She says that so far the technology -- particularly cellular-to-Wi-Fi handoffs -- is iffy but improving.

The Telephone Planning Advisory Group at the University of California at Irvine has shown interest in merging VoIP, e-mail and voice mail with mobile phones, says Brian Buckler, director of network and telecom operations for the school.

“We discussed replacing voice mail so we could tie it in with mobility and they were very excited,” he says.

At Swarthmore College outside Philadelphia, wired phones are definitely out. Students get a phone jack in their room but have to bring their own phone if they want to use it, says Mark Dumic, associate director of networking and systems at the school. “Seventy-three percent have phones plugged in with no long-distance service,” he says, because nearly all use cell phones instead. “And they don’t want to give us their cell phone numbers.

North Carolina State University is making wired dormitory phones optional this fall, and if students want a phone they have to sign up for the service, says Greg Sparks, director of communication technologies at the school, which has 31,000 students.“We just had the first week of signups and one student signed up,” he says.