Local News in Brief : Countywide : Telephone Switchover Continues for County

The county’s switchover to its own $15.2-million, in-house telephone system will take a giant step forward this weekend when county offices in the Civic Center in Santa Ana go onto the Orange County Telecommunications Network, or OCTNET.

The switchover from Pacific Bell to OCTNET, which the county bought from the Contel Corp., began last year and will eventually affect about 9,000 phone lines, causing some county phone numbers to be changed.

About 3,000 phone lines in the Civic Center offices will go onto the system between Friday and Sunday, the largest number at one time, according to Fred Voss of the county General Services Agency. About 3,000 lines have already gone onto the system in a series of 14 smaller switchovers, he said. The remaining switchovers will occur during June and July.

The offices that will be affected this weekend include those of county supervisors, several departments and Central and Superior Court judges.

Officials say the new system will save the county $30 million over the next decade because equipment-rental charges, leased lines and toll calls between county offices will be eliminated.

The earlier switchovers confused some callers when they couldn’t find out the new telephone numbers, Voss said. To lessen the likelihood of that happening again, people who encounter problems are advised to call the county’s telephone assistance line at (714) 834-5400.