 "Photo: Corliss Pauling/Staff Photographer")
When dialing 530-6100, you hear the familiar phrases, "North Carolina Central University, this is Marie speaking?" or "North Carolina Central University, this is Sa'id, how may I help you?"
You might wonder about these all-too-familiar voices.
What do they look like? Do they like their jobs? Where are they?
For such a big job Marie and Sa'id don't have a very big work space. The campus directory office is on the third floor of the School of Education in a small, windowless, 15 foot by 8 foot room.
Marie Allen, a graduate of Durham Business College, began working at the campus directory in April 2005.
"I came here from Durham County Board of Elections," she said.
"I lived in Cincinnati for eight years and worked for the University of Cincinnati."
In Durham she has worked at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Y.E. Smith Elementary School, doing administrative work.
Sa'id Abdul-Salaam, an alumnus of the class of 1959, began working here in 2006.
He has 40 years of medical research experience and is a retired biologist and physiologist.
"I worked at the school of Aerospace Medicine in San Antonio, Texas, and I retired from the Environmental Protection Agency in 2000," he said.
Before Abdul-Salaam came, Allen was by herself.
"I alone was taking 1,500 to 1,600 calls per week so I requested another person," Allen said.
She said this year has been busier than most years.
"The phones usually sing like birds," she said. "There is no particular day that is busier unless there is an event."
The most hectic times for Adul-Salaam and Allen are registration, summer school sessions, Homecoming and graduations.
She said that with the growth of the campus over the last few years, the number of calls has increased.
"There were 7,308 calls during the second session, July through August, and August through September there were 7,728 answered calls," Allen said.
She recalls that the most calls ever received in a single month was more than 9,000.
Allen and Abdul-Salaam said they get calls nationwide and worldwide.
They said that they aren't surprised when they get calls from as far away as the U.K., Germany, Ghana or Australia.
"We get calls from all over the world wanting to know about the University," Abdul-Salaam said.
"We have to know everything possible about the University to be able to direct them to the sources they are seeking."
One customer sticks out in Abdul-Salaam's mind.
"A soldier in Iraq was interested in continuing his education, and I helped him out," he said.
"When he came back, he came up to see me and thanked me for helping him continue his education."
Abul-Salaam said that because of this job he has become friends with many people over the phone.
"There are people who call and you know their names and it's just like you're friends," he said.
"I was in a restaurant and students in the restaurant said hello to me, because they knew who I was by the sound of my voice," said Abdul-Salaam.
"They said, ‘thank you' and I've helped them so much.'"
Allen and Abdul-Salaam can tell you which professors students often turn to to solve problems: "Dr. Evans, Dr. Williams, Dr. Livingston, Dr. Andrews, and Dr. Hall."
"There are a lot of calls for the deans," said Allen. "A lot."
Both said that helping people is fulfilling for them.
"I try to listen to the customer to make sure they are connected to the right person," said Allen.
"We try to make sure their journey of educating themselves is a positive one."
"My purpose when I come to work in the morning is to help as many people as I can, and that's how I receive blessings. That's my pay," said Abdul-Salaam.
"I'm here for the love of the University not for the money because they don't pay me much money."
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