You

may have trouble getting through to Fayette

County government extensions this weekend.

And

after this weekend, you'll have to dial one extra

digit to get the extension you want.

Workers

this weekend will be installing new equipment

that will improve county phone service while

reducing its cost.

During

the installation, phone service may be unreliable

at the county office, said Jay Wright,

information services director. But he added that

crews will deal with the most frequently called

weekend number first - the number for burn

permits.

Following

the installation, for each county extension you

call from now on, you'll have to add a

"5" to the extension number.

The

extension numbers for the various departments

will remain the same except for the additional

digit.

The

up side is that county operators will be able to

switch calls between the county's various

facilities, and you won't have to hang up and

call a different number if you reach the wrong

building.

For

instance, if you call the county's main number,

770-460-5730, and ask for the Public Works

Department, currently you're told that you have

to hang up and call a different number.

With

the new equipment, operators at the main number

will be able to transfer your call directly to

Public Works, which is housed in the county's

McDonough Road annex.

The

equipment will be installed at the McDonough Road

facilities - Public Works, Water System,

etc. - the following weekend, Feb. 12 and

13. Extensions at McDonough Road will then have a

"6" added, but will remain the same

otherwise.

An

automated system also will be in place for county

workers who are frequently in the field and

unavailable in the office. Your message on that

person's answering machine will ring his or her

pager, so that important calls can be handled

right away.

Workers

at the county Animal Shelter on Ga. Highway 74

south are particularly happy about that, said Jay

Wright, director of information services. One

- sometimes two - animal control

workers currently must stay in the office to man

the phones, mostly answering simple questions,

when they need to be taking care of animals and

dealing with strays, he said.

New

equipment will now not only answer the calls and

page the workers if needed, but also will contain

prerecorded answers to most often asked

questions, freeing workers for their other

duties.

And

because of new technology and increased

competition in the marketplace, the changes will

reduce the county's cost for telephones by

$64,000 a year, while the initial setup will cost

only about $30,000, said Wright.

Wright

worked out the details of the changes with

BellSouth during meetings with the communications

company prompted by a request from the Animal

Shelter.

"The

Animal Shelter has a lot of callers who are

seeking information, but don't necessarily need

to talk to an individual," he told county

commissioners during a recent meeting. His

department already was working to find solutions

to similar problems for the Parks and Recreation

Department, Wright said.

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