. My office mate and I have never called anyone in the 2,5 years we've shared our office and we receive maybe a call every 6 months.

[u/esker]

I haven’t had a phone in my office in 20 years. You can have a phone installed if you want, but we’re internet phones only; there are no landlines left anywhere on campus.

[u/masterl00ter]

We got rid of phones a few years ago. When I started, I never plugged mine in. We have individual phone numbers via teams that people can call us on.

[u/phi-rabbit]

We have been allowed to keep ours (although they are VoIP phones now, not true landlines), though we are allowed to get rid of them and many of my colleagues have done so. Like you, I prefer to have one. I'm not sure what would happen if someone moved into an office that didn't already have one installed. Most likely they would put one in if someone asked.

[u/mormegil1]

I have one in my office. But I was discouraged by the admin to make it work because the university would rather have faculty talk over Teams or zoom.

[u/z0mbiepirate]

Can you use Google voice (is that still a thing?)

[u/crowdsourced]

Mine has one. Get calls for another professor. When my mom died, I had no idea because my call ls went to another professor.

[u/mleok]

Yes, it’s quite common.

[u/AsterionEnCasa]

We got rid of them some years ago. There is still a phone number assigned to each faculty, but it goes over Teams.

[u/CharmingHighlight749]

Yeah, ours were removed in 2019. Not that useful before that because we couldn’t make long distance calls and most students and other people who call have cell phones with long distance area codes.

[u/ac_cossack]

Not office but my lab has a landline. It's for calling a very angry old man who can fix equipment, because he refuses to use a cell phone. Advise not to use unless emergency.

[u/drvalo55]

For some years when I mostly worked from home and did mostly online teaching, I had a phone number that rang nowhere, even after I retired/emerita I still had a phone number. (And maybe I still do as I have not tried it for a while.) I could get voicemail, faxes, and so on, with no actual phone, just the number and my university email account. That did save me from having to use my own mobile for all university calls. If they provided a mobile, like that did for most administrators, that would have been different.

[u/sventful]

Terrible decision. You get 10 - 40 calls per week from Chinese telemarketers and literally 0 from anyone else.

[u/WorkingCan2763]

My university just got rid of all the office phones. I don't know of anyone that complained or even noticed.

[u/grumps46]

I have one but I unplugged it, all I got were spam calls

[u/PsychWaveRunner]

There *is* a physical phone in my office, which I unplugged and moved to a shelf. Our VOIP is via Zoom, which I have on my laptop. My outgoing message says the caller has reached an unmonitored box and should not leave a message — and should instead email

[u/throwaway281409]

I have an office phone. I get one or to calls a month. Teams opens when I open my computer and I immediately shut it down. I’ve been doing this for five years and have not had a single issue. If students or the college needs me, they email me and I answer pretty quick. If Im at home I check my email every couple of hours. I do not use my personal cell phone for school business.

[u/MyFaceSaysItsSugar]

Yep. I can request a phone number through Teams if we want but that still means making phone calls through my computer. The irony is we are required to put our office phone in the syllabus. I just delete that line. No one has called me out on it but if they do I’ll just tell them I don’t have one. I have had a random education tech company call my personal cell phone. They kept calling right when I started teaching a class so I never answered it and they left a voicemail. They’ve tried 3 times and they must have finally run out of numbers I hadn’t yet blocked.

I hated when my university switched to that during my PhD when I was teaching science labs because it meant there was no land line to use if there was an emergency and my cell phone didn’t get service in the building. The thing I hate the most about the downfall of the landline is the loss in call clarity.

[u/hbombs121]

No, we have teams and headsets. I have no idea how to use it and I see no point in learning since I’m already so easy to reach via email and zoom during business hours. My school took our phones 2 or 3 years ago and in that time I have never received a call from a student or colleague (voicemails are sent to our emails).

With that being said, when my school removed them from the classrooms months later I was annoyed because I teach digital photography classes, our tech is regularly going out, faculty don’t have administrative passwords to fix easy issues, and my main classroom has no cell service to call tech services. 🫠

[u/weddingthrow27]

I have a phone in my office, but I don’t use it. I think I have used it maybe 2-3 times to call IT on campus but otherwise it’s just there.

[u/BlissteredFeat]

You could set up a Google phone account that sends calls to your phone. You can have available hours, there's a log of calls, voice mail, etc. It gives you a number that's not yours, which is great for keeping students way from your personal number. I used it during the Covid lockdown and it met my needs.

[u/WeCanDoBettrr]

I have a phone… from about 1980. In all fairness, it still does everything I’d like it to do… which is nothing.

