UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 11, Page 2
November 14, 1991
Temporary phone freeze prelude to winter 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 to a new digital switch.
     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.

Why is a freeze necessary in changes and additions to telephone
service?
     Diamond State Telephone has been assembling and testing our
new telephone switch, a Northern Telecom DMS-100, since September.
Starting late in December, they will start testing the switch using
our exact configuration. This means that the information about
telephone numbers and features in use on the old switch, an older
AT&T 1A ESS system, must be stabilized for the last few weeks
before the actual cutover.

When is the freeze scheduled to take effect?
     Diamond State has requested that we observe a freeze starting
Dec. 23.

How can I help?
     Changes that are anticipated for some time in January should
be requested now, for execution in November or December instead.
Alternatively, changes which can easily be deferred should be
planned for late January or February. Either way, letting Telephone
Services know now what your future plans might be will be very
helpful.

What kind of changes are affected by the freeze?
     Adding new telephones or moving telephone numbers to a
different location are the main concern. In addition, features
defined for a given telephone, such as call forwarding, also need
to be stabilized. If you would like to add features to a given
telephone now, or to learn what features are available to be added,
please call Telephone Services at 451-2411.

If I request changes now, will they need to be requested again
after Jan. 18?
     No. Diamond State has assured us that the changes completed by
Dec. 23 will be reflected in an identical configuration on the new
switch after the cutover.