Telecom 101

The following information is intended to provide a brief overview of phone, internet and cable TV services for students at Drew. Sentences in bold indicate changes from last year. More detailed information can be found using the navigation menu on the left. If, after reading this page, you have a question or need help with one of these services, please visit our Support page to determine the best means of getting assistance.

Phones:

• Drew provides one active phone line in each dorm room. Phones are not installed in the rooms, so you should bring your own phone from home or plan to buy one when you get to campus. If you have a roommate, you should coordinate with him/her to determine who will provide the phone.
• Be aware that phone and internet jacks often look very similar, and phone cables will fit into both. If you cannot tell which jack is the phone jack, look for the one marked with a blue sticker. If none are marked with a blue sticker, try all the jacks in the room until you find one with dial tone.

Placing Calls:

• To make a call on campus, simply dial the 4-digit extension.
• To make off-campus calls, including local calls, you will need to use a Personal Authorization Code (PAC). Every resident student receives their own unique PAC. You should receive your PAC via e-mail at the start of the semester. You should also find it in your campus mailbox in a document from Strategic Telecommunications, our phone billing company.
• To place a call to a domestic long distance or local number, you must dial 9, then 1, then the number. After hearing 2 beeps, enter your PAC. If the code is accepted, you will hear 3 more beeps and the call will be connected
• To place a call to an international number, dial 9, then 011, then the country code and the city code, if necessary, followed by the number. After you hear 2 beeps, enter your authorization code. If the code is accepted, you will hear 3 more beeps and the call will be connected
• If you pick up the phone and hear a tone that sounds kind of like a busy signal, don't worry, this is normal. It's actually a "stutter" dialtone, and it means you have a new voice mail. You can still place calls as normal when you hear a stutter dial tone. Once you check your voice mailbox, the stutter tone should be replaced by a normal dialtone.
• Click here for more information on using the phone system

Rates and Billing:

• Each student receives 1500 domestic long-distance calling minutes every month. Minutes are tracked by PAC, so you can use them from any residence hall phone and will not have to share them with roommates. Overage minutes are $0.06/minute. (This new billing system went into effect on August 20, 2007)
• Local calls and on campus calls are not billed and will not deduct from your 1500 minutes each month, but you will still need to use your PAC to make local calls. To determine which calls are local, click here to see the local calling chart.
• International calls have a separate rate structure which can be found on our web site at http://depts.drew.edu/telecom/intlrates.htm
• Billing is handled by an outside company, Strategic Telecommunications Consulting (STC). If you are a new student, you will find an STC brochure with additional information in your campus mailbox when you arrive for orientation.

Voicemail:

• Each phone line has a voicemail box. To access your voicemail box from your phone, dial 4000 and enter your password. You should recieve your password at the beginning of the school year. When you first log into your box, you will be required to set a new password. If you are sharing a line with a roommate, make sure that you and your roommate both know the password.
• When you have a new voice mail, you should hear a "stutter dialtone" when you pick up the phone. Sometimes students mistake this for a busy signal.
• Click here for more information on using the voicemail system

Internet:

• Each dorm room is equipped with enough LAN (internet) jacks for every occupant. In many rooms, LAN jacks look very much like phone jacks, and ethernet cables will even fit into phone jacks. If you can't seem to get internet service on the jacks you've connected your computer to, try another jack in the room. Active LAN jacks should be marked with orange stickers.

Cable TV:

• To use cable TV service at Drew, you will need to bring a coaxial cable to hook up to your TV. Once your TV is hooked up, you will need to configure it for cable and set up the channels. Most TV's have an auto-setup feature to handle this process. Instructions on how to do this vary by manufacturer and can be found in the manual that came with your TV. Receiving only channels 1-13 is one symptom of an improperly configured TV.

Help:

• If you need help with any of the above services, please visit our Support page