Washington and Lee University
Contents
Telecommunications
W&L’s Telecommunications Department has been serving the telephone, voice-messaging, and cable television needs of on-campus residents since 1993. Basic telephone service and W&L CATV has been included in your room fee. The cable is new starting 2008-2009 year in the past you would have paid for cable for your rooms. Long distance telephone service are additional. This handbook provides a description of services and a list of rules governing their use.
You will have a voice mailbox to store incoming messages when you’re unable to answer your calls. Voice mail replaces individually-owned answering machines. Call waiting is unavailable due to the presence of voice mail. You will be able to create your own voice mail greeting. Messages may be retrieved from any touch-tone phone.
The most current information on telecommunication services at the University is available through Telecom Online (the Telecommunications Office World Wide Web Page). In addition to general telecommunications information, the WWW page includes online phone books and links to other interesting Internet sites. The Telecom Online address is http://telecommunications.wlu.edu/.
The Telecommunications Office is located at 104 Early Fielding Memorial Building office hours are Monday - Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m (closed 12-1). The phone number is 4000 from any W&L phone or (540) 458-4000 from outside the University.
If your campus residence is in the dorms, apartments, or sororities, your phone is already installed and ready for use. It is a Rolm 120 digital phone with the following features:
If you reside in one of the fraternities, you will need to provide your own phone for your room. Since the phone lines in the fraternities are analog, a normal single line phone like you have at home is all you need (older rotary phones will not work on this system). However, in order to more easily take advantage of some of the system features, it will be beneficial to have a phone that has a “FLASH” button on it, but it is not required.
Placement of outgoing long distance calls requires the use of your personal 7-digit authorization code. Your long distance code will be in you WebAdvisor account . No deposit is required for long distance service. No subscription fee or monthly service fee will be charged for an authorization code.
You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your authorization code and you will be responsible for all calls placed with your authorization code. If your authorization code is lost or stolen, or if for any reason you feel the security of this number has been compromised, immediately contact the W&L Telecommunications Office in person. Because of the serious nature of the loss of an authorization code, if the Telecommunications Office is closed, you should contact University Security immediately at 8999.
Since your telephone service is provided by the University, you may not subscribe to any “residential” long distance plan offered by another long distance carrier. However, you may obtain access to the interstate common carrier of your choice by establishing a calling card account with them and dialing the carrier’s “800” access number. You may also reach an alternate carrier by dialing 9 + 1010xxx + 0 + phone number (for example, to access AT&T using this method, you would dial 9 + 1010288 + 0 + phone number). Contact your carrier for their three digit code and rates. Be aware that many advertised calling cards have per call surcharges or monthly fees associated with them, so read the fine print before committing to any of these services. Please remember that your alternate carrier calling card account can’t be associated with your W&L phone system telephone number. A substantial service fee will be charged for calls billed back to your W&L telephone number. For more information, contact the Telecommunications Office.
Complaints related to operator services from any carrier may be addressed to: FCC, Common Carrier Bureau Enforcement Division, 2025 M Street NW, Washington DC, 20554.
Long Distance Rates
You may choose to participate in our optional “bulk buy” rate plan or simply use our standard rate plan for your long distance calls. Both plans are detailed below. If you do not choose to participate in the optional rate plan, any calls made with your W&L long distance authorization code will be billed according to the standard rate plan.
W&L Long Distance Standard Plan:
9¢ per minute - Monday through Friday, 7 pm to 7 am & all day Saturday and Sunday, for calls within the U.S. 25¢ per minute - Monday through Friday, 7am to 7 pm, for calls within the U.S.
W&L Long Distance Optional BulkPlans:
Plan #1 was built with the average caller in mind. We will bill you a basic charge of $22.50 each month for 250 minutes of long distance calls within the U.S. That’s 9 cents per minute. Continue to use our system beyond the 250 minutes in each billing period at the same low price of 9 cents per minute. Use these minutes to call anytime of the day or night to anywhere in the U.S. Minutes not used during a billing period will not be carried over. International calls are not eligible for this plan.
