Activation of Phone Lines Behind Schedule

When Margarita L. LaPlaza '96 wanted a phone line connected in her Pforzheimer House bedroom, she called the Harvard Student Telephone Office (HSTO) and thought she would soon have a dial tone.

LaPlaza, like many other students, said yesterday she waited more than a week for her phone line to be activated.

Although the University's contract with New York New England Exchange (NYNEX) calls for phone installation within three days, the actual time has often been longer, according to Nancy Kinchla, manager of telephone productions at the Office of Information Technology (OIT).

During the week of September 11, all average of 25 students requested new phone lines every day, OIT officials said.

After pressure from OIT, NYNEX promised to complete all current student requests for installation of phone lines by Friday, September 29, Kinchla said.

NYNEX officials contacted yesterday refused to comment.

The telephone company has delayed accepting requests for lines in bedrooms in first-year dormitories until October. Once those requests are filled, Kinchla said she estimates NYNEX will have activated 300 lines on campus.

The delay in activation has frustrated students eager to have phone lines activated.

"I called the student telephone office on Friday, September 15, and they told me 'Don't worry about it,'" LaPlaza said. "They said the line would be on by the following Wednesday."

According to LaPlaza, when she got home from work on Wednesday the line was still dead.

She said she called the phone office the following Thursday, Friday and Monday, and every time NYNEX told her someone would get back to her.

LaPlaza's phone was finally installed Monday afternoon

"At the end they were very nice but it took a while to get there." LaPlaza said.

Part of the reason for the delay is the process students must go through to request new services or register complaints, she said.

According to Kinchla, when students want these additional services, they have to call the OIT and the OIT, in turn, has to call NYNEX.

Since 1991, OIT has contracted phone service out to NYNEX, which installs the phone and services the lines.

Kinchla added that other reasons for the delay in service include made quate NYNEX staffing.

"NYNEX is in flux from the recent corporate downsizing and that doesn't make life easy," she said "Day to day things have suffered."

OIT and NYNEX officials held by weekly meetings all summer in preparation for the tall rush, but they could not avoid the problems which have plagued their relationship, Kinchla added.

An example of these problems was a disagreement over the issue of onsite repairs: OIT officials were under the impression NYNEX would perform on-site repairs of student phone lines, while NYNEX officials thought otherwise, Kinchla said.

"This was absolutely contrary to our agreement," she said. "We had to go all the way to the vice-president level to reach a new agreement."

Despite all the delays attributable to NYNEX, Student Telephone Group Manager Marina Soler claims OIT has been handling problems better this year than last.

"Yes, there has been a problem that has to do with the new installation, which has to do with NYNEX as the vendor," she said. "It's a shame because I can't remember an improvement such as we've had this year."

Although OIT has been handling student telephone concerns with a 24-hour hotline and hours on weekends, it has been unable to handle the actual installation of phones, Soler said.

The problem does not concern most phone lines in Harvard housing, only those that had been disconnected before students arrived on campus, Kinchla said.

Kinchla said much of the delay is caused by the increased use of phone lines located in individual bedrooms within a suite.

"We started offering lines in individual bedrooms a few years ago, and now it is more common than not that students want phone lines in their own bedrooms," she said.

Harvard has more student lines than any other school in Boston, Kinchla said.

Student rooms account for 6,800 of the more than 22,000 phone lines emanating from the University.

The University is not alone in its telephone travails.

Boston University has experienced the same kinds of problems with NYNEX, according to Jim Shea, director of the telecommunications department there.

"We've had some delay problems earlier in the year, but we've worked through them." Shea said. "These problems are typical.

"This was absolutely contrary to our agreement," she said. "We had to go all the way to the vice-president level to reach a new agreement."

Despite all the delays attributable to NYNEX, Student Telephone Group Manager Marina Soler claims OIT has been handling problems better this year than last.

"Yes, there has been a problem that has to do with the new installation, which has to do with NYNEX as the vendor," she said. "It's a shame because I can't remember an improvement such as we've had this year."

Although OIT has been handling student telephone concerns with a 24-hour hotline and hours on weekends, it has been unable to handle the actual installation of phones, Soler said.

The problem does not concern most phone lines in Harvard housing, only those that had been disconnected before students arrived on campus, Kinchla said.

Kinchla said much of the delay is caused by the increased use of phone lines located in individual bedrooms within a suite.

"We started offering lines in individual bedrooms a few years ago, and now it is more common than not that students want phone lines in their own bedrooms," she said.

Harvard has more student lines than any other school in Boston, Kinchla said.

Student rooms account for 6,800 of the more than 22,000 phone lines emanating from the University.

The University is not alone in its telephone travails.

Boston University has experienced the same kinds of problems with NYNEX, according to Jim Shea, director of the telecommunications department there.

"We've had some delay problems earlier in the year, but we've worked through them." Shea said. "These problems are typical.