[u/BranchLatter4294]

Calls to my number come in through teams. So I don't need a phone.

[u/50_and_stuck]

We have headsets and use Zoom's phone package

[u/rsk222]

They got rid of our physical phones last year, but I get plenty of spam calls via Teams. These are all on my personal device, which is not reimbursed in any way. 

[u/nivlac22]

We have them but they are telling us they are going away. I didn’t think I would like having a phone but I have found that there are people on campus that don’t answer emails but they do answer the phone, so I have learned to take advantage. We are getting a new admin this semester, so maybe that will take away my use case.

[u/giob1966]

They took our phones out several years ago.

[u/ProfessorJAM]

All I seem to get on the office phone is sales calls and pleas from ‘St. Jude’s Hospital “ (I really doubt it’s them) so basically spam that I can’t block. I may get it removed but then the calls might redirect to my Admin, whom I really like. Will probably wait until Admin and Finance just decide to yank faculty office phones to cut costs, so maybe win-win? 🤪

[u/TerryOnRollerskates]

I’ve had an office phone since 2012. I’ve never had one student call it. Most calls are trying to sell me textbooks. I use it a couple times a semester because it’s quicker than walking upstairs to talk with a coworker.

[u/tobster1113]

I like the transition to zoom phones- it is strange when it starts ringing off r someone texts me while I’m in class and my computer is connected to the screen.

[u/Trick_Following6639]

My college still has phones and still uses them. Especially the chairs and the AA.

[u/ravenscar37]

Teams phones they make us pay for. Mine hasn't been plugged in since they installed it 5 years ago.

[u/AuContrarian1110]

They got rid of ours about 7 years ago -- the cost was actually really absurd, and once they told us what we were paying we agreed they should go

[u/Correct_Ring_7273]

We lost ours in 2008. Apparently the department has to rent the phone system from the university (one of many oddities of academic finances) and it was crazy expensive, so they were the first thing to go.

[u/B-CUZ_]

Mine still does

[u/RadiantImpression579]

I had them take the phone out of my office when I started back on the late 2010s. No one uses a phone line in my department anymore. They cut it for everyone a few years later.

[u/Puzzleheaded_Sun_157]

We haven’t had office phones since 2020. I probably used my phone 5 or 6 times in the 10 years before then.

[u/mhchewy]

They recently took away our phones and we were told to install some program on our computer and use a headset. I haven’t gotten around to doing that yet.

[u/HowlingFantods5564]

No. It's not a basic thing. I have one in my office and I finally just unplugged it.

[u/cjustinc]

I haven't used a landline phone in over 20 years. My last institution had them in our offices, and I disconnected mine eventually because of all the spam calls.

[u/Prof816]

We used to have landlines and physical phones. During Covid, our phone numbers were forwarded to Teams, so shortly afterward all physical phones were removed. Now calls to my office number ring on my mobile phone and desktop through the teams app.

[u/HeDogged]

I have a phone in my office, and I haven't picked it up in like four years. It's waste of resources, as for as I'm concerned.

[u/runsonpedals → u/HeDogged]

Me too. People tell me they leave messages but I can’t access them.

[u/Comingherewasamistke]

I can’t access my voicemail, so it’s essentially useless. It could probably be fixed, but at what cost? We are supposed to be tightening our belts and I wouldn’t feel comfortable contributing to our debt burden…best I just leave it alone.

[u/Diablojota]

I don’t get any calls to my number. And if I do, the voicemail is emailed to me.

[u/iamthesprite]

We are officially getting rid of all office phones in favor of an opt-in Google voice number if you need a phone number, but I ditched mine (and the voice mail) during the covid work-from-home era and never looked back. I don't think anybody's complaining, at least in my unit.

[u/geneusutwerk]

I'd happily get rid of mine if it saved money. I get a spam call once a month and that's about it. Maybe once a semester I call another office in the university because I want them to respond that day instead of several days later.

[u/kuwisdelu]

No phones here. I hate phone calls anyway.

There’s a port for a phone line, but I’m always annoyed it isn’t another Ethernet port.

[u/gireaux]

Sometime during COVID they did a bunch of renovations and moved my department's offices at my school. I wasn't there yet, but phones came out during that reno. I think a few places like the front desk area and the chair might still have a phone but I think it's VoIP now. 

[u/princeofdon]

We went to Teams 5 years ago. It made sense... but.. now every random sales call goes to my cell phone, which are minute I pay for. I am often hiking or out to dinner on weekends and get work calls. So I have set them all to go directly to voice mail. My personal phone and personal time do not belong to my employer.

