Tucked away on the second floor of David Boyd Hall lies a mass of cables and switches that keeps the campus talking.
The Office of Telecommunications handles a wide variety of services, one of which is maintaining more than 30,000 campus phone lines, said Mike Bozeman, a telecommunications research specialist.
In one heavily secured room known as the “switch room” is a digital switchboard that acts as an operator for incoming and outgoing phone calls.
Whenever someone on campus dials a phone number, the machines tell the signal where to go, Bozeman said.
Someone could cause a lot of damage if he tried to break into this room, he said.
“People would be completely left in the dark,” said Jason Prescott, a biological engineering senior and telecommunications student worker.
However, breaking in is diverted by only allowing people inside with card access, which is recorded with every swipe, he said.
This system replaced a punch-in code security system, Prescott said.
Behind the research specialists is a team of student workers who handle all phone problems on campus and answer the telephone help line, said Al Horton, a telecommunications research specialist, who hires all new student workers.
Prescott has been a part of the telecommunications team for two years.
“We troubleshoot,” he said. “People put in tickets and say they have a problem, and we try to go fix it.”
He said the team can repair the phone lines, but if something is damaged that would have to be paid for, workers would tell the contractor, GM Cable.
“It can be as simple as plugging a phone in, or other times it involves a lot of underground work,” Prescott said.
Daryl Westmoreland, a mechanical engineering junior, said he enjoys the job because he works with many of his good friends.
“We also get to go into girls’ dorms,” he said.
Camila Fuentes, a kinesiology junior, said she has been the voice on the automatic voicemail system and answers the help line.
“I deal with people who can’t set up their voicemail or can’t unforward their phone,” she said.
Before school started the student workers were busy testing all of the phone lines in the East and West Campus Apartments, Horton said.
“It’s not a job for everyone,” he said. “But I’ve been very impressed with these guys.”
Communication Station
September 25, 2003