Call trace feature added to 862, 865 exchanges

University dorms are now equipped to trace harassing or obscene phone calls through a new call trace feature made available by the University's Office of Telecommunications.

The Office of Telecommunications added this call trace feature to all 862 exchanges Jan. 19, said Julie Eble, coordinator of publications and promotions at the Office of Telecommunications. The feature will soon be added to 865 exchanges also.

The call trace feature will cost $1 every time it is used, and the cost will show up on a student's monthly Bell Atlantic bill, Eble said.

When a student living in a University dorm receives an obscene or life-threatening phone call, that student can dial 184 to activate the telephone's call trace feature, according to a news release from the Office of Telecommunications. The number of the caller is sent to the Bell Atlantic Unlawful Call Solutions Center, according to the news release.

However, students will not have access to the name or the number of the unknown caller, said Terry Corl, client services manager at the Office of Telecommunications, adding that law enforcement agencies will be able to obtain the number.

The University also has plans to install this feature on all staff phones within the next month, she added. However, this feature is not active on the dorms' phones at the University's Commonwealth Campuses, Eble said.

The incentive for the call trace feature came from University President Graham Spanier, Eble said, when a parent of a student expressed concern about harassing phone calls.

But the feature doesn't mean action against the caller will automatically be taken, Eble said.

"Students need to call University Police Services in order to do something about the obscene call after they activate the call tracer," she said.

University police will follow up the calls in the same way they would investigate any other case, said Dwight Smith, University police supervisor.

"With the call trace feature, we won't have to do as much of an investigation," Smith said. "The manner in which police follow up on these cases is that the unknown caller is contacted, and the victim of the call is asked if they wish to prosecute."

Smith said the call trace feature isn't a cure-all, and if students do receive harassing phone calls, they should document them, he added.

Eble stressed that students should only use the call trace feature for life-threatening, harassing, obscene or abusive calls.