Eleven-digit dialing coming to DeKalb area

by Joe King

If you make a lot of phone calls to off-campus numbers, it’s time to start toughening up your dialing digit.

Beginning Saturday, Feb. 17, calls from any on-campus phone to any off-campus phone will require dialing 1+area code + the seven-digit number. This rule applies whether the call is to a business in downtown DeKalb or an office in New York City.

For those living within the 815 area code, the change means that all calls made from home (including those to campus) will require 11-digit dialing. The change is being made because of a ruling last year by the Illinois Commerce Commission.

If your calling at work is restricted mostly to other on-campus numbers, the impact of the change will be minimal. Because the university owns its own telephone switching equipment, dialing from any phone with a 752 or 753 extension to another phone with one of those extensions can still be accomplished by dialing seven digits. That includes calls made to 752 and 753 extensions at university facilities outside of DeKalb.

If the prospect of dialing 11 digits every time you make a phone call does not appeal, there are other options available on campus phones, says NIU Telecommunications Manager Teri Reid.

• Speed Calling. Many campus phones (including all residence hall phones) are equipped for Speed Calling, which allows users to pre-program up to 30 frequently used phone numbers into their phone, then complete calls to those numbers by dialing * and a one- or two-digit code they assign to a phone number. Speed Calling is free and is currently activated on about 60 percent of campus phones. If it is not activated on your phone, call NIUTEL at 753-0963.
• Built-in Directories. Some faculty and staff have single-line CLAS phones that can be programmed with a directory of up to 50 commonly called numbers that users can scroll through and then dial at the touch of a single button.
• Auto Dialing. Some campus phones allow users to program a handful of frequently dialed numbers, which can then be dialed at the push of a single button.

For more information on any of the above features, call NIUTEL at 753-0963.

The ICC mandated the new dialing rules in response to concerns that all of the pool of phone numbers in the 815 area code will be exhausted in the not-too-distant future. Less than 200,000 unused numbers currently are available within that area.

The 11-digit solution, called an overlay, was selected as an alternative to splitting the 815 area code in half and assigning an entirely new area code to half of that region. Creating new area codes is unpopular because it requires people to change phone numbers they have had for many years and forces businesses to reprint stationery, business cards and signs.

After March 17, 2007, new residents within the current 815 area code can be assigned an area code of 779.

1-16-07