Virginia Tech will remain plugged in with landline phones, despite the University of Virginia’s move to wireless communication.
UVa recently rid its residence halls of landline phones after striking deals with AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. However, landline phones will remain a staple in Tech residence halls into the foreseeable future.
After consulting with colleagues, Mark Doherty , UVa chief housing officer, decided to remove landline phones from residence halls.
Doherty said usage had declined, and the university needed to reduce costs. The savings are estimated to be approximately $500,000 per year. This money will be reinvested in facilities across the UVa campus, according to Doherty.
UVa worked closely with AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile to create an agreement to ensure quality service.
“We wanted to be sure that cell phone service would be adequate,” Doherty said.
The companies placed devices in the residence halls to boost signal, according to Doherty. However, landline phones are still an option to students. Students simply must make their own arrangements if they want a landline phone in their room.
UVa also installed more emergency phones in the residence halls and left landlines in residence staff rooms. Housing at UVa also coordinated with risk management, emergency planning, UVa’s police force and various other offices to create an effective phone system.
Communications Network Services at Tech is in control of the landline phones and it has decided to leave the current phone system in the residence halls. However, the process of removing phones is not a difficult one, according to CNS spokesman Jeff Kidd.
“All that it would involve would be removing the phones themselves,” Kidd said.
However, Kidd does not see a need for replacing the landline phone system that is already established in the residence halls.
“Taking away landlines would involve getting rid of something that is working and paid for,” he said.
CNS receives a portion of each student’s housing fee to maintain the landline system, according to Kenneth Belcher, associate director for occupancy manager at Tech. This rate is established by the university’s Board of Visitors and transferred to CNS.
While housing services is not responsible for the phone system in the residence halls, they do have an input.
“We are encouraging (CNS) to look at other technologies to support wireless communication in the residence halls,” Belcher said.
However, Kidd said landline phones are important to students that continue to utilize them. He added that they are also valuable in the case of an emergency. If a student calls Tech Police from a landline in a residence hall, the residence hall and room number can be identified. This information is stored on a computer that Tech Police can access.
Kidd said landline phones are helpful in circumstances when many students may need to use their phones simultaneously.
“We know that in extremely high call-volume situations on campus, mobile telephone service alone does not have the capacity to carry the load,” Kidd said.
A version of this article appeared in the Aug 26 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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The whole reason Tech has chosen to keep its landlines is because of 4/16 and the security concerns around a mass incident. Like many other expenses in the US related to security (DoD, DHS etc.) we as an economy have chosen to pay for these services in the name of safety. I personally don't think it's necessary, the acts of 4/16 were an absolute outlier for the peaceful and statistically safe town of Blacksburg. But if the administration feels this is important for us, as students, then I support what I imagine was a democratically decided decision.
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It is not just emergency situations, a few years ago I had an apartment close to campus and Lane Stadium and could not get cell service on game days. I don't know if this would effect people in the dorms, but there is greater stability with a land line telephone.
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There's no harm in keeping land lines in place in the dorms of Virginia Tech. I bet that AT&T signals have difficulty penetrating some of those dorms. :-)
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I definitely had issues trying to use a cell phone in the dorms freshman year. They need to keep the landlines at least until the dorms have reasonable cell reception.
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UVA's dorms also don't have 8" of granite on all walls
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