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Harassing Phone Calls & Messages

• General advice
• Tracing the call

General Advice

Each year members of the University community are victimized by harassing phone calls and messages. Most of these calls, which fall into several categories (obscene, no one on the line, solicitation, surveys), can be stopped by hanging up quickly and quietly. Here are a few ground rules:

• Don't answer questions that make you feel uncomfortable.
• If you don't want to talk, say so or hang up.
• Don't give the caller any indication that you may be alone.
• Don't let the caller know that he/she has upset you.
• If the caller indicates that he/she is an official, ask for a number or address where they can be reached.
• Contact Public Safety, 8-1000 for a log, so times and dates of the call(s) and anything that you can distinguish about the caller (age, gender, voice, background noises, etc.) can be noted. If the harassing caller leaves a message on you voice mail, please do not delete the message.
• If calls persist, or at any time that you feel threatened contact the Department of Public Safety, 8-1000. Often a pattern will emerge and the caller can be identified and charged.
  

Tracing Phone Calls

There is a feature on the Princeton University telephone system that allows details to be gathered on the source of any threatening or harassing call. The feature is called Customer Originated Trace (COT). This feature will instruct the telephone system to retain the details of the call for analysis by Law Enforcement agencies. Through special permission obtained from the FCC, even calls that have had the caller ID information blocked can be traced.

How To Activate the Trace

• Hang up.
• Pick up the receiver again to get a new dial tone and dial *57. (Do not call Public Safety first). You will hear a “beep” that indicates the COT feature has been activated.
• Call Public Safety and advise them that you have activated the feature, and relate the details of the incident.

As soon as you enter the code, an alarm is triggered in the main Switchroom and a printout of the call is made. This record will contain information that can be released to Law Enforcement officials when a complaint is filed. You will not be told the source of the call. This can only be revealed to Public Safety and other Law enforcement agencies who present an authorized request to the Telecommunications Services Department. Once the information is obtained, charges may be filed against the offender.