Technical difficulty

by-Bill J. Perry

Some university offices and departments had difficulty making phone calls last week, but the help desk is aware of the situation and is working on the problem, said David Martin of Information Technology Services.

The intermittent problem has been isolated to one of the three switching systems that direct phone calls on campus, said Martin, who serves as the department’s interim director. But locating the switch’s problem has been a challenge.

“I don’t know what the problem is,” Martin said. “I wish I could tell you.”

The maintenance company for the university’s system, Anaheim-based Altura Communications, has also been unable to find the source of the glitch. The company eventually called in one of its specialized technicians late last week to try to analyze and diagnose the problem.

“An engineer from Florida was flown in,” Martin said Friday. “This is one of their top technicians. He started today at 8 a.m. and will work until it’s fixed.”

The switching problem affects a large area of the university, including campus housing. So many offices connect to the switch in question that Martin said it’s easier to say which phones are not affected than it is to say which ones are.

The majority of the campus is affected, except for the Education building and the surrounding offices, he said.

Those affected will notice one of two problems, Martin said. One causes the switch to stop working and go through a reboot, causing affected phones to go dead. The other problem causes a delay in getting a dial tone, though calls already connected don’t seem to be affected. Many department personnel who have experienced one of these situations said that the system begins to function normally after a few minutes.

“We are working to resolve it,” Martin said. “We haven’t gotten many complaints, but a lot of inquiries.”

Anyone experiencing problems can contact the help desk at 278-5000. The department is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.

The office of public safety asks that, in an emergency, anyone with access to a cell phone call 911 and request, in addition to emergency services, that campus police be notified by radio.

Despite the glitches in the system, Martin is hopeful about a resolution to the frustrating problem.

“I’m very encouraged and pleased by the engineer that was brought in to work on it,” Martin said.