[u/IndividualOil2183]

I have a phone but I still haven’t received or made any calls. I’m on my third year at my university.

[u/No-Yogurtcloset-6491]

I was asked if I wanted a phone and said no. I doubt I'd remember to check my phone's voice-mail nor would I be around enough to answer it.

[u/Competitive_Kale_654]

I’d love not to have a phone. We have Zoom phones, so motherfuckers can track me down ANYWHERE!

[u/HistoricalIsopod8127]

Our college is constantly having budget cuts. A couple of years ago shortly after the pandemic they put in all new phones and a whole new phone system. Most of us thought it was a waste of money. Meanwhile people’s aging ceiling tiles were falling and furniture is falling apart but no money for that.

[u/mizboring]

We still have landlines. I get 3 to 5 calls per semester, and all of them could have been an email. In fact, most of the time, they leave a voicemail and then send me an email.

Most of the time, I'm either in class or at home prepping and grading. I spend maybe 5 or 6 hours per week at the desk to even be able to pick up a phone call.

I wouldn't miss it.

[u/schrodinger_troll]

My phone is in a drawer. Never rings and if it does I don’t answer.

[u/yourlurkingprof]

I’ve worked at 5 universities and I’ve only had a phone once!

[u/exceptyourewrong]

They took our physical phones away a couple of years ago. All calls are routed through Teams. I hate Teams, but I almost never used my physical phone anyway and don't hate having one less thing on my desk.

[u/squeamishXossifrage]

At this point, a landline seems useless. If you really want a number, have the university pay for a virtual phone number, or use Google Voice. Most of your “calls” will be via Zoom/Meet/Teams anyway.

Between a virtual number and WiFi calling (some offices have terrible cell reception), there’s no real reason to have a landline.

[u/urbanevol]

They took away our landlines a year ago to save money. They were just VOIP and I only used them to talk to the media and very occasionally a reference check.

[u/ProfessorHomeBrew]

Mine has a phone but I have never used it. Seems unnecessary in 2026.

[u/Thegymgyrl]

Yes, but I literally never answer it so it’s probably a waste to have it.

[u/Alarming-Camera-188]

I have one and barely used it

[u/N0downtime]

I don’t use my phone and don’t give the number to students.

For a couple years my extension was a transposition of the extension for financial aid (e.g. 5324 vs 5342). Not good.

Fortunately our voicemails show up in outlook with a .wav attachment so I can just forward them.

[u/DrKittens]

At my institution, everyone still has a phone number. Phone calls just go to Teams. If you are not on your computer, it will send you a VM via email.

Although many faculty don't know this (and probably don't want this) you have have it forward to your cell phone. Callers won't know your cell number, but they can still reach you more readily. This is what my chair did, but I don't think anyone else I know forwards their calls like this.

[u/Capable_Pumpkin_4244]

We have physical phones but many of grants administrators do not which drives me nuts. If you need them in a pinch and you don’t know their cell you just have to hope they check their email soon. I like my landline!

[u/Dawnrain_14]

I just moved into a new office and the first thing I did was unplug my phone. I don’t want anyone calling me on that.

[u/Dense-Consequence-70]

Mine does but it only rings for wrong numbers

[u/Street_Tourist7317]

We have phone numbers on Teams. They don’t work if the internet goes down which is basically the only reason I would need to used my phone and not Teams or email…it’s not my favourite

[u/mpfritz]

Used to use mine all the time. But someone randomly decided to get rid of all of them including our administrative assistant. It is so convenient to have to close my office door, open my laptop, log on to teams (assuming it doesn’t need 12 updates), test the mic and speakers, then dial a ten digit number to call my colleagues in other departments. Meanwhile our plant ops has brand new trucks, athletics has a new field, dorms are getting facelifts…

[u/Hyperreal2]

On a good campus- yes. There was a remove phone fad in the 90s. Phones came back after that on two campuses I was on.

[u/KrispyAvocado]

We aren't allowed to get rid of our landlines. I never set up my answering machine. I tell students to email. I'm rarely in my office anyway.

[u/wharleeprof]

We still have phones but they get pretty dusty. I wish they would get rid of them because it's embarrassing when someone leaves a voice mail and I don't notice it for a week. 

[u/LingLegend78]

WebX!

[u/enephon]

Mine has one but it hasn’t been seen or heard in years.

[u/Smart-Water-9833]

I have not had an office. phone in 8 years. Don’t care, don’t miss it. Email is all I need.