Originally installed in the late 1980s, CQUniversity's Private Automatic Branch Exchange (PABX) telephone system managed to operate throughout five institutional name updates over a quarter of a century.

Senior Network Engineer Julianne Weekers says that, with further expansion for a growing University in 1993, "it has outlasted all the staff responsible for its care and feeding over the years".  

Former staff member Justin Parry is given the task of doing the 'switch off'

"Although defiantly wobbly on its last legs in the last few years, the longevity and robustness of the old technology is a testament to the engineering and less complex times," she says.

"The current rate of change sees modern gear obsolete in only 3-5 years."

Former staff member Justin Parry, who worked on the PABX, managing the telephone system for 16 years, was invited back to flick the switches off, heralding the change to a new phone system servicing our campuses.

A small wake was held afterwards with project staff and members of the communications team at the Information Technology Division.

Communications Team Operations Manager David Patterson and Justin Parry inspect the inner workings of the old PABX 
The inner workings