The Brandeis Computer Operators Group (COG), in conjunction with the Student Information Technology Advisory Committee (SITAC), is working in the coming weeks to perfect a campus-wide wake-up call system already available to students.Currently in a testing phase, the wake-up call system allows students to log on to a Web site and set it to call their room extension at a certain time and date. Students also have the option to set recurring calls with the same specifications.

Students may also choose from several recordings to be played when they pick up the phone. If people hang up the phone without hitting one of the keys as specified in the directions, the system will automatically go into snooze mode and call back every nine minutes until a key is pressed.

The idea for a Brandeis wake-up call system was conceived by Becky Fromer '05, a former senator-at-large. After pushing for the system for months, Matthew Sachs '06, a member of COG, decided to take on the project.

Sachs has been programming computers since he was 5-years old, when he found the source code to a simple game on an old computer in his home. Since then, Sachs has learned over ten different programming languages for computer and Internet applications. He also helped to develop the "BJournals" online journal system at Brandeis.

After spending a few months of learning about how to write software that would work with the phones, Sachs designed much of the program during his train ride from New York to Boston after winter break.

"I was in the COG closet next to the Student Union office when Becky Fromer came and started talking to [Union Secretary] Danny Silverman ['05] about getting the system off the ground," Sachs said. "I offered to take on the wake-up call project right there."

Sachs has been working with Chief Information Officer and Associate Provost for Academic Technology Perry Hanson.

"The fact that we now have the technology to do this is very exciting," Hanson said. "The fact that a student wanted to do this is even more thrilling."

With the help of Silverman, who designed the layout of the Web site, the wake-up call system was off the ground by late January.

The time frame for completion of the project is unclear.

"Before we integrate this system into the entire phone network, we want it to be bulletproof," Hanson said. We don't want someone's wake-up call to go to the wrong room, or ring at the wrong time."

One of the potential problems of students relying on a central wake-up call system is the risk of general malfunction, according to Sachs. However, Sachs said that this issue has already been addressed because if system ever has a problem or cannot make a call, it is designed to page him immediately.

"The other day, someone unplugged the [system's] modem from the phone line and when it couldn't make a wake-up call, it called me," Sachs said. "I called the person whose wake-up call [the system] missed and saw that the next call wasn't to be made for 15 minutes. Then I ran to the Student Union office where the server is located, and plugged it back in before it could miss the next call."

Associate Chief Information Officer Anna Tomecka has been monitoring the wake-up call project since its conception. ITS recently gave Sachs a testing lab to make sure all of his work was compatible with the system.

"We are very excited about the wake-up call system," Tomecka said. "This new phone system comes with many possibilities and new applications. The system was purchased partly because of this open standard."

Plans also have been made to more highly integrate the wake-up call system into the phone software. If successful, users will have the ability to set their wake-up call from the menu on the phone, as opposed to the Web page.

Students must currently pick up their phone to hear the wake-up message. In the future, the wake-up call will actually turn on the "monitor" feature and the message will come directly through the speaker.

Tomecka said that there are a number of ideas to expand the new phones system's capabilities. Aside from wake-up calls, ideas for a message broadcasting service that would be displayed on the phones menu are under consideration. An audible "beep" might accompany the message to alert users. These messages might display cancellations or important meetings or events on campus.

Students have reacted positively to the idea of a wake-up call system.

In response to the fact that users can set their wake-up call sound to be randomly selected from a list of options, Aaron Miller '06 said, "people get tired of waking up to the same alarm sound every morning. Not knowing what the alarm sound is could make you look forward to waking up each day."

"I wake up well to my alarm clock already, but the phone wake-up system is good for students who sleep past their radio alarms," Gillian Kagin '07 said. "It is just another good way to make sure students wake up for class."

The current Web site for setting these wake-up calls is http://finnegan.zevils.com/.

Once the project is finished, a more user friendly Internet address will take its place.

When students first visit the site, they must log in their phone extension. When users request their PIN, their phone rings and a computerized voice reads out the five numbers of their password, which can be changed later.