Computing & Information Services | Brown University

The Brown University Switchboard Operators answer Brown's main telephone number, (401) 863-1000 (or “0”) during normal business hours. The operators connect callers to the appropriate person or department, answer general questions and provide information on Campus events.

In consultation with a department, the Telecommunications Office will select the lowest cost device and plan which meets the business need. Telecommunications monitors all bills on a monthly basis and notifies the cellular user if another plan or feature would be more cost effective to meet the user's calling patterns.

For management of high-volume inbound calls, this system allows for multiple users to answer one main number. Reports are generated listing call volume and operator effectiveness.

Voice Mail allows callers to leave a voice mail message in the event that a phone line is busy or the recipient is not available to answer the incoming call. Voice mailbox owners can record custom greetings, forward voice mail to other users on the system, set an extended absence greeting, respond to messages by calling or voice mail messaging and set outcall notification.

Telecommunications offers 3 different types of audio conferencing:

Telephone service is available throughout Brown University. The main telephone system provides on-campus service with standard features such as call hold, transfer, waiting, forwarding, conference calling, last number redial, voice mail, and music on hold.

Allows callers to be automatically transferred to an extension without the intervention of an operator or administrative assistant. This service provides a list of recorded selections for callers to choose from based on menu options. For example: "press 1 for Accounts and Passwords, press 2 for Computer Assistance".