Long-time DoD personnel may remember a time, some 10 to 20 years ago, that long distance telephone service was not common on their work telephones. Instead, long distance calling was accomplished using the Defense Switched Network (DSN) or Automated Voice Network (AUTOVON). At the time, long distance calling costs were high and DoD and most federal employees had to adapt their telephone calling behaviors to make use of DSN and AUTOVON in order to get their work done.
While many changes in the telecommunications industry have occurred in the last 20 years which caused long distance telephone costs to decrease, nearly every telephone at the Naval Support Activity Washington (NSAW) and most other government locations has access to make long distance telephone calls on the commercial telephone system (known as the Public Switched Telephone Network or PSTN), making the overall cost quite high.
Seeking solutions to fiscal challenges
Proactively seeking ways to deal with the realities of reduced federal budgets and cost containment challenges, Capt. John Sears, commanding officer of NSAW, has begun encouraging all telephone users on any NSAW installation to again utilize the DSN service.
‘‘Utilities, including energy, water and telecommunications are ‘must pay’ bills. If we do not reduce our utility costs, we will have to divert funding away from other programs and needs in order to pay for them,” Cmdr. Phillip Raimondo, NSAW executive officer said.
Kirk Avery, NSAW Information Technology program director, is leading the charge to have employees of all commands on NSAW installations use DSN when calling outside of the 202 area code.
‘‘Using DSN instead of dialing ’991’ then an area code and telephone number is far less expensive. It is also easier to dial an 8 and the 7-digit DSN number or ‘94’ then the 7-digit DSN number, whichever applies to the particular location you are calling, than calling a 10-digit number,” he said.
Avery said that all personnel using a desk telephone at any NSAW installation, should use DSN as their first choice; a cellular telephone as the second choice (nearly all cellular plans have free long distance calling and some have free cellular to cellular calling) and use their desk telephone and the ‘‘991” access code as a last resort.
Cell phones offered as replacements
‘‘We may have to consider restricting the number of desk telephones in use or restrict their access to non-DSN long distance services in order to reduce the long distance costs we incur monthly. We prefer not to do that and we are hoping to get voluntary compliance, using DSN, instead. We realize it is a change in telephone behavior, but we have little choice,” Avery said.
For some of its own employees, NSAW is offering a cellular telephone in exchange for eliminating the employee’s desk telephone.
‘‘Switching to a cellular telephone allows the employee to take advantage of the mobility and added flexibility offered, as well as gives us the more favorable long distance telephone rates,” Raimondo said.
To make it easier for NSAW and tenant command personnel to help conserve limited utility funds, Avery prepared an information sheet. The sheet also includes the DSN prefixes of many area military installations. For sheet, e-mail kirk.avery@navy.mil or call 202-433-1023 (locally) or DSN 288-1023 (long distance).
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