Towson University works closely with Cisco Communications and other third-party service vendors to provide service for office phones, data lines and audiovisual applications throughout campus. Many common support-related topics are addressed in the FAQs that our faculty/staff support team has created for your reference.
Office Phones & Voicemail
Telecommunications Service Roles and Responsibilities
The Towson University Telecommunication department works closely with Network Engineering to provide data, voice and video throughout the campus community. The main service roles and responsibilities of this department include but are not limited to:
- Maintenance of the campus telephone and television system.
- Maintenance of the help center where faculty and staff can call for help using the telephone system, request new telephone service, ask for changes to existing service or obtain help with billing.
- Installation and support of new phone lines, television jacks and data network ports.
- Installation and maintenance of the University’s fiber, copper and coaxial cabling installed inside and between each building.
- Coordination with Facilities Management during the construction of new buildings and the renovation of old buildings to design and install the physical infrastructure on which telephone, television, and data network services are provided. This physical infrastructure includes hub rooms, fiber, copper and coaxial cables, and the pathways through the building in which the cable is run. It also refers to the underground duct banks and manholes through which cable is run between buildings.
Telecommunications Guidelines
The University has enacted Telecommunications Guidelines pertaining to the following:
- Use of telephone equipment
- Use of the University telephone system
- Designation and responsibilities of department telephone coordinators
- Process for placing service and repair requests
- Guidelines for calling space and restrictions
- Use of departmental telephone directories
- Process for telephone billing
- Telephone client privacy rights
- Access to telephone facilities
- Campus infrastructure support (i.e. Cabling)
- Responsibilities of the Office of Technology Services
Requests for New Service or Support
If you are in need of new lines of voice, data or video service, please contact the OTS Faculty/Staff Help Center at 410-704-5151 or email phones AT_TOWSON.
Service Providers
Level 3 Communications, Inc. supplies the campus with local and long distance calling services.
Office Phone Setup and Support
For help with basic office phone setup, operation or troubleshooting, see the documentation for Cisco office phones (PDF). If you still need of support, please contact the OTS Faculty/Staff Help Center at 410-704-5151 or email phones AT_TOWSON.
Telemarketing calls
To ensure campus communication can function efficiently and properly, OTS is unable to block telemarketer numbers.
Why not?
It's common for telemarketers to “spoof” their telephone number. This means the number you see is usually not their real number, it’s a fake one chosen at random, and that can be changed often to work around blocks. These are the challenges posed by blocking a phone number:
- Disruptive to business: the number could belong to an individual that has legitimate business with the University
- Ineffective: it won’t prevent the telemarketer from calling, since they can switch to another number
- Costly: there are administrative costs to build and maintain lists of blocked numbers
What can I do?
There is no way to eliminate all telemarketing calls, but here’s what you can do to help reduce them:
- End the call. If the call is a robocall, simply hang up. Do not press buttons to be taken off their call list or to speak with a live person. This signals you are willing to interact with them and will likely lead to more calls.
- Request do-not-call status. If the call is from a live person, ask them to stop calling you and to put your number on their do-not-call list.
- Do not answer. If you receive repeated unwanted calls from the same number, do not answer.
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