Cellular Phone Service Administration
- Cellular phones are issued to employees upon approved request when the employee’s responsibilities necessitate availability via phone or when travel off-campus is frequent.
- The Office of Telecommunications currently contracts with Verizon and AT&T Wireless providers for cellular phone service.
- Telecommunications acts as the contract administrator for all TCNJ cellular phone contracts. All requests for service initiation, modification, and cancellation are routed through this office. This provides the vendor and their TCNJ customers with a single point of administrative, billing, and support contact.
- Requests related to cellular service must be approved by the cabinet member in charge of the requesting department. Email requests to Telecommunications are acceptable but the email must come from the email account of the cabinet member charged with approval.
- Unless directed otherwise Telecommunications will arrange for a default service agreement. Requestors may indicate a preferred plan if desired.
- Vendors have their own terms of service and contractual obligations. Telecommunications will forward copies of terms and contracts along with the cellular phone. It is the responsibility of the requesting department to abide by these terms. Any fees imposed by the vendor due to breach or early termination of contract are the responsibility of the requesting department and will be forwarded by Telecommunications.
- A consolidated bill is sent to Telecommunications. Call detail for individual accounts on the bill will be copied and forwarded to the named individual responsible for the cellular hone, if detail is present.
- All charges incurred on the cellular phone account will be forwarded by Telecommunications to Budget and Finance, to be charged against the PeopleSoft chartfields provided with the initial request.
- Departments may require employees to reimburse The College for personal calls made on the cellular phone. Charges for personal calls must be paid to the Office of Telecommunications, who will then handle the reimbursement to the department.
- Telecommunications may review bill summary information to detect extensive use of the cellular phone above the chosen calling plan. A reasonable attempt will be made to call attention to high cellular phone bills, but the ultimate responsibility for review is with the requesting department.
- Telecommunications will provide, on a yearly basis, a list of all cellular phone accounts and holders to the Cabinet for review.
Initial Requests
Requests for Cellular Phone service will consist of the following information. This information must be provided for each cellular phone requested. If a quantity of phones is indicated, service (calling plans/features) on them will be identical unless indicated otherwise.
- Description of service required or desired calling plan – This will be used to determine the selection of a calling plan for this department.
- Name of the responsible individual or area if not for a specific individual – This is the name that will appear on the bill to differentiate this account.
- Justification from the requestor/responsible individual – The justification/request must be approved by the cabinet member in charge of the area placing the request.
- PeopleSoft chartfields for billing – This information will be used to handle the reallocation of charges to a department’s account.
Requests for Additional/Change in Service
- Additional service on a cellular contract can be requested at any time (with respect to Vendor limitations). The request must be accompanied by an approved justification and must identify the cellular phone(s) this request applies to.
- For additional phones, please refer to Initial Requests.
- Additional charges associated with service modifications will be forwarded to the account supplied with the original request.
Accessories
- Telecommunications will purchase accessories from the vendor on behalf of the department. Accessories can be listed in the initial request for purchase, or may be requested later.
- Requests for accessories must be accompanied by appropriate authorization. Charges will be forwarded to the department account provided with the initial request.
- Departments may purchase their own phone accessories. In this case it is the responsibility of the department to locate and pay for compatible accessories. Any damages to the phone caused by incompatible accessories will be handled as in Replacements below.
Cancellation of Service
- Terms of service are subject to the agreement signed with the initial service request. Typical contract lengths are 1 or 2 years. Termination of service before the end of the specified term in the contract typically results in substantial penalties. Fees incurred for cancellation of service will be forwarded on to the responsible department.
- Telecommunications will handle cancellation on behalf of the requesting department. Documentation authorizing the cancellation is required before we will cancel the service.
- In the event that an employee leaves the College, the cellular phone must be returned to the responsible department or the Office of Telecommunications. A list of cellular phones held by a departing employee will be furnished to Human Resources upon request so that Human Resources may handle collection if necessary.
Equipment Ownership
- A cellular phone is typically provided with a service contract. Once delivered, the phone unit is then considered owned by the requesting department.
- Telecommunications may request the return of phone units under certain circumstances.
- When a service contract is terminated, Telecommunications will accept phone units for ‘disposal’.
Replacements
- Telecommunications will arrange for shipment of a replacement per the vendor’s policy. Any costs associated with a replacement unit will be forwarded to the responsible department.
- Replacement of cellular phone units due to loss, damage, misuse, or problems not covered by the vendor’s warranty are the responsibility of the requesting department.
Technical Support
- Telecommunications will handle technical support issues on cellular phones in accordance with the Vendor policy. The phone unit may have to be returned to Telecommunications for testing.
Loss, Theft, and Un-authorized use
- It is the responsibility of the requesting individual, of if a department, their designee, to securely maintain the cellular phone.
- In the event that the cellular phone is lost or stolen the responsible individual must notify Telecommunications as soon as possible.
- Initial notification may be made verbally.
- A formal written notification is required, indicating that the phone was lost or stolen, and should include the approximate time that the loss was noticed.