Medical College of
Georgia Administrative Policies and Procedures
Office of Primary Responsibility: Materials Management -
Purchasing
No. 1.1.12
Wireless Communication Devices
1.0 Purpose:
To establish the policy and procedures to effectively use communication
services and equipment at the lowest possible cost. With the rapid growth in
cellular phones and wireless communication devices (WCD), and with the MCG
philosophy of unit-based management, any MCG employee (staff or faculty) can
have access to an MCG cellular telephone, if approved by the appropriate
director within the respective budget unit.
2.0 Policy:
A University assigned WCD/cellular telephone and service may be an
appropriate resource to conduct University business when it is demonstrated
an employee cannot perform his or her duties without a WCD/cellular
telephone or that improved performance ensuing from WCD/cellular telephone
service will justify the investment.
Where communications needs cannot be met with other available
alternatives such as a paging device, a radio, or standard telephone
equipment, a department may acquire a WCD/cellular telephone service for an
employee. Examples of conditions under which a WCD/cellular telephone device
and service may be obtained include the following:
- A WCD/cellular telephone is required to directly enhance an
employee's job responsibility of protecting the physical safety of the
general public.
- A WCD/ cellular telephone is required for an employee to respond
better to environmental emergencies.
- A WCD/cellular telephone is required for additional protection for
the employee in potentially hazardous working conditions.
- An employee cannot adequately meet communications needs with other
available alternatives such as a paging device or a radio.
- A WCD/cellular telephone is required for on-call personnel required
to respond to critical system failures or service disruptions
- A WCD/cellular telephone is determined to be the most appropriate
means of responding to campus emergencies or to achieve business
efficiencies
- Cost savings are realized when an employee combines or eliminates
landline and/or other telecommunications services (i.e. pagers).
WCD/Cellular phones assigned to University faculty or staff members are
for official business use. It is a violation of this policy to use any
institutional source of funds (e.g., state funds or funds from a private,
cooperative organization such as PPG or the MCG Foundation) to purchase a
WCD/cellular phone for a personal purpose or to use institutional source of
funds to pay for service fees for personal use. Any charges identified with
a personal use shall be the personal responsibility of the individual
incurring those charges and the individual employee is to notify their
department head or supervisor and reimburse the University for those calls
that create additional charges (i.e. roaming, long distance, directory
assistance, airtime charges). Reimbursement to MCG for any WCD/cellular call
for personal use must be deposited with the Controller’s Office by the
department, along with a copy of the annotated bill noting the personal call
and cost within 30 days of the bill date.
WCD/Cellular services will be billed directly to the ordering department,
based upon the information on the purchase order (FPO). Object code 77350
Cellular Services, will be used to account for WCD/cellular telephone costs.
Departments will review and verify WCD/cellular phone bills on a monthly
basis and use their p-card to pay the monthly bill.
P-Cards will not be used to acquire WCD/Cellular equipment or activate
services; however P-Cards must be used to pay recurring monthly service
charges.
Reimbursement for Business Use of Privately-Owned WCD/Cellular Telephones
The acceptable method of reimbursement is use of a formula to determine
the per unit of usage charge for calculating the reimbursement rate for
business related communications. Business related communications made using
minutes or measured service within a user’s pre-paid service plan shall not
be reimbursed. Business related communications made using minutes or
measured services in excess of the pre-paid service plan are reimbursable.
- When a business related communication occurs over and above the
pre-paid service plan’s limit, MCG will reimburse at the actually
accrued per minute charge billed by the service provider. MCG will
reimburse for roaming, long distance or other applicable charges for
business related purposes.
- Employees may be reimbursed for personal calls made using minutes or
measured service in excess of the pre-paid plan but only to the extent
required to offset business related communication minutes or measured
service within a user’s pre-paid service plan.
The user must accumulate $25.00 in reimbursable charges within a 90 day
period before requesting reimbursement.
3.0 Responsibility:
3.1 Department
The department is to maintain a copy of
the approved justification documentation for each WCD/cellular
telephone device/service in its inventory.
Approval can only be given at the department director or above level.
The original approved justification or a copy is forwarded to Purchasing
with a requisition to purchase the equipment, activation fee and
establish the service.
Managers of employees using University owned WCD/telephones
are to initially determine the business needs and select an appropriate
airtime package that meets these needs. Additionally, departmental
managers will review all call activity on a monthly basis to ensure that
the appropriate airtime bundle (minutes per month) has been selected and
that no additional charges were incurred due to personal calls. If a
manager identifies any personal calls which create additional charges
and which have not been reported by the affected employee, the
department will collect the cost of such call(s) from the employee and
take any appropriate disciplinary action.
After review, the statement must be approved and
signed by someone administratively senior to the user, or someone
designated by the appropriate vice president. Approved statements must
be retained for 5 years and are subject
to audit by the BOR Auditors, State Auditors, the University’s Internal
Auditors, and/or Telecommunication Department.
If an employee who has an MCG cell phone leaves a
department (transfer or termination), that department must reclaim the
device for reissue or turn-in as surplus property.
The department is responsible for turning in all
surplus wireless communication devices to Asset Management.
3.2 Purchasing
The Purchasing Department must sign all contracts or service
agreements.
The Purchasing Department will process requests for WCD/cellular
phones (equipment and activation fees) and service upon receipt of an
approved purchase requisition and a Wireless Device Approval Form.
Purchasing will procure these items via standing agreements available to
the University. In special circumstances, Purchasing may utilize other
agreements obtained from any carrier who best meets the needs of the
University upon agreement by the unit requesting the purchase.
3.3 Employees
Employees should take the appropriate safety precautions when
choosing to use a WCD/cellular device including the use of a “hands
free” device when talking on a cellular telephone while operating a
motor vehicle.
Cellular telephone conversations are not secure; therefore employees
must not discuss protected health information (PHI) or other
confidential information.
The user has sole responsibility for their cellular telephones. They
are responsible for all incoming and outgoing calls and shall only be
used by MCG employees.
In the event a telephone is lost or stolen, it must be reported
immediately to the service provider, MCG public safety, Information
Technology Support Services and your department manager. Failure to do
so could make the employee personally liable for payment of all calls
made against the lost or stolen cellular telephone. Employees may also
be held personally responsible for any charges to replace cellular
telephones that are lost or stolen. If the phone is damaged, it should
be reported to your department manager.
There are personal digital assistants (PDA) that also function as
wireless communication devices (WCD). MCG might purchase the unit as a
PDA and the user may then purchase the wireless communication service
from personal funds. In this way, the user has a single multi-user
device (PDA plus WCD) that allows the user to have personal wireless
access and portable work related data in one unit.
Date: 3
March 2005 | Rev. No.: 05-1 | Rev. Date: 29
September 2005
| No. 1.1.12 |