10-digit dial implementation to cause downtime

The switch to 10-digit dialing for internal calls made on landline phones at UNMC and the Nebraska Medical Center will go live Saturday, Sept. 21.

Implementation will be between 9 p.m., Friday, Sept. 20 through 1 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 21.

“Telecom is making every effort to minimize impact, but a system outage is unavoidable,” said Frank Plummer, manager of telecommunications. “We chose that timeframe for implementation, because data showed that was a period of time with the least amount of telephone traffic.”

Plummer said that there will be careful attention to modify and retain speed dial and autodial numbers so end users do not have to re-enter numbers in 10-digit format.

Department representatives received communication of this downtime specific to their department. Please verify with your teams that they are aware of the upcoming downtime and contact Plummer with any questions or concerns at frplummer@nebraskamed.com or 402-559-3997.

Departments should implement their communication downtime procedures during the outage. See exact outage times in implementation timeline below.

Impacts during phone system downtime:

• In true emergencies, still dial 911.
• The security dispatch center can be reached during the downtime at 402-681-3277.
• Voalte phones will have a shortcut key option to dial two Voalte phones, 531-557-5553 and 531-557-5554, located in the security dispatch center during the outage.
• Security officers and facilities staff can reach the security dispatch center via radio during this time.
• The Medical Call Center (MCC) will be down during this outage. Departments cannot depend on the MCC to answer their calls during the outage.
• Blue light phones will not work during the outage.

Items not impacted by this system upgrade:

• Panic alarms, Voalte phones, and intrusion alarms
• The HUGS system for infants
• Bellevue Medical Center

Implementation timeline

• 9 p.m. on Sept. 20 to 12:15 a.m. on Sept. 21
  • IP phones in groups of 500, in numerical order, go out of service for 20 minutes while autodial and speed dials are modified to 10-digits.
• 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 21
  • System reboot: all phones; IP, digital and analog will be out of service for 20 minutes.
• 1 a.m. on Sept. 21
  • Service restored.
• 1 a.m. on Sept. 21
  • Testing begins.
• 1 a.m. Sept. 21
  • Perfect Serve will be out of service for about 20 minutes. Desktop phones are functional as a 10-digit dial.
• 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 21
  • Moves, adds and changes made during the freeze are reentered.
• 4 a.m. on Sept. 21
  • Work complete.

In December, it was first announced in the NOW and UNMC Today newsletters that various Nebraska Medicine and UNMC locations would begin switching to 10-digit dialing for internal calls, replacing the five-digit plan.

Long distance charges will not apply to 10-digit dialing within the campus/organization dial plan. Long distance charges will only apply when callers enter/dial 1+ 10 digits.

Bellevue Medical Center and the UNMC College of Dentistry in Lincoln use different telephone systems and are not part of this Sept. 21 go-live date.