IRVINE : UCI Gets a Number Befitting Its Name

After months of waiting and considerable debate, UC Irvine telephones began ringing to a new prefix this weekend.

Telephone numbers on the UCI campus beginning with the 725 and 856 prefixes were switched Saturday to 824. Not coincidentally, the digits spell out UCI on telephone key pads.

Several UCI academic departments already put in dibs to get customized numbers, including an ophthalmology clinic (UCI-2020), fine arts tickets (UCI-ARTS), billing services (UCI-BILL) and the bookstore (UCI-BOOK). The final four digits of most old telephone numbers on campus will remain the same.

Telephone service officials at UCI requested the prefix switch about four years ago but discovered that the city of Colton had already taken 824. The prefix became available when parts of Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire switched to the 909 area code in November, 1992.

Getting the new prefix cost UCI $36,000, said David L. Tomcheck, director of electronic communication services. It cost an additional $8,000 to refer all the old main telephone numbers, such the chancellor’s, the political science department’s and the registrar office’s, to the new ones. Callers to the old main numbers will get recordings stating the new numbers; callers to individual people on campus will get a recording simply saying the number has been changed.

Since officials announced the change early this year, some budget-conscious members of the UCI community have complained that the telephone number change was an unnecessary expense.

“A lot of people are anxious about the change, but a number of campuses across the country have gone through it,” said Don McLaughlin, assistant director of electronic communications services. “UCI is not doing it because it spelled UCI, we’re doing it because of growth” expected on campus.

McLaughlin said the university had about 6,000 possible telephone numbers with its 856 and 725 numbers and would have had to get a third prefix within three to five years to accommodate new people and offices on campus. With the switch, UCI will have about 10,000 possible numbers, he said.

UCI officials added that telephone numbers for student and faculty housing will remain unchanged.