February 2026 Tech News Continued
Wednesday, February 4, 2026
Microsoft Office 2021 Reaching End of Life in October: Microsoft has announced that support for Microsoft Office 2021 will end in October 2026. After this date, the software will no longer receive updates or security patches. To prepare, EITS will work with departmental IT teams over the next nine months to ensure all Office suites are upgraded to the latest version. For more information, contact Justin Sackett.
Teams Phone Available for Campus Units: EITS now offers Teams Phone, a cloud-based, next-generation phone system provided by Microsoft. Teams Phone allows UGA employees to communicate and collaborate anytime, anywhere, on any device. It integrates seamlessly with the Microsoft Teams application on laptops, tablets, or mobile devices, allowing employees to access all calls, chats, calendar invites, and meetings in one place. EITS will transition all phone lines off the legacy PBX and onto Teams Phone by March 2026. Telephone Services is scheduling departments that have not already scheduled their transition to Teams Phone. DTRs should fill out a Teams Phone Onboarding Request for their unit as soon as possible. Upon receiving the onboarding request, approximately six weeks prior to the port date, Telephone Services will schedule a large group meeting to address any concerns and answer questions. The Teams Phone transition does not affect AT&T Centrex/HVS users or phone lines outside of the Athens area. Users should note that they will lose access to their voicemail if they are not transitioned over to Teams Phone before the March 2026 deadline. As part of this project, Telephone Services has successfully transitioned around 5,000 extensions off the UGA PBX and approximately 6,000 phone extensions now on Microsoft Teams Phone with 2,500 remaining. Furthermore, there has been a reduction in PRIs resulting in significant cost reductions due to this transition. For more information, contact Steven Duffee.
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