Plan #2 is for the heavy user and has our lowest per minute rate. We will bill you a basic charge of $35 each month for 500 minutes of long distance calls within the U.S. That’s 7 cents per minute. continue to use our system beyond the 500 minutes each billing period at the same low price of 7 cents per minute. Use these minutes to call anytime of the day or night to anywhere in the U.S. Minutes not used during a billing period will not be carried over. International calls are not eligible for this plan.
The charges from your long distance use will be placed on your regular University account as part of the normal billing process. The bill will be sent to the address of record in the Business Office. The detailed call records for each month will be emailed to your W&L email address. A signed telephone contract must be on file with the Telecommunications Office.
Questions regarding your phone bill or any outstanding balance must be directed to the Telecommunications Office within 10 business days after the bill is received. Disputed charges must be stated in writing to the Telecommunications Office.
Account Balance (available 24 hours a day)
Students who have phone service on the W&L system may obtain their current long distance balance any time through our Telecom Online web page. Log on to http://sunbelt/phonebill/login.jsp/. You will need your long distance authorization code to access your personal information.
W&L’s system is linked directly to the area Emergency 911 notification system. 911 should only be used in life threatening situations. Minor emergency calls should be placed to University Security at 8999 from any W&L extension. You may place a call to E-911 by dialing 9+911. In most cases, the E-911 dispatcher will see the phone number you are dialing from and your location on their dispatch screen.
If you accidentally dial 911, please don’t hang up. Simply identify yourself and tell them there is no emergency at your location. There are cases when 911 is accidentally dialed, especially on international calls which require a 9-0-11 prefix or when using a fax machine. If you hang up, the 911 dispatcher is obligated to pursue the call to try to determine if there is an actual emergency.
Be sure to dial carefully. If you unintentionally contact a 911 dispatcher, please explain your mistake to them and you will have played an important role in making the system work properly (and you won’t be responsible for emergency crews rolling up to your dorm on a false alarm).
Telephone numbers for students who have phone service from the University will not appear in the local Lexington telephone directory, however, it will automatically be listed in the University telephone directories.
The following instructions will help you complete your calls on the W&L phone system:
To Call Another W&L Phone Extension:
Dial the last four digits
To Call a Local Number Off Campus:
Dial 9, wait for dial tone and dial the seven digit number
Local exchanges include: 258-Glasgow; 261, 264-Buena Vista; 291-Natural Bridge; 348-Brownsburg; 458, 460, 461, 462, 463, 464-Lexington.
To Call Long Distance (Direct Dial):
Authorization codes are required for long distance service. Dial 9 + 1 + (area code) + (phone number), wait for double beep, + (authorization code).
To Call Long Distance (Calling Card):
You may use a calling card to access the long distance carrier of your choice by following the instructions listed earlier in this handbook under “Long Distance Service.”
To Make International Calls
Dial 9 + 011 + (country code) + (city routing) + (local phone number), wait for double beep + (authorization code). Please be very careful when dialing international calls. Misdialing the initial digits can result in an inadvertent call to Emergency 911 services.
To Make Local or Long Distance Directory Assistance Calls:
Dial 9 + 1 + (area code) + 555-1212, wait for double beep, + (authorization code). The charge for this call is the prevailing rate at the time.
900 calls and 411 directory assistance calls are blocked.
Tips on Avoiding Additional Fees
Cable television service is included in your room fee for the dorms, Woods Creek Apartments and sororities. Cable television service for the fraternity buildings and other off-campus facilities must be acquired through Comcast at 1-888-266-2278.
The W&L Cable TV package includes the basic service of 58+ channels. You will need to supply a cable ready television and the cable that goes between the wall outlet and your television set. This cable is available at the University Bookstore or electronics shops. The connection of the television, VCR or other video devices to the cable wall jack is the responsibility of the customer.
Modems, fax machines, cordless phones or other devices may be used in the fraternities and other off-campus buildings since these telephone outlets are analog and will accept normal residential type telephone equipment. The University assumes no responsibility for the operation of phone devices not provided by the University.
Send comments and questions
to Dana Camper.
