Purdue Northwest Will Migrate Voice Services to Teams
The university plans to decommission all physical desk phones as it transitions to a digital calling system.
Updated on Oct. 13, 2026 in Telecommunications
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Beginning in late October or early November 2026, Purdue Northwest will transition its voice services to Microsoft Teams. This campus-wide change involves porting all existing phone numbers into the digital platform.
Why it matters
The transition replaces traditional hardware with a software-based solution that requires the Microsoft Teams application to be active for all incoming and outgoing calls. By shifting to a digital model, the university will remove all physical desk phones from campus facilities.
Users will be required to keep the Microsoft Teams application running to manage their calls. The system supports internal calling by searching for a colleague by name within the app interface.
The players
Purdue Northwest
This university serves as the location for the campus-wide telecommunications upgrade.
Purdue IT
This department is responsible for managing the technical transition to Microsoft Teams calling.
The details
The migration will be carried out in scheduled waves to move existing phone numbers to the new calling service. Users will receive specific information regarding their transition timeline roughly two weeks before their individual phone number is ported.
Timeline
Waves of phone number porting are scheduled to begin in late October or early November 2026.
The Tech Race
This transition reflects a broader shift in the telecommunications industry toward cloud-based unified communications platforms. These digital solutions are increasingly replacing traditional analog desk phones to streamline internal workflows.
Faculty and staff must ensure the Microsoft Teams application is active to remain reachable by phone. Users should prepare for the decommissioning of their physical desk equipment once the migration is complete.
The takeaway
Staff members should test their internal calling capabilities by searching for colleagues within the Teams interface prior to their porting date. Staying alert for the two-week advance notification will help users prepare for the removal of their physical phone hardware.
Further reading
For more information on current digital infrastructure projects, visit the Telecommunications section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Nwitimes.
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