University of Houston
Residential Life & Housing
4361 Wheeler St.
Oberholtzer Hall
Houston, Texas 77004
713.743.6000
Telephone Service
Telephone service is available in each resident room. There is only 1 line per room. Call waiting is active on all resident lines. Resident lines are local lines only, accessing 713, 281, and 832 area codes. Toll free 800 numbers are allowed, but long distance, collect, and toll calls are not allowed. Because the telephone system used at UH is not AT&T, the AT&T operator can not be reached in resident rooms (therefore no collect calls can be made or received, and caller ID is not available).
How do I use the phone line in my room?
The phone line in the room is an analog line, like most residential service. You must connect your phone to the wall jack, normally labeled voice, using a standard telephone cord. There is only one phone line in each room (although there may be up to four jacks).
Once the phone is properly connected, you should be able to hear a unique dial tone. This is how the dial tone on campus sounds. Pressing 9 will take you to an outside line, and you will hear the normal dial tone. Payphones on campus are not part of the University telephone network.
For on campus calls, dial the 5 digit extension. Most of these numbers start with the number three; some start with the number 4 or 2. For local calls, press 9 and then the 10 digit phone number. Toll-free calls such as 1-800 can be made by pressing 9, and then the 11 digit 1-800 number. Long distance calls may be completed through the use of phone cards and services such as 1-800-COLLECT, etc.
Caller ID is not available.
Call waiting works only during an off-campus call. The new caller will get a busy signal followed by hold music. You will hear a tone indicating another caller. Press Flash, *, 1 to answer the new call. Press Flash, *, 1 again to return to the first caller.
Call forwarding is available. Dial #, 9, and the number to forward to, and then hang up. Dial # # 9 and hang up to disable call forwarding. Some phone problems where the resident can call out, but can not receive any calls is due to the fact the phone line is being forwarded. You should always disable call forwarding when you move into a new room.
Three way calling is also available. Call the first party, once connected, press Flash, and dial the second number. Once connected, press Flash, *, 4 to connect both parties.
Phone splitters may be used for multiple phone devices such as answering machines and your roommates phone. Only one device can operate on the phone line at a time.
If you are experiencing problems getting your telephone to work, and for further information, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions.
