Telephony replacement: transition guide - tasks and schedule
Schedule and task plan for Teams Phone transition
BT will deactivate all analogue lines at some point in 2026 and the Chorus VoIP telephony service will be switched off on 31 July 2026.
The project is supporting colleges and departments to transition to Teams Phone through several tranches. The transition guides below outline the tasks that you need to undertake to transition your college or department from Chorus to Teams Phone.
These include indicative timings for meeting the final deadline for that tranche. Local factors might require adjustments to the timeline, for example:
- the extent of consultation required with colleagues and end users
- the level of network preparation required for lines requiring handsets
- whether the deployment of handsets is staggered (network arrangements allowing) or carried out all at once
Final collection of Chorus handsets after transition complete
Collection of old Chorus handsets (from individuals and common areas) will be the responsibility of each individual college or department. Where a college or department already has a Stone collection booked, it will be most efficient to use this for disposal of its handsets. Otherwise, the project will coordinate removal of handsets from a single location for each college/department and their secure and safe disposal. It will cover one pick-up per college/department.
Tranche 1 transition guide
| Task | Guidance/information |
|---|---|
At least 6 weeks before go-live |
|
|
Complete Form 1: Contact information (deadline 29 October, if not before) |
n/a |
|
Brief decision-makers and confirm local approach (eg extent of consultation and handset provision) |
|
| Conduct any consultation needed to identify individual needs and capture key information requested by the project in Forms 2 and 3 | |
At least 5 weeks before go-live |
|
|
Project provided handset requirements finalised |
n/a |
|
Complete Form 2: Devices and disposals (deadline 12 November, if not before) |
Phoneman User Guide | IT Help |
At least 4 weeks before go-live |
|
|
For telephony lines requiring a handset (whether common area or personal) configure a suitable Voice VLAN for Teams Phone |
|
|
Agree go-live date with project for it to schedule:
|
n/a |
|
Set up account with and order handsets from Avoira |
|
|
Communicate change to end-users, for example first countdown email |
|
At least 2 weeks before go-live |
|
|
Request Frodo port to be enabled |
Telephony network preparation | IT Help. |
|
Communicate change to end-users, for example second countdown email |
|
At least 1 week before go-live |
|
|
Ensure Frodo port enabled (by Network Operations) |
Telephony network preparation | IT Help. |
|
Ensure Frodo physical cabling completed (by Managed Network Services or local ITSS) |
Telephony network preparation | IT Help. |
|
Ensure all handset deliveries completed |
n/a |
|
Complete Form 3: Chorus VoIP line review and changes (deadline 10 December, if not before) |
n/a |
|
Communicate change to end-users, for example third countdown email |
|
Go-live day |
|
|
Phoneman – move all remaining personal lines to Teams Phone |
Phoneman User Guide | IT Help |
|
Phoneman – move all common area lines to Teams Phone |
Phoneman User Guide | IT Help |
|
Check Call Queues set up in Teams Phone (after lines moved to Teams Phone) |
|
|
Deploy new handsets |
See section below this table |
|
Remove old Chorus handsets |
n/a |
|
Final communication to end-users, for example Go-live email |
|
From 1 week after go-live |
|
| Raise any support tickets with central IT Service Desk , not the project team | n/a |
2 weeks after go-live |
|
| Gather and package old Chorus handsets to one location ready for collection and disposal | n/a |
Tranche 2 transition guide
| Task | Guidance/information |
|---|---|
By 9 January 2026 |
|
|
Start briefing and consulting decision-makers to confirm local approach (eg extent of consultation, line and handset provision) |
Options for VoIP (digital) lines |
|
Complete Form 1: Contacts, building and network information (deadline 9 January 2026, if not before) |
|
By 6 February 2026 |
|
|
Complete consultation with decision-makers |
Options for VoIP (digital) lines |
|
Conduct any consultation needed to identify individual end-user needs |
Options for VoIP (digital) lines |
|
Confirm with network management team network preparation plan for telephony lines requiring a handset (whether common area or personal), including any physical cabling requirements for analogue line replacements. It might be helpful to share this guide with them. If your network is provided by Managed Network Services (MNS), MSD IT or GLAM IT, no action is required unless physical cabling is needed. In which case, while they can advise on cabling requirements, individual units/sites will need to book and arrange installation and testing with an approved supplier. |
|
|
Confirm your requirements for project-provided handsets |
n/a |
|
Propose go-live date for lines requiring a handset |
n/a |
|
Complete Form 2: Devices and go-live date (deadline 6 February 2026, if not before) |
|
|
Start communicating change to personal users that do not require handsets |
Communications pack shared via email by project team |
|
Start migrating personal lines (that do not require a handset) to Teams Phone via Phoneman |
|
By 13 February 2026 |
|
|
For lines requiring a handset configure a suitable Voice VLAN for Teams Phone Note: if your network is provided by Managed Network Services (MNS), MSD IT or GLAM IT, you need not take this action because it will be coordinated centrally |
|
| Request support from project team for transition of intercoms, if you have these | Telephony replacement: transition guide - technical |
|
Start communicating change to handset users (both personal and common area) |
Communications pack shared via email by project team |
By 20 February 2026 |
|
|
Set up account with and order handsets from Avoira |
|
|
Request Call Queues and AutoAttendants |
Telephony replacement: transition guide - technical |
|
Continue to communicate change to personal users that do not require handsets |
Communications pack shared via email by project team |
|
Continue to migrate personal lines (that do not require a handset) to Teams Phone via Phoneman |
|
|
Continue to communicate change to handset users (both personal and common area) |
Communications pack shared via email by project team |
By 27 February 2026 |
|
|
Request FroDo port to be enabled Note: if your network is provided by Managed Network Services (MNS), MSD IT or GLAM IT, you need not take this action because it will be coordinated centrally |
|
By 6 March 2026 |
|
|
Ensure FroDo enabled |
|
|
Ensure physical cabling installation complete (if required) |
|
|
Ensure all handset deliveries complete |
n/a |
|
Continue to communicate change to personal users that do not require handsets |
Communications pack shared via email by project team |
| Continue to migrate personal lines (that do not require a handset) to Teams Phone via Phoneman | |
| Continue to communicate change to handset users (both personal and common area) |
Communications pack shared via email by project team |
By 13 March 2026 |
|
|
Transfer all remaining personal lines (where handsets not required) to Teams Phone via Phoneman |
|
|
Transfer all lines requiring handsets to Teams Phone via Phoneman |
|
|
Ensure Call Queues set up in Teams Phone (after lines moved to Teams Phone) |
|
|
Replace Chorus handsets with Teams Phone compatible handsets |
Telephony replacement: transition guide - technical |
|
Deploy Teams Phone handsets |
Telephony replacement: transition guide - technical |
|
Remove Chorus handsets |
n/a |
|
Final communication to end-users |
Communications pack shared via email by project team |
By 20 March 2026 |
|
|
Complete Form 3: Progress and handset disposal (deadline 20 March 2026, if not before)
|
|
From 27 March 2026 |
|
|
For queries, raise support tickets with central IT Service Desk, instead of contacting project team |
n/a |
By 10 April 2026 |
|
|
Gather and package old Chorus handsets to one location ready for collection and disposal by project (unless this has been arranged locally) |
n/a |
College transition guide
Some colleges have already transitioned to Teams Phone or have opted to be part of an earlier tranche, in which case they should follow the appropriate tranche transition guide. To meet the deadline of 31 July, when Chorus will be switched off, other colleges should follow the timeframe that will be outlined below once it is confirmed.
