New High-Tech Phones
(posted 9/29/04)
by AJ Church, senior Journalism/Pre-Med major
Unlike the current laptop give-away, students do not need a high GPA to get a new high-tech phone installed in their dorm room. The new phone system has been in the works for months, but around the middle of August lightening struck the school and destroyed the phone system. With registration right around the corner, it was critical that a new phone system be installed immediately.
Larry Garrett, financial vice president, said that the old phone system was covered under an insurance plan. "We assume that the insurance will cover the cost of the new system," said Garrett. Charles Lewis, director of technology and information services, said that the new system has "cost less than the old system did ten years ago." He estimates the new cost under $200 thousand compared to the cost of the old system, $260 thousand.
Most people seem to like the new phones, but they can be a little confusing. The dorm phones have 24 buttons; faculty and staff phones have many more. The new network is connected with fiber optics, unlike the old which was made of copper wiring. Fiber optics do not conduct electricity, thus keeping them safe from another lightning strike. In fact, fiber optices do not use electricity instead, they use light.
Senior theology major, Jeron Holloway, loves the new phones, because they have caller ID, and voicemail. The phones operate of the computer Ethernet connection and can connect directly to campus computers. Thomas and Lewis said that these new phones have tremendous capability; they are still learning about what the possibilities are. They predict that within 8-10 months, the faculty and staff phones will have wireless connectivity, because the phones have the ability to operate on the University's wireless computer signals.
Additionally, plans are being made to give every person, staff, student, faculty, a direct number, instead of an extension.