News Archive: January–February 2000

• One-day ITCom Technology Fair Planned for April 12
• Flint, Ann Arbor, and Dearborn to Receive Additional Area Codes
• U-M Adopts New Wiring Standard
• ITCom Billing System Update
• How to Determine Your Local Calling Area
• Telephone Sets Now on Display at Showcase
• Data Backbone Upgrade in Process
• How to Delete and Change a Personal Distribution List.
• What are your data connectivity options at your residence?

One-day ITCom Technology Fair Planned for April 12

ITCom is planning a one-day Technology Fair to showcase various products and to provide some helpful customer education. The event will be held on Wednesday, April 12, 2000, from 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM, at the U-M Alumni Center. Said ITCom manager Catherine Lilly, "This will be an important ITCom team effort and we hope a lot of ITCom staff will get involved at some level to help us make it valuable to the campus community. We are hoping to attract a lot of our IT contacts and administrators, but we will be making it appealing to our general staff and faculty and University executives."

Some of the displays under consideration are wireless, voice over IP, telephone sets and features, ADSL, call centers, and UMTV. Details will be announced as this information is finalized. A Tech Fair page has been set up on ITCom web site <http://www.itcom.itd.umich.edu/techfair.html> to provide the latest planning information. Send your comments or questions to the planning team's email address, itcom.tech.fair@umich.edu.

Flint, Ann Arbor, and Dearborn to Receive Additional Area Codes

The state of Michigan has received its first area code "overlay" affecting the Flint area, including the University of Michigan at Flint. A new area code, 586, was added to the current 810 area code on February 5, 2000.

An area code "overlay" is a second area code that is added to a geographic area along with an existing area code. All existing numbers retain their current area code, while new telephone customers for local phone service, cellular and paging services, and alarms may be assigned a telephone number in the new overlay area code. The Federal Communications Center (FCC) has authorized the use of area code overlays because many areas of the country have run out of valid telephone numbers within their existing area.

The most notable effect of the overlay plan is the requirement of dialing 11-digits for all calls, both local and long distance. The 11-digit numbers will require dialing 1+ area code + seven digit phone number. Callers who must dial "9" or another number to obtain an outside line will need to dial 12 numbers (9 + 1 + area code + seven digit phone number) for local and long distance calls. All calls assigned the new area code will be affected by this new dialing pattern—including manually dialed numbers as well as programmable faxes, modems, and phones.

An "optional dialing period" will be offered prior to full implementation of the new Flint area code. Until May 6, 2000, customers will have an opportunity to become familiar with the new 11-digit dialing pattern during the transition. They will also be able to dial seven digits for a local call during this time period.

On July 8, 2000, Ann Arbor will acquire overlay area code 278 in addition to the current 734 area code. The optional dialing period for Ann Arbor will end November 4, 2000. Dearborn will acquire an overlay area code, 679, on November 4, 2000 with an optional dialing period that ends on February 3, 2001.

Note: the price of telephone calls will not be affected by the new overlay area codes. On campus five-digit dialing will not be impacted at this time.

New Michigan Area Code (A.C.) Overlays

City	Current A.C.	New Overlay	Optional dialing begins	Optional dialing ends
Ann Arbor	734	278	July 8, 2000	November 4, 2000
Dearborn	313	679	November 4, 2000	February 3, 2001
Flint	810	586	February 5, 2000	May 6, 2000

U-M Adopts New Wiring Standard

The University of Michigan has adopted a new wiring standard for future construction and renovation that supports the transfer of high-speed data over the campus network. The wiring standard is the result of an analysis of the current wiring on campus and recommendations made by the University's Information Technology Federation Executive (ITFX).

A committee of U-M technical experts, the ITFX Network Working Group, examined the adequacy of existing wiring and its capability of delivering new high-speed services. "Committee members felt that we needed a wiring architecture for the University that will allow people to freely move about campus and receive the same level of bandwidth wherever they are," says Dan Kjos, manager of ITCom Engineering and a member of the Network Working Group. "All locations currently using category 3 wiring are limited to the lowest Ethernet speed and cannot move to 100-million bits per second (Mbps) or 1000 Mbps speeds," Kjos added. The ITFX recommended that category 3 cable no longer be offered to the University community for new construction or renovations because of its limited ability to support high-speed data transfer.

Cable categories define the size, the number of wire pairs, and how they are constructed and insulated. The new standard requires three category 5e cable, as a "minimum," from the serving communications closet to a user outlet terminated with two phone jacks and two category 5e data jacks. The Category 5e standard was developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and an alliance between Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and Electronics Industry Association (EIA).

