The St. Olaf College Telephone Office began as a small telecommunications department formed in 1986 under the direction of Amil Anderson. During his tenure, Anderson broke the long tradition of paying an outside telephone company to provide student long-distance service and independently operated and maintained a private branch exchange (PBX) system to support the college. He also created a student billing system for long-distance calls, the only college in Minnesota to do so at the time.
Following Anderson’s retirement in 1989, Craig Dunton was appointed director of telecommunications. Dunton formed a consortium of 15 private colleges in the state to assemble long-distance usage as a way to receive larger discounts, which came to be known as Virtual Private Network (VPN) and became a long-distance industry standard. In 1992, the telecommunications department began billing and maintaining the Gustavus Adolphus College telephone system in
St. Peter, Minnesota. Dunton planned and designed the construction of the St. Peter telephone office facility. Gustavus Adolphus eventually ended their partnership with St. Olaf College and currently operate independently. In 1994, the St. Olaf College Telephone Office assisted Bethany Lutheran College in the design, rewiring, and implementation of its new telephone facility (know as the Switch Room), and ultimately merged the two college telecommunication offices. Like Gustavus Adolphus, Bethany Lutheran College eventually ended their relationship with St. Olaf College and became independent.
Over the years, surrounding schools and businesses have become St. Olaf College subscribers. The telecommunications office of St. Olaf College and Carleton College merged in 1994 under the direction of Dunton, which allowed the colleges to save money by operating under one director and with two technicians.
In 1997, Shattuck-St. Mary’s School, a private boarding school in Faribault, became a St. Olaf College Telephone Office customer. The Northfield Hospital followed in 2003 when it opened its new 37-bed facility. The St. Olaf College Telephone Office also provides service to the new integrated health campus, including its regional network of FamilyHealth primary clinics in Lonsdale, Farmington, Northfield and Lakeville.
After 11 years of planning and preparation, Dunton began the next phase of development that would allow the telecommunications office to sell service to Northfield businesses. Roughly 25,000 feet of fiber optic cable was placed around Northfield the summers of 2002 and 2003 to connect the Carleton College and St. Olaf College campuses. Following the cable installation, the St. Olaf College Telephone Office became an independent telephone company known in the industry as a CLEC, a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier. The first downtown customer was connected in 2006, thus launching the St. Olaf College Telephone Office’s ability to sell service to the greater Northfield community. Today, the St. Olaf College Telephone Office provides telephone and internet services to established businesses and independent retailers in the surrounding community.
