Use of College Telecommunications Procedures
I. Purpose
This addresses the use of landline, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and cellular phones that are provided by Central Piedmont Community College.
II. Landline and VoIP Telephone and Service Use Procedure
A. Users must not authorize collect calls to the College.
B. Users must not make any personal call that will incur a charge of any kind.
C. Supervisory approval is necessary to authorize international dialing capabilities for an employee’s telephone.
D. Long-distance calls, either telephone or fax, are intended for College business. If it is necessary to make a personal long-distance call, a personal calling card or credit card should be used. Reimbursement is expected for all landline calls verified as personal long distance made at the expense of the College. Repeated long distance use of College telephone lines may subject an employee to disciplinary action.
III. Cellular Telephone and Service Use Procedures
A. A qualified employee must request cellular telephone service by submitting a Service Desk request via the ITS client portal. The unit vice president must approve this request via the client portal prior to a new device being issued. Qualified employees are those who are assigned work that is critical to the operations of the College and from whom an immediate response is required.
B. The employee must complete a Cellular Telephone/Data Access Employee Agreement and a Mobile Device Synchronization Agreement documenting the justification for cellular telephone service. These forms must be approved and on file before activation of service. The cellular telephone administrator will establish a monthly fixed-rate plan with the service provider and purchase the equipment for the employee. The fixed-rate plan will be determined at the time the contract is signed with the employee. The employee will be responsible for all costs exceeding the fixed-rate plan. If any overage occurs, the employee must provide written justification to his/her immediate supervisor for approval of the additional cost. The employee must fully reimburse the College for any overage within 45 days from the invoice date or telephone service will be deactivated.
C. The immediate supervisor should periodically review whether the employee assigned a cellular telephone continues to have a business need and remains eligible for cellular phone service. The immediate supervisor must immediately notify the unit vice president and the cellular telephone administrator when the employee no longer qualifies for cellular telephone service.
D. Any employee must immediately notify the cellular telephone and service provider and the Central Piedmont cellular telephone administrator and Service Desk if the cellular telephone is lost or stolen.
E. In the event an employee is on a leave of ten days or more, the College reserves the right to deactivate or cancel cellular telephone services. Employees must notify the cellular telephone administrator when their leave or employment status changes. Leave status changes are defined in Section 1.0 of College Personnel Policies and Procedures
F. Employees may use personally owned cellular telephones to make business calls if needed but should not use personal phones for any email or data storage or any kind of data transmission unless they have completed a Mobile Device Synchronization Agreement. Reimbursement for business calls is at an established fixed rate and will not exceed the monthly plan cost.
G. Unassigned cellular telephones to support critical areas must be properly controlled and assigned to an individual within that area. This individual will monitor and review the monthly statements for accuracy.
H. Employees are discouraged from using handheld cellular telephones while operating a motor vehicle and are responsible for compliance with state law, as many states prohibit the use of handheld phones while driving.
I. Cellular telephones have much of the functionality of computers today. As such, in addition to this policy, the use of College-owned cellular telephones is also subject to 2.09 Use of Central Piedmont Information Technologies Policy and Procedure and 2.12 Network and Internet Access Policy, as applicable.
V. General Conduct Guidelines
A. The following are examples of inappropriate conduct and prohibited uses of College-owned telephones, but is not an all-inclusive list:
- Transmission or storage of:
- Fraudulent, harassing, threatening, discriminatory, sexually explicit or obscene messages and / or materials;
- “Chain” emails or text messages; or,
- Unauthorized solicitations and other forms of mass mailings, advertisements, or political solicitations.
- Sharing of any user ID or password associated with a College-owned device with any unauthorized person.
- Introduction of viruses or malware.
- Installation of software or applications unless pre-authorized by the College.
- Use of College-owned devices for non-business-related streaming of audio or video.
- Attempting to bypass any security measures.
- Use of third-party instant messages software.
B. Data storage, including email and documents, will only be permitted on College-owned and managed mobile devices, including cell phones and tablets. Access to mobile synchronization technologies, such as ActiveSync, requires completion of the mobile access form. Unmanaged mobile devices may be limited in their access to College data storage platforms. Use of unauthorized third-party storage platforms is not permitted.
C. College-owned and managed mobile devices must be kept in physically secure locations and must be secured from misuse with biometric or password login.
D. Any misuse or fraudulent activity involving a College-issued telephone may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination.