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Telephone

Caller ID

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Over the Christmas break, NACS implemented incoming Caller ID on the campus telephone system. On campus phones that have an LCD display, the phone number of the calling party will now be displayed when off-campus calls are received. An outside caller may have Caller ID blocked on his/her telephone; in this case the word “public” or “private” will be displayed instead of the caller’s telephone number.

NACS has completed the implementation of outgoing Caller ID as well. Previously, the originating phone number was provided to the remote party only for a subset of outgoing, off-campus calls in the local area. Now all outbound calls will pass along the caller’s UCI telephone number.

To request Caller ID blocking, please submit a NACS Service Request Form available at http://www.nacs.uci.edu/communication/telephone.html. The fee is $10 to block Caller ID on 1-3 phones. This fee will be waived for requests received by NACS before March 1, 2002.

If you have questions or concerns about Caller ID, please contact NACS at extension 4-5123, or send e-mail to nacs@uci.edu

Phone Service Plans

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The Ericsson User Group (EUG) board held a meeting at UCI’s University Club on Friday, June 16. The EUG is a national organization of Ericsson telephone system users which includes UCI, UCSC, and UCSD. Bruce Cotsonas, a Project Coordinator in NACS, is the board’s Vice President and served as host.

The EUG board completed its preparations for the annual meeting to be held in Las Vegas from October 22-25, 2000. The focus of the upcoming annual meeting will be the status of Ericsson’s PBX migration to IP.

The next software release for the MD110, the UCI campus telephone system, will incorporate IP Telephony features. Ericsson will provide extensive details about the IP enhancements for the MD110, and plans for its release in the United States, at the annual meeting in October 2000.

Voice Over IP

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NACS is currently evaluating Voice Over IP (VOIP) products from a number of communications vendors including potential to allow faculty and staff to use UCInet and the Internet to carry telephone traffic.

NACS staff members are beginning the planning process early in the development of VOIP technology. In fact, a pilot project may be launched in one of the university buildings in the University Research Park later this year.

The evaluation and test pilot processes will enable NACS staff to develop the knowledge and expertise necessary to deploy and support VOIP when it becomes “ready for prime time.”

911 ALERT

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NACS and the UCI Police Department (UCIPD) want to alert the campus community with critical 911 information. Too many people are dialing 911 by accident. These misdialed calls are a serious problem because they tie up UCIPD personnel who should be answering real 911 emergency calls.

Here are three steps you should take to avoid calling 911 in error.

  • When making an off-campus long-distance call do NOT dial 1+area code For example, to call Santa Ana, simply dial 9-714-xxx-xxxx.
  • Check your fax machines and modems to be certain that they are not programmed to dial a “1” before the area code.
  • When placing an “international” call be very careful to dial 9-011

There are four useful facts to remember when you do need to call 911 in the event of an emergency.

  • You can dial 911 when using a campus telephone extension or any payphone located on campus.
  • All UCI campus elevators are equipped with emergency call boxes. Each box has a push button that connects directly to the UCIPD 911 via speakerphone.
  • If you are outside of a building, look for an emergency phone. These yellow emergency phones with blue lights on top are located on the campus ring mall and in many campus parking lots. Each box has a push button that connects directly to the UCIPD 911 via speakerphone.
  • If you dial 911 from a cellular telephone you will NOT be connected to the UCIPD or the Irvine Police. As mandated by State law, all calls to 911 from cellular phones are routed to the California Highway Patrol (CHP). If you call 911 from a cellular phone make sure you give your exact location using the full name and “University of California Irvine”. Recently, someone on campus dialed 911 from a cellular phone during a medical emergency. The caller identified the location as “UCI”. The CHP officer did not recognize “UCI” which resulted in a delay in the emergency personnel response.

Finally, if you wish to reach UCI emergency assistance from a cellular phone, you must dial 949-824-5222 to reach the UCIPD emergency dispatch line.

New Feature for Campus Phones

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NACS would like to announce a new capability in the campus telephone system, which can be assigned to any campus telephone line. With this feature, your name, your department name, or your unit’s function can be displayed along with your extension number when you call a campus extension that is equipped with a multiline telephone set. The “name” can be up to 10 characters including spaces.

To order this service, please submit the ECS Services Request Form. The form may be found on our web site athttp://www.nacs.uci.edu/communication/telephone.html On the form, mark “software change” and use the comments section to spell out exactly what you would like displayed.

There will be a one-time software charge of $10.00. You may have up to three telephone lines programmed for $10.00 by placing all requests on one order form. Please contact NACS-ECS Customer Service at 824-5123 if you have any questions.