Telecommunications

Student Services

Basic Telephone Service

Telephone service is provided to residence hall students by the Telecommunications Department. All dorm rooms have basic phone service for one phone line which is included in your room charge. With this service you can call local, collect, and 800 numbers. For directory assistance and long distance calls, a calling card is required. The student must provide their own telephone and is responsible for the maintenance of their phone. Although a pulse phone may be used to make calls, a touch tone phone is recommended as many features, such as voice mail, require a touch tone phone.

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Campus Operator/Switchboard

The campus operator answers USM's main telephone number (780-4141), and the 800 line (800-800-4876 / 800-800-4USM) for the Portland and Gorham campuses. To reach the campus operator just dial 0 or 4141 from your dorm room. Switchboard hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Only the campus operator can directly access an outside operator. The campus operator can assist with any call you may have difficulty placing.

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Fax Machine - General Use

The general fax (780-4933) for USM is located at the campus operator's office in the Telecommunications Department in 4 Payson Smith Hall. Staff, faculty and students are able to receive and send faxes during regular office hours, Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

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Harassing Phone Calls

Nuisance calls usually are random made calls from strangers or acquaintances.

• You are in control of your telephone, not the caller. Do not talk with anyone unless you want to.
• If the caller asks, "Who is this?" do not give them your name. Instead ask, "What number did you call?" or "With whom did you want to speak?" Do not give your name or address.
• If the caller remains silent or becomes abusive, HANG UP!
• If you continue to receive harassing or obscene phone calls, record the date and time of the call and report the incident to the USM Police Department. Just dial 5211 from your dorm room. Their offices are located in Upton Hall in Gorham and the Sullivan Gymnasium in Portland. Fill out a report and continue to keep track of any future harassing calls. The USM Police Department will then follow up with Telecommunications to determine the course of action to be taken.

Remember, the best way to halt a harassing call is to HANG UP!

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Repair/Trouble Line (207) 780-4999

If you experience trouble dialing out, receiving calls or voice mail password problems, call the Telecommunications Trouble Line. From your dorm room, just dial 4029. Report your room number, telephone number and a brief description of the problem.

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Second Phone Line

A second telephone line can be installed in a student room for a fee of $60 per semester. Please contact Telecommunications (780-4054) for further information.

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Second Voice Mailbox

All phone lines are equipped with one voice mailbox. An additional voice mailbox can be added to a phone number for a one time fee of $25. This would allow two people in the same room to have one telephone number but two separate voice mailboxes.

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TTY Phone (207) 780-5646

A TTY (device used for communicating with hearing impaired people) is located in 4 Payson Smith Hall in the Telecommunications Department. This terminal is available for use to the entire University community for incoming and outgoing text calls. Telecom can provide a portable TTY for campus events.