A new telephone system will be installed during winter break, providing the campus with clearer service and call waiting in addition to requiring students to change their phone numbers.
The new service, which will take effect at 5 p.m. Dec. 16, will also offer features including last number redial and automatic call back in addition to eliminating the crosstalk associated with the current system.
Along with the new system, the prefix for all campus phone numbers will be changed from 640 to 646 and individuals wishing to place calls between campus locations will have to dial five digits -- the four-digit extension preceded by the number 6, Marcia Colligan, director of business affairs, said.
The old 640 numbers will not work once the system is changed over, Colligan said. All students will receive a special mailing about the changes before they leave campus this term.
The four-digit extension of some student numbers will also change, and telephone services will notify students of such changes, Colligan said.
Within the past few days, there have been several phone outages, leaving parts of the campus unable to get a dial tone for five to 10 minutes.
Colligan said the problem will be resolved after the new system is put into operation.
The new state-of-the-art system is capable of handling 12,000 lines, 7,000 more than the current system, which was installed in 1981.
Colligan said the changes are all funded through the College budget, and that "there will be no change in the monthly rate for the additions." Students will not have to pay for the special features, she said.
Next term, the College will begin a study of a campus-wide voice-mail option, which could possibly be implemented by Summer term.
The new system uses 12 and 30-button phones to make transactions in the College's business offices more efficient, Colligan said. These button sets offer call transfer capability and the ability to accept incoming calls on different lines.
Some of the phones will allow one and two-way conference calling, she said.
"These digital sets will make available more functionality which is needed for business-type offices," said Colligan.
Telephones in business offices will also feature a liquid display that will allow the call recipient to see the telephone number of the caller when the phone is answered.
Colligan said student phones with a caller identification feature or liquid crystal display will not work under the new system.
The telephone service is switching from analog, single-line sets to dialog multi-line sets, Colligan said.
Telephone service will be interrupted for about an hour on Dec. 16 when the system switches over, Colligan said.
The Office of Telephone Services refused to comment about the new system.
