Telephone Use Policy

Purpose

The general LITS “Acceptable Use” policy also applies to the use of regular and cellular phones. This policy is intended to clarify issues specific to the use of university-owned phone services.

Specific restrictions

Office and University cellular phone users:

may not charge personal long-distance calls to the University
may not conduct personal business during working hours
may not receive or make excessive personal phone calls during working hours
may not disclose University confidential information over the phone
may not order outside provider services for their phone

During working hours, routine personal calls are strongly discouraged. Personal calls are permitted under emergency or other unusual circumstances. If there is any question of propriety, the employee must discuss the circumstances with his/her supervisor in order to agree on appropriate guidelines.

Office and residence hall phone users are not permitted to add any third party features to their phones, such as long distance or voicemail services. Phone users should be wary of solicitations from outside providers for such services. Users will be liable for any charges incurred by the University.

For personal long distance calling, office and residence hall phone users are encouraged to obtain a calling card from a long distance carrier of their choice. The use of a University-provided calling card or cell phone for personal long distance calling is expressly prohibited. The use of University-owned toll-free numbers for receiving or routing personal long distance calls is expressly prohibited.

Office phones

The University provides telephone access to all employees. Voicemail boxes are provided as needed for business and instructional purposes only. Long distance service is contracted by the LITS office of Network/Telecommunication Services (NTS) and calling codes are assigned to offices as needed.

To ensure accuracy of the campus Enhanced 911 service, the NTS office must be informed before any office phone is moved to a different location.

Residence hall phones

The University provides a telephone in every residence hall room for local calls only. Voicemail is provided for each resident.

Cellular phones

Cellular telephones and services may be provided for certain University employees who travel frequently or for whom it would be inefficient to use a land-line telephone. Requests for cell phones must be approved by the employee’s supervisor and the budget officer for the employee’s department. The NTS office will provide advice on the most appropriate equipment and plans and will place the order for services. The costs of cellular equipment, services and repair will be billed to employees’ respective units or departments.

To ensure that the University’s acquisition of cellular telephone services is cost-effective and manageable, the LITS NTS office will enter into and maintain service agreements with cellular telephone service providers for all eligible University participants, unless a specific exception is granted by the Director of Network/Telecommunication.

If an employee has his/her own cellular service and uses it for occasional University business purposes, any monthly overage charges that can be documented and attributed to OLLU business may be submitted for reimbursement to the employee’s department at the discretion of the employee’s immediate supervisor. It is not intended that the University regularly subsidize an individual’s personal cellular service.

Billing Reports

Academic/Administrative Units are charged for long distance calls made from their assigned phones and for any cellular services used in the Unit. The LITS NTS office provides detailed monthly long distance and cellular service reports to each Academic/Administrative Unit for review. If an odd calling pattern or an unusual frequency of numbers is discovered, the unit or department administrator, or other appropriate individual, should discuss the report with the particular employee(s) to determine if the calls were of a personal nature. If so, reimbursement is required, and the employee must be counseled as to the policy against charging personal calls.

Responsibilities

Academic/Administrative Unit administrators in consultation with the Director of Network and Telecommunication will administer the telephone use policy.

Blatant or repeated infractions of the University's telephone use policy can result in administrative discipline, to include discharge or expulsion.

Additional Information and Procedures

The LITS NTS web pages contain further information and procedures regarding university phone services. Refer to http://lits.ollusa.edu/Network

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