Technology Services July 26, 2007

Cell Phone Usage Guidelines

I. Purchasing Authority:

The Telecommunications office is responsible for the procurement of cellular phones and services. A Director/Department Head/Chair must approve the purchase of a cellular phone. Contact the Telecommunications office for equipment and service plan options. The cellular billing plan must be commensurate with the business needs of the unit. Under no circumstances should personal use be a factor in the determination of the billing plan. Telecommunications will arrange the account setup and determine the appropriate cost chargeback to the user’s budget.

II. Oversight Responsibility:

The Telecommunications Office has cellular phone oversight. The office will provide assistance on equipment usage, repair, replacement, account charging and system design. Periodically, the College will audit its cellular phone usage to determine if there has been any abuse of the system. Issues concerning the charging of personal long-distance calls to the College, excessive personal calls, charges that exceed business needs and the disclosure of confidential information will be addressed with the appropriate college departments. The Telecommunications Office will provide assistance in the investigation and clarification of these reviews.

III. Use of College-owned Cellular Phone:

a. Cellular phone providers and services plans must be approved by the College.

b. The use of a College cellular phone shall not be in lieu of more cost effective, practical and readily available means of communications such as landline telephones, two-way radios, or corporate calling cards.

c. The College may require staff members to have cellular telephones to carry out their job responsibilities. This may be accomplished through either procurement of a cellular telephone by the department for long term use, short term rental of a cellular phone through the Telecommunications Office, or use of an individual’s private cellular phone.

d. Individuals with departmental or rental cellular phones may occasionally need to make incidental personal calls on the departmental cellular telephone. The College recognizes that carrying a business cellular telephone and a personal cellular telephone is not always practical. The use of a College cellular phone for occasional personal calls is allowed with the understanding that the personal use should be minor (less than 20%).

e. No direct payment is required for personal calls on College-owned cellular telephones, provided there are no additional costs incurred as a result of personal telephone use. Likewise, no direct payment will be made to individuals for business calls made on their personal cellular phones if they do not incur additional direct costs.

If roaming, long distance, or airtime charges beyond a plan maximum are associated with personal calls on a College cellular telephone, the individual will be asked to identify those costs and indicate whether they are related to personal or College business. When personal use of a College cellular telephone when usage exceeds the maximum base minutes in a plan, it shall be deemed that the personal minutes are the cause and reimbursement must be made to the College.

If roaming, long distance, or airtime charges beyond a plan maximum are associated with business calls on a personal cellular telephone, the individual will be asked to identify those costs and indicate whether they are related to personal or College business. When business use of a personal cellular telephone exceeds the maximum base minutes in a plan, it shall be deemed that the personal minutes are the cause and reimbursement will not be made by the College.

f. For most cellular calling plans, calls from out of the local/regional calling area can be made most cost effectively using department issued corporate calling cards from a landline phone.

g. Employees may never call 900 numbers, make harassing calls, or use College cellular phones for illegal activity.

h. The end user of a cellular telephone should exercise discretion in distributing the cellular phone number. Charges are assessed to the phone regardless of whether the communication is incoming or outgoing.

i. Cellular phones should not be forwarded to other phones. Other phones should not to be forwarded to cellular phones.

j. Cellular transmissions are not secure and employees should use discretion in relaying confidential information on cellular telephones.

k. Use of a cellular telephone while operating a vehicle is illegal in some states and should be avoided as a general practice even if features such as headsets or voice activation are in use.

l. Cellular phones are College property and must be turned in upon termination of employment.

m. Violations of the College’s cellular phone policy may lead to discipline, including termination.

n. Lost cellular phones must be reported immediately to Public Safety at 240-895-4911. Public Safety will then contact the Telecommunication Office in Computer Technology Support Services at 240-895-3351.

o. The use of 411 calls for information help should be limited to emergency needs only. These calls are expensive and are not included in any pricing plan. Cost for 411 calls will be charged back to the department.

Revised 8/1/2005