March 28, 2019
To: All Faculty, Students and Staff
From: Eric Heath, Associate Vice President for Safety & Security, Kevin Boyd, Associate Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO)
Subject: 9-1-1 Direct Dialing Begins March 28
Date: March 28, 2019
Beginning today, members of the campus community will no longer need to dial ‘9’ before dialing ‘9-1-1’ from University of Chicago telephones (e.g., land-line phones on desks or in common areas in University facilities) to reach emergency services.
With this change, anyone who calls ‘9-1-1’ from a University phone will be greeted with the short message, “Calling 9-1-1, please stand by, calling 9-1-1, please stand by." This will help prompt callers to disconnect if they have inadvertently dialed 9-1-1. Callers who dial ‘9-9-1-1’ after March 28, will still be directly connected to emergency services.
This change was prompted by federal legislation aimed at making it easier to place emergency calls from businesses and institutions. This change does not impact University-issued mobile phones or any other mobile phones. Regardless of whether you are calling from campus or off campus, continue to dial 9-1-1 from mobile phones to reach emergency services and be prepared to tell the emergency operator the location of the emergency.
Please contact IT Services at 773.702.5800 if you have questions or concerns.
As a reminder, to reach UCPD regarding an emergency, dial 123 from a campus phone or 773.702.8181 from other phones.