In order to improve the Arsenal telephone service and satisfy nationwide telephone dialing requirements, the following three telephone services will be integrated into the Arsenal's GTD-5 Telephone Switch and become effective by mid November:
• 1+10 digit dialing:
Three new telephone area codes will be added in Northern New Jersey - 551 in the 201 area, 862 in the 973 area, and 848 in the 732 area. Rather than change existing area codes, the FCC has decided, along with the respective municipalities, to "overlay" new area codes in these locations. What this means is that customers in these locations will not have to change their existing area codes, but as new phone numbers are added, new customers will begin to receive the new area code. Because each area will be using more than one area code, it will be necessary to begin using 10 digits when dialing. Though 10 digit dialing will not be mandatory until Dec. 1, Picatinny is planning on implementing this feature in the mid-November time frame. This means that the traditional "7" & "9" levels (FTS-2001 Long distance, local/local long distance & international calling respectively) will no longer be used to gain access to those services. Rather, you will dial 1+ the 10 digit [or in the case of OCONUS calls, 1+ 011+ (10-13 digit number)] to complete an off-post call. The Defense Switched Network (DSN) will still be accessed using the "8" level dialing. Starting Dec. 1, if you do not use 10 digits (1+10 at Picatinny), you will be required to hang up and redial the phone number. On post dialing will remain the same with 4+(4 digits).
• Partial-911 Service:
At the same time a partial-911 calling service with the Arsenal GTD-5 telephone switch will be activated. That will allow for the direct dialing of '911' from any mission phone for access to Picatinny Police, Fire Dept, Medical Service, etc. The '911' service number will replace the previous available numbers (117, 112) as well as include the traditional 6666 for the Police Desk.
• Customer Call Features:
Changes to specific telephone custom-call features will also be affected. At present we are still working this issue, but we can tell you that the changes will directly reflect outside commercial usage procedures (i.e., use of the '*' character to initiate action as opposed to the number '1' currently used at Picatinny). Some of those features commonly used at Picatinny include: call forwarding, automatic re-dial camping on a line, transfers, etc.. Those changes will be posted as soon as they become available.
More public service announcements on the above topics will be provided in the coming weeks. For further information, contact Bill Burkhart, <Burkhart@pica.army.mil>.