"Building wiring infrastructure isn't easy to replace," says Mark Weishan, director of Unit Data Systems at LS&A, "It has to remain functional for a long time. It's clear that the industry is strongly positioned behind category 5 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) cable. I think that in the future we'll see data rates that would astonish us today, such as 10 gigabits per second, or even more, being delivered over this type of cable."

Members of the Network Working Group include: Rich Boys (School of Information), Roy Hockett (Information Technology Division), John Hufziger (Financial Operations), Dan Kjos (ITD), Dan Maletta (Media Union), Roger Manor (Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences), Gary Munce (Survey Research Center), Jeff Ogden (Merit), Andy Palms (ITD), Pradip Patel (ITD), Steve Sarrica (Housing/Residential Computing), Chuck Singer (Medical Center Information Technology (MCIT), and Mark Weishan (LS&A). Mike McPherson of LS&A and Al McCord of ITD sponsored the Network Working Group on behalf of the ITFX.

ITCom Billing System Update

ITCom is making great progress in its switch to a major new billing system for telephone, data, and video services. However, as with most major system changes like this one, there have been occasional challenges during this process. Every effort is being made to identify and resolve any billing problems that occur, and it is anticipated that the new system will stabilize within the next two months. Anyone with questions about their ITCom bill, should call ITCom Customer Care at 763-2000.

Additional information about the new ITCom billing can be found on the ITCom web site http://www.itcom.itd.umich.edu/ under Telephone Services.

How to Determine Your Local Calling Area

With the rapid addition of new area codes and telephone prefixes, it's getting harder to tell if a number is a local call for you or a toll call. The rapid increase of cell phone utilization has made this even more complicated. More and more people are dialing phone numbers that they think are local, only find out later—when they receive their bill—that they were toll calls.

If you'd like to avoid these "surprises" on your phone bill, you need to know before you place a call if it is a local or toll call for you. Ameritech has developed an online tool to help you determine what are the telephone prefixes in your local calling area. Check it out at <http://www.ameritech.com/service/call-lookup.html>. First you need to enter your area code and the three-digit prefix for your phone number. Then you select Residential or Business line, and you will see a list of telephone prefixes in your local calling area.

Telephone Sets Now on Display at Showcase

Telephone sets offered by ITCom are now on display at the U-M Computer Showcase. Campus departments have a variety of telephone sets, features, and services to choose from, and the display provides faculty and staff the opportunity to try out some of the new features for themselves. Click here for additional information about telephones and phone services offered by ITCom.

Data Backbone Upgrade in Process

ITCom plans to complete its upgrade to the campus data Backbone by March 1. The U-M Backbone interconnects numerous data networks on campus and enables the U-M community to access Internet services like the World Wide Web. One of the key benefits of the upgrade will be to help the University keep pace with the rapid changes that are taking place in communications technology. For example, the upgrade will significantly improve the bandwidth available to U-M students, faculty, and staff: the current speeds of transmitting data information will nearly triple. This upgrade is considered an interim solution while the University's Information Technology Federation (ITFX) develops a new architecture for the Backbone. Click here for additional information.

How to Delete and Change a Personal Distribution List.

See our previous voice mail feature tip Leaving the same voice mail message for a group, which described how to how to create a Personal Distribution List. This tip tells you how to change or delete a Personal Distribution List.

DELETING A DISTRIBUTION LIST
If you need to delete a previously created distribution list, complete the following steps:

1. Press 85. The voice prompt says, "Distribution list. Enter the distribution list numbers followed by number sign (#)."
2. Enter the number of the list to be cancelled, then press #.
3. Enter 0# (that's zero followed by the number sign). The voice prompt says, "Address (list number) cancelled."

CHANGING A DISTRIBUTION LIST
If changes need to be made to a list, complete the following steps:

1. Press 85. The voice prompt says, "Enter the distribution list numbers followed by number sign (#)."
2. Enter the number of the list to be changed, then press #.
3. Delete the old list by pressing 76.
4. Create a new list.

Check out the complete user guide, "Keeping in Touch: Meridian Voice Mail Services for U-M Faculty & Staff," published October 1999.

The next voice mail feature that will be spotlighted will tell you about Express Messaging, that is, how to leave a voice mail message for someone without listening to his or her greeting.

What are your data connectivity options at your residence?

A chart has been prepared which outlines available Network Connectivity Options for U-M students, faculty, and staff at their Residences.