Northwestern University Begins Using Automated Phone Directory

Effective April 16, 2008, at 8:00 p.m., Northwestern University Information Technology (NUIT) will implement a new Northwestern University Automated Phone Directory. This enhanced telephone answering service, which utilizes speech recognition technology, provides an automated speech attendant that will complement the University Call Center Representatives who currently answer calls coming into main University phone numbers.

The Automated Phone Directory will provide automated caller assistance 24 hours a day, seven days per week.

When calls are answered by the automated speech attendant, callers wishing to locate faculty, staff, students, or individual University schools and departments will simply be required to speak their request. Once the name is recognized by the automated speech attendant, the call will be automatically routed.

University Call Center Representatives will be available to personally route calls Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturdays. During non-working hours, or when the University Call Center Representatives are assisting other callers, the automated speech attendant will be available to route the calls.

Speech recognition is the ability of a machine to understand human speech. When spoken, the speech recognition auto attendant will understand prefixes, such as Doctor or Professor, first and last names, as well as nicknames, as long as the contact information is listed in the NU Online Directory .

This service is available to users both on and off campus. The Automated Phone Directory is responsible for routing calls coming into the following University telephone numbers:

Directory	On Campus	Off Campus
Main Chicago Campus	3-8649	312-503-8649
Main Evanston Campus	1-3741	847-491-3741
Student Listings	1-5500	847-491-5500
University Operator “0”	3-1000	312-503-1000

How To

Members of the University community are encouraged to visit the NU Online Directory to review their contact information for accuracy, and if necessary, complete the nickname section. Changes or updates made to the NU Online Directory become effective the next business day. More information can be found on the Automated Phone Directory Web page.

• Automated Phone Directory
• NU Online Directory

NUIT Support Center

Central helpdesk for faculty, staff, and students.
847-491-HELP (4357)
consultant@northwestern.edu