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Making Personal Calls on Cornell Telephones

 

Policy Overview

A policy affecting anyone who makes personal, long distance phone calls from a university telephone has been issued, and we expect it to be fully implemented by January 1, 2002. You may read the entire policy (University Policy 3.19, Telephone Usage) at the University Policy Office web site, in the Financial Policy Section.

This policy is a Financial Management policy. It was developed to obtain relief from the billing and collection activities associated with personal, long distance telephone calls. In addition, it ensures that Cornell's financial practices comply with a number of governmental regulations.

 

Policy Highlights

Here are the highlights of the new policy:

  • The university recognizes that employees may have a need to use university telephones for personal calls.
  • The method we have been using (employee makes a call, gets a monthly statement, checks for personal calls, calculates taxes, then reimburses the university) is labor intensive.
  • In order to eliminate this unproductive activity, employees are no longer permitted to reimburse the university for calls made. Instead, employees must pay directly for the calls themselves.
  • Employees will no longer be required to sign and return each month's phone bill. The bills will be changed to remove the statement and signature area.
    • The elimination of the certification statement does not eliminate the responsibility and accountability of managers to establish and maintain monitoring procedures to prevent and detect abuse.
  • Each unit will establish procedures to assure compliance with this policy, as it does with all university policies. The University Audit Office will review these procedures during unit audits.
  • The policy DOES apply to cellular phones as well. In brief, you may use your Cornell cell phone for personal calls (local or long distance), so long as your calls do not incur any incremental costs beyond the charges for your business calls. You must not incur additional costs and you cannot reimburse the university for additional costs.

 

Your Options

Telephone debit cards (prepaid calling cards) are an inexpensive and widely available way to pay directly for personal calls. They can be purchased on campus, at locations throughout Ithaca, or over the Internet. Once purchased, they can be used from your university phone, from pay phones, motel phones, or anywhere. You may also use a calling card associated with your long distance carrier, but these tend to be more expensive than a prepaid card (most include a high connection charge, even if the per-minute rate is low). The "dial collect" numbers you see advertised on television are generally much more expensive than prepaid cards.

 

Tips for selecting a prepaid calling card

Your actual cost for using a calling card can vary widely from card to card. The cost is typically made up of several factors:

  • Per-minute fees - most plans offer per-minute long distance charges of less than ten cents a minute for calls within the United States. Some are less than one cent a minute. If you make long calls, this fee will be the major part of your expense.
  • Per-call connection fees - this can range from zero on some plans to $1.50 or more on others. If you make many short calls, this fee will be the major part of your expense.
  • Additional fees based on call length - some plans charge extra when your call reaches a certain length. For example, every time you go another 15 minutes, a fee is charged in addition to the per-minute fee.
  • Weekly or monthly service fee - some plans charge you a monthly fee (occasionally a weekly fee) whether you use the service or not. This is typically fairly small, but if you hardly ever use your card, you may pay more for this fee than for the calls themselves.

Besides the fees, remember to consider these other factors when choosing a card:

  • Customer service availability and quality
  • Expiration date (some cards expire 30 days after purchase, some after a year, some are good "forever")
  • Availability of international calling

Some local options for prepaid cards:

  • The Kennedy Post Market (and every post office) offers cards sponsored by the United States Postal Service.
  • The Cornell Store offers two kinds of cards (C-Com and Sprint).
  • A consumer advocacy site (clarkhoward.com) has compiled a list of phone services including prepaid calling cards. If you visit this site, please read carefully before deciding on a plan, as some of the plans will actually change who you use as your long distance provider for your home phone.
  • You will find that many stores (convenience stores, drug stores, discount chains, home electronics stores, etc.) offer various kinds of cards. Please be sure to read the fine print before buying any of these. Your actual cost to make calls often exceeds the "cost per minute" fee advertised.

Dialing Numbers Automatically

Using a prepaid calling card usually requires calling a toll-free number, entering your account number, then entering the number you want to call. There are two ways to automate part of this process from your Cornell phone.

If you have a digital phone, you can use up to three of the Auto Dial buttons to automate the various steps:

  • dialing a toll-free number
  • entering your account number
  • dialing the number you want to call

If you choose to automate the second step, where you enter your account number, which often includes a password or PIN, be aware that anyone who has access to your phone can either use the Auto Dial button to charge a call to you, or acquire your code and use it from any phone. Consider the risks and benefits before deciding whether to use this method.

Instructions can be found on the Digital Dialing Instructions page of the phones web site. If you are not sure whether you have the right kind of phone, contact your local telecommunications coordinator or NCS Operations Support for information.

A second way to automate dialing from both analog and digital phones is to set up a personal speed list. This will allow you to program phone numbers into a dial sequence. Instructions can be found on the Digital Dialing Instructions page or the Analog Dialing Instructions page.