Information Resources
The University of Texas at Dallas
 

Telecommunications Billing Process


Current State

  1. Telecommunications pays all University landline phone bills monthly.  There are currently 4,280 landlines.
  2. In order to recoup the funds, Telecommunications downloads billing statements from the UTD billing system and posts them in the portal by departments for online viewing;
  3. Designated employees (usually AA’s) within each department login to access the statements;
  4. Statements are printed.  If all landline subscribers adhere to the current process, then the following resources are expended:
    • Paper:  10K copies = $280/month; $3,360/year;
    • Printer ink:  $100/month; $1,200/year;
    • Time:  Approx. 1 minute/landline/month (after initial login)
    • Total time – Approx. 71 hours/month; 852 hours/year. 

    *The estimates above are contingent upon all hard copies printed monthly for each landline. 

  5. Hard copy statements are distributed to each respective subscriber (Estimate:  36.5 hours/month; MOTION, varied).
  6. Statements are reviewed by each subscriber (Estimate: 2 minutes/subscriber).
  7. If there are Personal Long Distance (PLD) charges, the subscriber indicates PLD calls on the form, signs it and submits a reimbursement to the departmental designee. 
  8. The departmental designee remits the payment to Bursar’s Office.  The funds are receipted and credited to the departmental account {Varied time/person}.  It is significant to note that these payments are, in most cases, relatively small.
    The form is filed by each department for future auditing purposes {TIME; MOTION, varied}.
    If there are no PLD calls, then the form is simply signed and filed {TIME}.

Proposed Future State

  1. Effective September 2009, Telecommunications charges will be processed as a single lump sum charge to departmental budgets annually.  The charge will consist of the average of the two previous fiscal years’ total Telecommunications expenditures plus 15% for this current fiscal year only.  Billings/payments for other related services (i.e. cell phones/stipends, wireless cards, etc.) will continue to be processed normally until further notice.  Cost distribution will be allocated (i.e. research, instruction, etc.) accordingly for “special accounts.”
  2. Telecommunications will use the funds to cover monthly landline bills and other necessary landline telecommunications-related services during the year.
  3. Account managers shall remind employees that PLD calls are prohibited.  Billing statements will be posted for online viewing.  Account managers shall review statements quarterly.   A flagging system for all long distance calls per landline that exceed $20 per month will be established to monitor abuse.
  4. If employees do not use landlines for PLD calls, then nothing is done.  This will be a significant savings of financial resources, time and motion. 
  5. If employees inadvertently use landlines for PLD calls, they will be required to print the copies of each page in which a PLD call is located, highlight each, then sign the statement  {Approx. 5 minutes/relevant subscriber}.     Employees who do not comply shall reimburse the University {Varied time/person}.
    The signed statements should be maintained in the employee’s interoffice file for future auditing purposes.  Scanned copies should be provided to respective employees in lieu of hard copies.
    Account managers shall reiterate to these employees that PLD calls are prohibited. 
  6. Random internal audits will be conducted periodically for compliance with UT Dallas telecommunications policies.