Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request
From: selig@udcps3.cps.udayton.edu (Paul D. Selig)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Why Aren't College Telcos Regulated?
Message-ID: <1772@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 2 Dec 89 17:29:14 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 9, Issue 549, message 5 of 7


I just wanted to comment from a different viewpoint on the points that
Ed Ravin made about the outrageous charges that universities charge
their students for calls.  Here at the University of Dayton, we
currently have what I consider to be a great system, which is a
Meridian SL-1 switch.

The university here also charges $5.00 for a collect call to a
student, but with a good reason: Let's say that there are four
students living in a campus apartment, and each apartment has two
phones.  Each student in the apartment has their own private "access
code" for long distance use, and each receives their own statement of
charges.  If you were to make a collect call to a number in that
apartment, the university has no idea who accepted the call, therefore
they have no idea who to bill for the cost of the call.

The $5 is used for the administrative costs and time to track down the
acceptor of the call, and to have the billed call connected with the
actual person.  I really don't think that this is _too_ far out of
line, as I would imagine that the actual costs are much higher.

And, in regard to the $100 credit limit, after being a student at the
University of Dayton for many years, I am still amazed at how many
students will not pay their bill until their service is shut off.  It
happens a lot more than you might think, and the limit is imposed just
to protect the university so that they may eventually get their money.

Also here at the University of Dayton, students are clearly notified
many times that if you let the phone ring more than 7 times, you will
be billed for that call.  Though I do agree that the University
_should_ install call supervision equipment, they are fair in removing
a charge for a call that is claimed to never have been completed.

This is just a former students view on the university phone system,
and my opinions do not constitute those of my employer!

|    |		Paul Selig, Jr.		Systems Administrator
|  --|-		Computer Science Department, Anderson Center 133
|  | | |	The University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio 45469
 --|-  |	BITNET: selig@dayton.bitnet	
   ----         UUCP:   selig@cps.udayton.edu or ...!uunet!ncrlnk!udcps3!selig