On Thursday, September 18, 2008, a rolling telephone outage will occur starting at 3:45 a.m. and ending at approximately 4:30 a.m. Individual campus telephone users will experience a loss of dial tone for approximately five to ten minutes within this outage window. Campus pay phones, contingency (Centrex) phones, and cell phones will be unaffected. Callers attempting to reach campus extensions during this period will hear a busy signal or an intercept message from Verizon.

This outage has been scheduled during off-peak usage hours to minimize the adverse impact. We regret any inconvenience the outage may cause. During the outage, OIT’s Networking and Telecommunications Services will be installing a software patch onto the university telephone switch.

After the maintenance, the green speaker light may be flashing on some model 7406+ phones. To reset the speaker light, press "Select" then "Speaker."

If you have any questions, please contact the OIT Help Desk at 301.405.1500 (faculty/staff) or 301.405.1400 (students).

The University of Maryland Department of Public Safety will be affected by this outage. If you cannot reach them during the phone outage, you can contact them via the following alternate contact methods:

• Call one of the following contingency telephone numbers:
  • 301.403.4543
  • 301.403.4544
  • 301.403.4219
  • 301.403.0507
• Use AOL IM to send an Instant Message to a Police Communications Operator at user name emercommcenter.
• Call the Prince George's County Police at 301.333.4000. They have direct radio contact with the Department of Public Safety.