Vol. 38, No. 18

7-18-2006
By: Joni Bentz Seal

UNITS rebrands as division of OIT

From its mid-1980s origins providing mostly phone and fax service to present-day essentials of data networking, Internet, cable TV and cell phones, UNITS is retiring its name in favor of the Office of Information Technology brand.

While customers attached service and quality to the UNITS name over the years, the convergence of technology and breadth of offerings drove the need for the change.

"This is a natural transition. The name has served us well, but many identify UNITS with only telephone service, and in reality we do a lot more than just phones," said Bob Corbin, director of the new telecommunications and networking division of OIT.

Even after it merged with OIT in 2001, UNITS appeared to be a separate entity and often confused customers on where to turn for IT services. Corbin said the two teams needed to unify and create a simpler interface to customers.

In addition to combining functions, such as human resources and business and finance, OIT also will merge its support services. During the transition, callers to either the original UNITS support line (2-UNIT) - which will be phased out over time - or OIT's 8-HELP will be assisted by staff who are knowledgeable about all the office's services.

The integration also allows the various divisions under OIT to focus jointly on new services, such as the campus wireless project and the Buckeye Secure project.

"While the rebranding is an important step in clarifying our services, our primary reason for doing this is to provide better services to the campus community," said Ilee Rhimes, chief information officer.
Autumn quarter, faculty, staff and students will see little trace of the blocky UNITS logo. Under the direction of the CIO's office, key university groups have been introduced to the new brand, and a campuswide advertising campaign will be in play. The OIT and telecommunications and networking Web sites will be updated and technician uniforms and vans will sport the new logo.

Corbin said the transition will be a gradual process to contain costs as much as possible. "While we want the university community to quickly adopt the new name, we plan to deplete our pre-printed materials, such as letterhead, business cards and billing stock as much as possible before replenishing.

"This is a good and necessary move for the university, to have one unified organization under the CIO managing all the central information technology functions which include telephone, networking and enterprise information systems," he said.

UNITS services
In addition to providing all the business telecommunication and networking functions and support to campus - with the exception of the Medical Center, which manages its own systems - OIT also provides phone, cable TV and Internet services to the residence halls on main campus, at the Newark, Mansfield and ATI Wooster campuses and to South Campus Gateway apartments.

It also provides optional long distance, cellular and Internet services for personal use to faculty, staff and students.

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