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Telephone Services Billing Process Changes. April 2013. Billing Fast Facts.
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Telephone ServicesBilling Process Changes April 2013
Billing Fast Facts • Telephone Services (TS) provides Installation, Relocation, Conf-Call Support, Trouble-shooting, Equipment Replacement, Cabling, UTSA Call Center, Billing for Equipment (phones) and Long Distance, and ensures all “back-office” equipment supporting communication is managed; • Services funded through billing for Phones/Equipment • Two components to billing: Phones/Equipment and Long Distance (LD) • Over 400 bills monthly • 3500 users/voice-mails • 5500 phones/equipment (offices, labs, conf rooms, classrooms, etc.) • Long Distance totals about $120,000/year
Today’s Process • Phones/Equipment • 360 bills annually • Except for Academic departments, each area billed separately • Provost moves money to a single account for all Academic departments • Long Distance • Over 400 bills monthly • Admin separates personal from business LD charges: • Personal - user contacted via email w/their charges, and university must be reimbursed by user via Fiscal Services; which is then processed. Admin must keep a record for each user for each incident – up to 3500 x 12 = 42,000 files per year,…for Audit. • Business - department moves funds to account, and the bill is reconciled or researched when issues arise, i.e., account number changes, fraud, etc. • @4800 statements/bills per year - If average only 30 minutes each, the cost of tracking, billing and reconciliation for LD alone can easily exceed funds recovered.
Setting the Stage • View UTSA in 8 high-level groupings for our discussion: • President’s Office • Academic Affairs • Business Affairs • Research • Student Affairs • Community Services • External Relations • Grants (generic)
Billing Cycle • We started with the Provost’s Academic departments and now bill for Phones/Equipment annually from a Single Account. This is working very well and has reduced work-effort. • Extend and Simplify – Move to a full annual, single-bill cycle across UTSA; Phones and Long-Distance,… patterned after groundwork by Provost. • Each group consolidates money into a single account; • Withhold during budgeting process (recommended), or • Departments transfer money into the account. • The benefit to Every organization is they don’t have to deal with telephone bills on a monthly basis which saves the university money; in exchange for a one-time annual effort. • Note: Grants - majority end in May or December, but conceptually another account when grouped accordingly.
Next Steps Billing detail ready and provided upon approval to proceed. One annual bill in Sep/Oct to be based on equipment and LD charges from previous year. Alerts will be set to notify when individual bills reach certain level. LD will Not be shut-down if an area trending to exceed. LD reporting detail can be provided online. If costs vary significantly, adjustments can be made in following yearor can IDT* specific department. *IDT – InterDepartmental Transfer
Questions April 2013