![[Currents header graphic]](/homeart/currents_header.gif)
September 1, 1997
New toll-free number and 831 area code also announced
Campus telephone users will have to learn new dialing habits, as UCSC has switched from four-digit to five-digit extensions for on-campus numbers. The effective date for the change was Saturday, August 23.
Faculty and staff now must dial a "9" in front of administrative extensions. For example, Staff Human Resources is now reached at ext. 9-2009 instead of ext. 2009. To reach UCSC's voice mail system, users must call ext. 9-3000.
The change will allow for an expansion of the campus's Ericsson telephone system, which will begin serving students in several residence halls this fall, said telecommunications manager Larry Larson of Communications and Technology Services (CATS). UCSC will adopt a new prefix, 502, to serve the new residential users.
The expansion plan is part of Student Communications Services, an $8.1 million project to provide all students who live on campus with better communications tools (See Currents online, February 17, 1997). By fall 1999, all residence halls will be linked to the Ericsson system, which currently supports academic and administrative users only.
UCSC's 459 prefix doesn't have enough number combinations to serve the approximately 5,000 students and 5,000 staff and faculty who will use the system by fall 1998, said Larson. UCSC's new prefix, 502, will provide the additional numbers needed.
Five-digit extensions become a necessity when more than one prefix exists on the same telephone system, said Larson. "With two prefixes on campus, if people dialed four-digit extensions we'd have number conflicts," he said.
That's why users now need to dial "9" in front of the old four-digit extensions to reach administrative units. Residential extensions will be reached by dialing "2" and the last four digits of the number.
Campus users should reprogram fax machines, modems, and autodialers with the new five-digit extensions and make changes to publications, lists, or signs, Larson said.
Numbers used by outside callers to reach UCSC offices haven't changed. Call CATS at ext. 9-2783 for more information.
Toll-free number for voice mail
CATS has set up a toll-free number for faculty and staff needing to access the voice mail system from outside the local calling area. Use of the new number, (888) 827-2861, should reduce long-distance costs for UCSC and faculty and staff, said Larson, because calls that use a toll-free number cost less than collect and credit-card calls.
New area code planned for UCSC and the Santa Cruz area
In July 1998, Pacific Bell will split the 408 area code, creating a new area code, 831, for Santa Cruz, UCSC, and adjacent areas. Campus units are strongly encouraged to begin preparations for this change now, said Larson. During a six-month grace period after the change, callers who accidentally dial the 408 area code will still be connected. After that time, callers must use the correct area code. For more information, call (408) 459-2783.