UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 10, Page 1
November 7, 1991
Hold put on phone changes

     A temporary freeze on changes to University telephone
configurations and features will be in effect from Dec. 23 through
Jan. 21, as part of the process to ensure a smooth changeover to a
new and more sophisticated telephone system for the Newark campus.
     During the weekend of Jan. 18, the University's telephone
service, provided at Diamond State Telephone's Main Street
facility, will be transferred from an older AT&T telephone switch
to a new digital switch, manufactured by Northern Telecom. The most
visible, immediate result will be new exchanges in telephone
numbers, with faculty and administrative (non-student) phones
having a prefix of 831 and student phones having a prefix of 837.
     According to Wilson Dillaway of Network and Systems Services,
"It is essential that the old and new telephone switches provide
identical services at the time of the switchover, a complicated
process involving some 8,500 phone lines. To permit final testing
of the exact configuration in place on the campus when the cutover
is made, a profile of existing telephone lines and features (such
as call forwarding) will be copied in late December from the old to
the new switch.
     "The freeze is necessary to ensure that the profile of lines
and services in place before the changeover matches the profile in
place after Jan. 18," Dillaway explained.
     Before the freeze takes effect, requests for additional
telephone lines or feature changes to existing lines will be
accommodated, Donna Borden, head of Telephone Services, said.
Borden urges individuals and units anticipating the need this
winter for additional lines or feature changes to make requests as
soon as possible. For more information, call Telephone Services at
451-2411.
     After the changeover, a new administrative exchange of 831
will replace the current 451, 453 and 292 exchanges, and a new
student exchange of 837 will replace the current 731 and 738
exchanges. Telephone extensions (the last four numbers) will not be
altered, and current telephone equipment will still be able to be
used.
     These new exchanges will be dedicated to the University's use,
Dillaway said.
     The changeover is possible now, he said, because the
University has entered into a new four-year agreement with Diamond
State for Centrex services, and as part of that commitment, the
company is upgrading its central office equipment in Newark for the
University's benefit.
     A Centrex Transition Team, chaired by Dillaway, is assisting
with the changeover to the new system.
     Members of the campus community with questions or suggestions
are asked to contact Dillaway (Wilson.Dillaway@MVS) or Borden
(Donna.Borden@MVS), either through Campus Mail or e-mail.