A complication plaguing the campus phone network has busy signals buzzing around campus. Officials said yesterday they do not know when they will be able to solve the month-old problem.
Students and administrators have experienced slow connection speed, inability to place calls, inoperable blue-light emergency phones, and even had calls misdirected to the New England Medical Center when they dialed an on-campus number.
Though TuftsConnect has tried to fix the problem by swapping hardware since it learned of it last Wednesday, officials say the complications may be a "ghost" problem in network software - tough to diagnose and difficult to repair.
"You've fixed everything you can fix and its still not working. It's like a ghost," said Marj Minnigh, the networks and specific projects manager.
Tufts uses a combination of four private branch exchange (PBX) phone systems that enable students and administrators to use a five-digit number to call one another. Though each phone line can make internal calls within the PBX, they share a limited number of outside lines to place calls outside the system. Tufts PBX's are connected by tie lines that allow internal communication between campuses.
TuftsConnect has determined that the problem lies in the tie-lines that connect the administration PBX to the student PBX. The connections between the two have been "blocked for no apparent reason," according to Minnigh.
A technician discovered the problem Wednesday during a routine diagnostic test. Students had been experiencing poor phone service for over a month, but the company said that the first complaint it received was last Thursday, when a Tufts Daily reporter called.
Upon learning of the complications, TuftsConnect spoke to various students to try to replicate and diagnose the problem. Technicians, thinking there might be trouble with the system hardware, changed the electronic hardware and wiring involved in the tie-lines. But the problem remains and repairs attempted Monday connected many students to the New England Medical Center instead of the on-campus number they had dialed. The center, which is affiliated with Tufts' medical school, shares part of the PBX system with Tufts.
TuftsConnect has been unable to diagnose the problem, and officials have turned to the hardware manufacturer. "They haven't stopped trying different things ever since they discovered [the problem]," Minnigh said. "It's like any computer problem. You try to fix the hardware first because usually, you have a spare right there. You make the swap and it doesn't interrupt service," Minnigh said.
The problem could be far more difficult to fix if it is in the software rather than the hardware. Students say the most widespread problem is a delay when dialing a number. "Sometimes you have to wait 20 seconds for it to ring," said sophomore Amanda Rowley. "It's not really an inconvenience, but sometimes I worry it didn't go through," said Rowley, who lives in South Hall.
But according to Minnigh, the delay generally lasts a few milliseconds. "It's silence," she said, "so it sounds like a really long time." When students hang up and redial, more lines get blocked, and the delay is lengthened. Recently, students say they have spent up to half-an-hour trying to make a call.
"I didn't call Campuslink and complain, but it's just frustrating," said sophomore Lauren Schulmann, a Metcalf Hall resident. Schulmann was unable to connect to Dowling Hall until she dialed the full ten-digit number.
Students have also had difficulty placing non-emergency calls from blue-light phones to dorm rooms. Blue-light phone boxes are part of the administrative PBX system. "Calling up to people on campus phones is always iffy now," said Leah Zuckerman, a Miller Hall sophomore. "I have to follow people into buildings a lot more now than if I could have people come down and let me in."
TuftsConnect has created back-up connections to compensate for the problem, but the alternate system can only handle a limited number of calls. Police are given priority for phone lines, further slowing the system, but ensuring campus safety. The police have not complained that they are unable to receive calls.
"We hope by prioritizing the police route, and making these other routes,
that we have minimized the problem, Minnigh said.
The PBX system, installed by Campuslink in 1995, has experienced various problems since its inception. According to Minnigh, however, there has never been a problem like this one, where system administrators are baffled by the cause.
TuftsConnect officials say the problem went unnoticed for so long because students did not call to complain. "Once we knew about [the problem], we still didn't get any students calling Campuslink to complain, which I find really strange," Minnigh said. "It's a mystery to me," she said. "Why don't they call the right place when they have a problem?"
