Purchase of Telecommunications Services & Equipment

Purchase of Telecommunications Services & Equipment

The purchase of prepaid telephone calling cards has surfaced on campus again. Prepaid calling cards, as well as telecommunications equipment and services, cannot be purchased with University p-cards or through normal University purchasing channels. Although prepaid calling cards may result in a savings to the University, we are obligated to comply with the present State of Illinois statutes.

The Department of Central Management Services (CMS) allows state universities the latitude of utilizing CMS telecommunications services or securing our own services through state procurement practices, whichever method may result in the best service or least cost to the campus. However, we are required to use their long distance contract. This contract includes direct dialed calls from campus, 800 toll free service, and calling cards.

In addition to the state requirement, there is also the issue of an accounting trail that does not exist if prepaid calling cards are utilized. Prepaid calling cards do not have a means to indicate if a call was placed for state business or personal use. The CMS calling card includes an itemized statement for the fiscal officer to review each month.