Cisco IP Phone: Local calling areas

Background

Local calling is defined by the telephone company and is a set of phone numbers in which charges to the institution are exempted. The telephone area codes and exchanges (715-425 for example) listed in the table below are local numbers that can be called without consuming any of the university minutes in our shared pool of minutes. Other numbers called, referred to as long distance, will deduct minutes (at six second increments) when called from the university phone system. Calls into campus are not deducted in either case. Calls made to toll-free numbers are also not deducted from the pool of minutes. See the "dialing" article for how to dial.

Usage Charges

Previous to the Cisco IP Phone system, there was an elaborate chargeback system for minutes that were used. That is no longer the case. However, usage is monitored and departments or individual phones that fall outside of the normal patterns may be reviewed by Technology Services in order to arrive at an understanding of the business need. There may be other products and services that can reduce the overall cost of operation for the institution. Technology Services is now managing telecommunications at a university-wide level and not at a per person level like it had been done in the past.

Toll Restricted Calling

Some phones are limited to local calling area only. Those phones are usually in places that are not supervised and controlled by a staff member - areas such as hallways, work rooms or other quasi-public locations.

Toll-Free Numbers

These area codes can be called outbound from the phone system at no cost to the university.

Call Plan for Local Calls

These area codes/exchanges can be called outbound from the phone system at no cost to the university.