<p>The "Wellesley College Parents' Guide" states that double dorm rooms have a separate Ethernet jack for each student but is ambiguous regarding the number of telephone jacks. It does state that "Each student provides her own telephone, phone cord, computer and Ethernet cord", implying that there are multiple phone jacks per room. Is that true? I'd hate to buy and transport across the country a telephone for my daughter if she won't be able to use it.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for your reply!</p>
<p>every room has a separate phone and ethernet jack for each occupant. so if it's a double there will be 2 phone jacks and 2 ethernet jacks.</p>
<p>What millionlittlepieces said. For some reason there were four in my Tower triple last year.</p>
<p>Get long ethernet and phone cords. In some cases the jacks are in bad places. (ditto with extension cords)
You can have the jacks swapped if it is a problem.</p>
<p>Every student has a voicemail system, so rotary phones are out, but I don't know if older phones with buttons would be incapable of deal with voicemail. There's also caller ID if your phone has a screen for it. But don't go too crazy about getting a nice telephone. A spare one from around the house will do nicely- people hardly use the phones, email being the preferred method of on campus communication. Students call each other's cells to ask someone where the heck they are. Long distance calls are also part of most cell phone plans.<br>
Of course my roommate didn't have a cell phone and used a combination of skype and a phone card. I don't know how it happened, but she got all these telemarketers calling her (never me though).</p>
<p>That's great that the phones have Caller ID. That's usually an extra cost option for land lines. My daughter has a cell phone but we'll probably call her with a land line so she can save her cell minutes for calling her friends in California. </p>
<p>My wife and I signed up for Vonage (VOIP) for long distance service and picked a phone number in the Wellesley local calling area so our daughter will be able to call us with any phone as a local call. We changed our California analog line to local calling only so we get the benefit of having two phone lines, unlimited long distance and the rock solid reliability of an analog line for less than $60/month.</p>
<p>Questioner,
I'm another Calif. mom trying to figure out the phone thing. How will the Vonage package work and what does it run monthly?</p>
<p>Vonage is a "Voice Over Internet Protocol" (VOIP) telephone service, which means that to use it you must subscribe to a broadband Internet service (like DSL or Cable Modem). So Vonage requires that you already have a high sped Internet service. Vonage requires that you connect a telephone adapter (they have several different types) to your high speed internet connection.</p>
<p>When you sign up for Vonage you can have them transfer your current telephone number to the Vonage service. In addition, Vonage lets your get additional telephone numbers, located most anywhere around the country, that will all dial your same telephone. So you can keep your California number and add a local Wellesley number so your daughter can call home with a local call. Vonage charges something like $5/month for each additional number you add to your account.</p>
<p>We decided to keep our old style analog telephone service (and keep our original phone number on that service) but to save money we changed it to a "California local only" calling plan since we can use the Vonage line for long distance. When we added the Vonage account we chose our primary (and only number with Vonage) to be in Wellesley. That way we can avoid paying for a second number on the Vonage account. We can easily use either line since our telephones are 2-line telephones. It is a little more complicated to set up so for most people getting a two number Vonage account (for $5/month more) is the way to go.</p>
<p>When most people subscribe to Vonage they use it to totally replace their local and long distance telephone service. Unlimited local and long distance is only $25/month, and after taxes it is still only around $28/month. There are a few downsides to using a VOIP telephone service. Your telephone won't work if there is a power outage or if your home network stops working. Also, 911 service isn't quite as good although they are improving it as time goes on. For most subscribers, when they dial 911 Vonage will route the call to the correct local 911 dispatch center but you will have to tell the dispatcher your address and phone number. Normal 911 service automatically conveys that information to the dispatcher. It's not a big deal.</p>
<p>You can get Vonage online by going to <a href="http://www.vonage.com%5B/url%5D">www.vonage.com</a> and Circuit City or Best Buy also sell the service. Those two retailers often advertise promotions like "1st month free" and big rebates to cover the cost of the Vonage adapters.</p>
<p>So far it has worked out pretty well for us.</p>
<p>Questioner,
Thanks for the Vonage info. We already have local only analog service and use a phone card for long distance. It's only 3 cents a minute, and it's hard to beat that. We're thinking she won't need the cell at Wellesley, so we'll cancel it for now. She hardly uses it now, so we don't think it'll be a major thing.</p>
<p>Anyone use Skype services for telephone?</p>
<p>My roommate has. She bought the headset and didn't have to pay for anything else. I don't have it, but she seems to like it, and talks to all her PA friends that way (won't even sign up for AIM. I tried). I'm guessing the service is good enough. She also uses a phone card for long distance.</p>