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Telecommunications

Cell Phone Guidelines

 

Guidelines for Department Cell Phone Usage

 

Overview
In many circumstances, cell phones are an essential and efficient way to conduct University business. However, like any technology, the user should evaluate the cost of using the phone vs. benefits derived and only use this more costly alternative to regular phone service when necessary. Be aware that cell phone costs and usage are subject to scrutiny.

Department Procedures
Department procedures and expectations established for cell phones should be consistent and well thought out.

Each department should have a clearly written enforced policy on what practices are acceptable. Copies should be provided to all employees involved with cell phones:

  • How many (if any) personal calls will be allowed per month?
  • How department wishes user to reimburse the department for personal calls
  • Will personal calls be allowed as long as the number of "free minutes" per month is not exceeded?
  • Do cell phones need to be left on at all times?
  • If cell phone is designated for department use (i.e. a check out situation) what is procedure for using phone?
  • Responsibility of user in regard to accounting for calls/charges
  • Is there any minimum usage per month required to justify having a cell phone?
  • If person is being reimbursed for business calls made on personal cell phone, who decides what calls will be reimbursed?

 

Review the cost-effectiveness of utilizing cell phones based on:

  • Employee functions performed on the campus
  • Anticipated frequency of use
  • Communications requirements
  • Alternatives
    • Public phones, calling cards, two-way radios, interactive pagers, etc
  • Whether a department phone would suffice or if a cell phone needs to be assigned to an individual

 

Before looking for a plan, determine what type of services the user will need:

  • What will be the average monthly usage for this user? (30 minutes, 1000 minutes, etc)
  • Will the user be making and receiving calls or just making calls?
  • If the cell phone will be left on for long periods of time, consider phones that do not have to be recharged very often.
  • Is voicemail required? Call forwarding? Paging capabilities? Radio capabilities? Other special features?
  • Are there any special physical features of the cell phone that are required? (i.e. locking mechanism when cell phone is turned off or side volume control)
  • Will the user be using the cell phone out of the So Cal area, out of state, or out of the country at all?
  • There are standard roaming charges for both incoming and outgoing calls. A cell phone is in a roaming condition when it is not in its respective assigned area. These calls incur charges at a greater cost per minute.
    • If it will be used for travel only, consider plans with good out of state rates.
    • If it will not be used out of state, consider plans that do not offer out of state services.

 

Approval of use for cell phones:

  • Who must authorize the use of cell phones? Does the Chair/Dean/VP need to approve all users? Or can any staff above a certain level authorize their own cell phone? Will authorization for a cell phone be revisited every fiscal year or is approval only needed once?
  • Will the department reimburse business calls made on a personal cell phone? If so, what is the process for approval of payment of these bills? Will this authorization be revisited each fiscal year or is it needed only once?

 

Approval of payment of invoices:

  • Who decides which invoices/calls will be paid by the department?
  • May want to have policy state that as long as cell phone bill does not exceed x amount of dollars, it will not be scrutinized. This saves time of person in charge of bills. Example: if a bill is less than $40, it is simply paid. If a bill is over $40, it will be looked over.
  • Will P-cards be used to pay for cell phone bills?
    • If so, how will this affect the other policies and procedures?
  • How will these policies be enforced?

 

Personal Calls

  • Will employee pay for just calling time or a portion of the base cell phone charges as well?
  • How often must personal calls be reimbursed? Monthly? Quarterly?
  • What is the agreed upon system for reimbursing personal calls? Check? Cashiers Office? Titan Card? Credit card?
  • If no personal calls are made, should the employee have to verify that all calls were business-related with documentation?
  • If paperwork is used to assess how much an employee must reimburse the department, it should be kept up to date with any changes made by the supervisor. For example, if a supervisor determines that the employee is responsible for more than what the employee documents, there should be appropriate documentation of the change.

 

Cell Phone Safety

  • If a vehicle is parked in a high-risk area for a prolonged period of time, remove the cell phone from the vehicle
  • Department cell phones should be kept in a secure location when not in use (i.e. locked cabinet)
  • Keep the cell phone in the off position when not in use and utilize built-in security features of the phone to minimize the potential for cloning. Cloning is the stealing of the serial and programmed phone numbers from a cell phone and illegally using those numbers on another cell phone
  • Contact cell phone vendor immediately if the phone is lost or stolen
  • Establish other safety criteria such as pulling over to the side of the road to use the cell phone while in a car.

 

Billing & Customer Service

  • When choosing a cell phone plan, request to see a typical monthly bill.
  • What type of customer service support does the company provide? (i.e. 24 hour support or an 800 number)
  • The billing address should be the department's address and NOT Accounts Payable. This allows the department to scrutinize and authorize the bill. If reimbursements are necessary, arrangements can be made. Once the department has checked the bill, it should be sent on to Accounts Payable along with any reimbursement checks.
  • The correct sub account code is 4872.

 

Phones not in use
Annual review should be done on "emergency" phones and on all phones that show no usage for several months to determine if these phones are still financially beneficial. The department may find that two-way radios prove more financially beneficial than cell phones as cell phone service may be unavailable in some emergencies.

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Updated: 10/26/2009 1:20:34 PM