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BlacRhurst-Claflin
Getting thek two cents worth.
Wblle Shlela Walah holds the receiYer cmd
listeDJI ID on the eoD..natioa. her daughter
Katie eagerly greets the penoD oD the other
eDd. (photo by M. Touhey)
The introduction of a new
computerized system provided
dorm residents with private
phones and
A different rin~
W
hen the students returned to
campus in August, residents of
the Wallace Complex fqund a
pleasant surprise awaiting them. In addition
to cable connections for
televisions and stereos, the university
had installed telephones in each individual
dorm room during the summer,
replacing the previous system of only
two telephones per hall.
With the additions, a new system was
also adopted by the university. The new
telephones can be programmed for up to
28 individual features and 18 system
features. It is a custom-designed system,
suited to the number of phones needed
on the campus. ·
The new features of the system include
a "camp-on" function which allows a
person who makes a call, and gets a
busy signal to hang up the receiver.
When the number is no longer busy, the
system rings both that number and the
number of the person who had made the
original call. Another feature allows a
person to dial five and then the four-digit
suffix when making an on-campus call.
The cost of the new system is
estimated at $30,400 per month and it
should be completely paid for in eight
years, after which the university will pay
only for maintenance and repair. The
system should start to save the university
money within five years. After that, the
savings will be impressive.
These additions to the campus phone
system will not only make it more
economical for the university, but also
more convenient for the student.
For dorm residents, it is now not
necessary to travel to the end of the hall
to make a call- it can be made from the
quiet and privacy of one's own room.
And, for the person who is calling a dorm
resident, be will no longer have to wait
for 20 rings before somebody answers
the phone, only to find out that the person
he wants isn't home or the individual
that answered the phone is from another
hall and is just "passing by" and has "no
idea" of where the person you want lives.
The introduction of this system
enabled the university and GTE to make
telephones more convenient, although
not necessarily less expensive, for the
student. In any case, with telephones
right at their fingertips, students can
now reach out and touch more people
than ever before.
Clint Kendrick 0
Underclassmen/ Telephones 63