Hi 96 / Lo 73
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Volume 71, Issue 142,
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
News VIP's line set to go dead in November Phone-based service scrapped in face of Enrollment Services Online's popularity by Mohammed Olokode
UH students will have one less option for taking care of University business this fall, as the Voice Information Processing phone system will be shut down in November because of an increase in the number of students using Enrollment Services Online. The discontinuation is slated to happen at 12:01 a.m. on Nov. 10. According to an official press release, the VIP system will be abandoned because more students are opting for the online service and both services are expensive to maintain. "We made the decision to phase out the VIP phone system because of two things: One, students were using the phone system much less than the online services for number of hits on the telephone this year are about half as many as there were last year," said Elizabeth R. Branch, interim registrar of Registration and Academic Records. "And secondly, to maintain two services that do the same thing has become less cost effective over the years. "We did some research to make sure that (students) would have adequate access without the telephone." The VIP phone system was introduced in December 1993 in order to make it easier for students to register for classes and check grades. Enrollment Services Online was created in November 2001, and it later offered options that VIP does not, including transcript requests, academic audits, commuter meal plans and applying for graduation online. The reason for the increase in service options was a password protected Web site, and a written verification for a request is possible. On the telephone, students only provided a voice response, not "an authenticable request." "The phone system helps students use a convenient method to access their information, and the Enrollment Services Online has been made even easier and more convenient to get grades without having to wait for a grade report in the mail," Branch said. During the period from October 2004 to October 2005, there were about 200,000 VIP sessions recorded, versus 15 million hits at Enrollment Services Online. The period from May 2005 to May 2006 included about 150,000 sessions by phone and 17 million hits online. In the month of May alone, there were more than 8,000 VIP sessions and 2 million hits at Enrollment Services Online. Students have varying opinions about the end of the VIP phone system. Public relations junior Ebony Thigpen said she made use of the VIP system. "I have used the phone system, and I didn't have any problems with it," Thigpen said. Thigpen said the phone system is useful when the computer system is down. "I think they should keep both. I think both are helpful because some people are visual and some people can do it by hand," Thigpen said. But for kineisology junior Jibin Philip, who uses Enrollment Services Online, the move makes sense. "I don't think it's a problem," Philip said. "I think it's actually a good way of saving money or whatever it is because more people are using Enrollment Services (Online) anyway and everybody has access to Internet these days." Students who are used to the VIP system and feel they will have trouble adjusting to Enrollment Services Online shouldn't worry, Branch said. There will be plans to offer assistance from staff when the new Welcome Center in the parking garage opens later this summer. "One of the things that makes it possible to do away with the phone system now is that we will, this summer, open the Welcome Center where there will be kiosks and students can access the computer there to do enrollment services," Branch said. "Even if they have no computer at home, when on campus, they can access it. "Students need to know that we are there to help them if they are not familiar with how to use Enrollment Services Online." Send comments to dcnews@mail.uh.edu |
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