Inside Iowa State Dec. 1, 1995 Phone Upgrade Under Way by Linda Charles A major upgrade in the university's telephone system is about half done, said John Kingland, director of Telecommunications. The 18-month project will upgrade faculty, staff and administrative telephones, allowing more use of wireless and cordless telephones within buildings, more computer-telephone integration and multimedia desktop use, Kingland said. Those who have display phones will begin to see caller numbers for calls from the Ames area as well as for some long-distance calls. Before the upgrade, only campus telephone numbers were displayed. Other new functions include automatic call back when no one answers (this function has been available only when the number was busy); "call park" (you can "park" a call at one telephone and retrieve it from another telephone); and expanded conference calls from a multifunction phone (up to six participants compared to three before the upgrade). Telecommunications is continuously upgrading the system, Kingland said, to keep up with the growing number of users on campus, meet new FCC regulations and take advantage of new technology. So far, phone upgrades have been completed in the Applied Science Center, Research Park and north- and west-central areas of campus. Telephone coordinators in each area will keep their people advised of the changes in the system. __________ University Relations Iowa State University