Telecommunications
Cellular Phones
University of Chicago students can receive a 2 percent discount and 200 free text messages per month with purchase of any new plan. For more information, visit http://nsit.uchicago.edu/cellular/students.
Telephone Service
If you live in a residence hall, your telephone service will be provided by NSIT Student Services. At the NSIT Orientation, a representative will be available to answer any questions you have concerning this service.
Your residence hall room comes equipped with a single-line telephone which allows on-campus calls and incoming calls at no charge. This gives you access to emergency and campus services, as well as access to other student residence hall rooms. Off-campus calls can be made with an Authcode or a standard calling card. Each phone has its own direct number; anyone wishing to reach you can either dial the number directly or call the residence hall front desk and ask to be connected to your room.
Voicemail is not a feature that is included with your basic phone services. In order to obtain this feature, a request must be completed and sent to the Student Services office at http://nsit.uchicago.edu/services/voicemail/studentrequest/.
Authcode
A personal Authorization code (Authcode) can be assigned online by visiting cMore.uchicago.edu. This Authcode will allow you to make local and long distance calls off-campus. Your Authcode identifies you as the caller for billing purposes. It is important to protect the confidentiality of your Authcode since you are responsible for all charges incurred by its use. The Authcode should not be posted on phones or in areas where the code can be stolen. Users are not allowed to share Authcodes. You should immediately report any Authcode billing problems (e.g. a lost or stolen card) by calling 2-9100, option 3. Lost or stolen Authcodes can be replaced by logging onto http://cMore.uchicago.edu.
Charges
There is no monthly service charge for on-campus phone service. You pay only for the off-campus calls you make. Local and long-distance calls are $0.03 cents per minute regardless of the time of day or distance. The city of Chicago is divided into several local area codes. If you need to know specific area code information, please call (773) 834-6000, option 3. International calls are billed at a flat rate per country. For current international rate information please visit http://nsit.uchicago.edu/services/authcode/rates/index.shtml after you arrive on campus.
A monthly itemized statement of the phone calls made with your Authcode is available on cMore.uchicago.edu. In addition, calls that have been made but not yet billed are available. This statement is not a bill. Your total phone charges will be included in your next tuition and fees bill produced by the Bursar's Office and will be due by the date stated on this bill. Nonpayment of phone service charges will result in academic restrictions.
To make off-campus and long-distance calls, NSIT has contracted with long-distance carriers that provide the most cost-effective service to the University as a whole. The University is considered a business service account rather than a residential service account; therefore, special residential promotions and/or individual carrier selection cannot be provided.
Students living in residence halls also can reach their preferred long-distance carrier by dialing 9 and following the instructions on the back of the preferred carrier's calling card. For more information, visit our website at http://nsit.uchicago.edu/services/telephone/userguide/sphoneservices/index.shtml. Alternatively, you may get further information at (773) 834-6000, option 3, or send an email to studentservices@uchicago.edu.
Free Services:
- Automatic Recall
- Call Forward All
- Remote Call Forward
- Caller ID
- Speech Recognition
- Abbreviated Dialing
- Call Waiting
- Three Way Calling
Below is a list of features that are available to students at no extra cost:
Telephone Features
Automatic Recall
Recalls the last call received (both internal and external).
Call Forward All
Forward all calls from your room phone to any other phone on or off-campus.
Remote Call Forward
Allows you to "remotely" activate or deactivate the forwarding of your calls from any other phone, on or off campus. Students sharing rooms will need to agree to the remote call forward number before activating the feature.
Caller ID
Available for both inbound and outbound calls on phones located in the House System dormitories.
NOTE: Students must provide their own caller ID box or caller ID phone.
Speech Recognition
Speech recognition allows callers to access individual staff and departmental phone numbers by dialing 161 from their phone and saying the first and last name of the individual to be contacted.
Abbreviated Dialing
Allows you to store up to 10 phone numbers that can then be dialed using a simple code--especially helpful in making long-distance calls!
Call Waiting
Lets you know that someone else is trying to reach you when you're already talking on the phone. You have the option to ignore the new call or to put your first call on hold while answering the incoming call.
Three Way Calling
Allows you to communicate with two other parties at once, so that all three of you can hold a conversation (helpful for setting up schedules or meetings).
