Main | Non-Payment Policy | Operating Policy | OIT Policies | UMass Policies

Long Distance Usage Policy

It is the policy of the Amherst Campus regarding telephone usage, that University telephones are to be used for business purposes only. The specific conditions and contingencies of this policy are detailed in items 1-8 below:

1. If it is necessary to place an urgent long distance personal call from a University phone, the call should be charged to one's home telephone account or personal calling card. In the event that this option is impractical, reimbursement can and must be made via a personal check, payable to the University of Massachusetts. Departments are responsible for the collection and deposit of reimbursement checks.

2. Departments shall distribute monthly telephone charge detail reports to all users within their areas on a timely basis.

3. It shall be the responsibility of users to review the detail, identify their toll charges, and certify by signature or initials that those charges represent either appropriate business usage, or personal calls for which the University will be reimbursed.

4. Signed telephone charge detail reports shall be returned to the caller's department for review and approval. These reports should be retained for seven years for audit purposes.

5. The University's long distance carriers allow only one month for the Telecommunications Office to request billing credits for any reason. Therefore Telecommunications is able to issue credits for fraud/abuse or billing errors to departments only if Telecommunications has been notified of the abuse prior to the mailing of the next month's bill. After that, no credits will be granted to a department for fraud/abuse or billing errors.

6. Telephone calling cards will be issued by the Telecommunications Office as required for University business or research. As the security of University calling card numbers is essential, cardholders are responsible for reviewing their charges monthly and advising the Telecommunications Office immediately, if it appears that a calling card number has been compromised.

7. Calling cards and authorization codes are issued to and used by only one individual. If the card or code is shared, no credits will be issued for fraud.

8. The Telecommunications Office should be notified immediately when a calling card or authorization code holder is transferred to another Major Budgetary Unit or leaves the employ of the University.

545-2171
phoneservice@oit.umass.edu