Office of Information Technologies»IT Systems & Infrastructure»Telephone

Telephone

Washington College Telephone Service

The telephone services area provides switchboard operations, all telephone billing for student and departments, college calling cards, staff cellular and pager services, installs and repairs all campus related telephone lines and equipment. Provides dial-in accounts for faculty and staff for complete campus. Provides assistance for the Campus Directory that can be reached by dialing “0” from any campus provided phone.

Please contact the HelpDesk at 410-778-7777 should you have any questions, or problems with billing or service.

Switchboard Office

The Washington College Switchboard Office in William Smith is open for your convenience Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The local number for Washington College is 410-778-2800.

Telephone & Switchboard (pdf)

More About Telephone Service

Annoying, Suspicious or Harassing Calls

If you receive ANY annoying, suspicious or harassing calls to your dormitory room please report this IMMEDIATELY to the Washington College Department of Public Safety 410-778-7810.
Cordless Phone Specifications

Any make and model phone will work for you. The most important item to look at is that your phone is a 5.8 GHz phone. This will ensure that your phone will not interfere with the wireless high speed internet access within the student housing. Some of the most trusted names for cordless phones are Panasonic, Motorola, Sony, Uniden, and VTech. These models range in price from around $40-$250 depending on the features you choose to purchase
Directory Assistance

Assistance Fee for 411 is $1.35

The Washington College Switchboard is available to you Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for local and long distance directory assistance.

Before you pick up the phone and dial outside directory assistance, please check switchboard.com or 411.com , then dial the college operator “0” first and let them assist you with any number or telephone information for which you are looking.
Student Information

To report problems and repair needs: Please call the HelpDesk at 410-778-7777.

For The Campus Operator: Dial “0”.

To Make An Emergency Call (Fire/Police/Ambulance): Dial 9 + 911.

To Make An On Campus Call: Lift the receiver and dial the 4-digit extension of the party you wish to reach.

To Make An Outgoing Collect Call: Dial 9 + 0 + the area code and phone number of the party you are calling, then notify the operator that the call will be a collect call.

To Make An Outgoing Toll Free Call: Dial 9 +1 + the Toll Free number.

To Make An Off-Campus LOCAL Call: Dial your college Authorization Code number followed by 9 + ten-digit local telephone number of the party you are calling. Ten-digit dialing is required in Maryland for local calls. Note: see complete list of local calling exchanges here.

To Make A Long Distance Call: Dial your College Authorization Code number followed by 9 + 1 + the area code and telephone number of the party you are calling. These calls will be billed to your student account.

To Make An International Long Distance Call: Dial your College Authorization Code number followed by 9 + 011 + the country code + the city code + the telephone number of the party you are calling. These calls will be billed to your student account.
Telephone Features

Call Waiting:

A beep indicates that another call is waiting. To answer the second call, press and release the receiver button quickly. The first call is put on hold.

You will be connected to the second call. To return to the first call, press and release the receiver button again.

Call Transfer/Three Way Call:

While on a call press and release the receiver button, you will hear a sequence of beeps and then a dial tone.

Dial the third person’s number (on campus only).

To bring the first call back, press and release the receiver button. All three parties will be on the line.
Washington College Rates

9 cents for each local call.

9 cents a minute for US long Distance.

Canada and International vary by location.

Please call the College Operator at extension 0 to get the exact rates for International calls.
Placing Calls

For The Campus Operator dial “0”.

To Make An Emergency Call (Fire/Police/Ambulance): Dial 9 + 911.

To Make An On Campus Call:
Dial the 4-digit extension of the party you wish to reach.

To Make An Outgoing Collect Call:
Dial 9 + 0 + the area code and phone number of the party you are calling, then notify the operator that the call will be a collect call.

To Make An Outgoing Toll Free Call:
Dial 9 +1 + the Toll Free number.

To Make An Off-Campus LOCAL Call:
Dial 9 + ten digit local telephone number of the party you are calling. Ten digit dialing is required for local calls.

To Make A Long Distance Call: Dial 9 + 1 + the area code and the telephone number of the party you are calling.

To Make A International Long Distance Call: Dial 9 + 011 + the country code + the city code + the telephone number of the party you are calling.

To Make A Personal call (Charges will be billed monthly by the Business Office): Dial 3 + the telephone number of the party you are calling, from your assigned telephone.

International Call Rates

Local Exchanges

Voicemail

Voicemail allows callers to hear your own message when calling your phone. Callers may leave a private detailed message in your mailbox at any time, day or night. Your voice mailbox is the same 4-digit number as your extension number and can be accessed from any tone telephone in the world. To enhance privacy, you select your own security code for your mailbox. Only persons with your security code can listen to messages that have been left in your voice mailbox.

Voicemail also allows you to save and/or forward messages to other mailboxes in the system.

Instructions

Setting Up Your Mailbox
When entering your voicemail for the first time the auto-attendant will ask you for a temporary password. By default your temporary password is your 4 digit extension. Once you enter the temporary password the voice mail system will force you to enter a new password. (The system will not allow any sequential numbers or digits that repeat itself 4 times.)

Examples:
- Password code 1234 will not be accepted
- Password code 4444 will not be accepted
- Password 9471 will be accepted
(Your Extension will not be accepted as a password)

The following greeting is a sample you can use for your mailbox, or you may create your own greeting. It is advisable to check your mailbox several times a day and update your personal greeting often.

Sample Greeting:

You have reached the voicemail of ________________. I am currently on the phone or away from my desk please leave a message after the tone and I will return your call as soon as possible.
To Access Your Voicemail (On Campus)

Lift your handset.

If you have one of the new display phones, press the message key then press then the Listen/OK key twice. (or from a regular analog phone dial 7800 to go directly to mailbox.)

You will be prompted to enter your security code.

If this is your first time accessing your mailbox, follow the tutorial prompts; otherwise follow the prompts to retrieve your messages.
To Access Your Voicemail (Off Campus)

Dial 410-778-7800.

When system answers press #.

The system will prompt you for your mailbox number and password.

If this is your first time accessing your mailbox, follow the tutorial prompts; otherwise follow the prompts to retrieve your messages.

Note On Using the 800 Line

The college’s 800 line is not intended for students personal calls. The WC Switchboard will NOT transfer calls from the incoming 800 line to any student extensions. Student should provide their direct dial dormitory phone number to family and friends. The college’s main number, 410-778-2800 is the only incoming main line that a call can be transferred to a student dormitory phone number from.