Acquisition of Telephone Equipment and Telephone-Related Services

The purchase, lease, subscription, or rental of telephones, telephone services, signal transmission services, pagers or voice processing equipment is provided by Telecommunications & Networking (T&N) as a service to the other departments of the University. The equipment shall be administered by Telecommunications & Networking, ensuring the equipment is properly acquired; State reporting requirements are met; proper maintenance is performed; compatibility with existing equipment is maintained; facilities are optimally used; and the communications needs of the departments are met at the least cost. Each department is responsible for the care of the equipment assigned by Telecommunications & Networking. If a piece of equipment is lost, stolen, or damaged due to abuse, a fee equal to the replacement cost of the equipment will be charged to the responsible department.

Telephone Service and Equipment Purchase Requests 

Requests for services may be made by submitting a Service Request Form (SRF) to the Customer Services Division. An electronic SRF can be submitted at www.uthscsa.edu/tn. Repair requests do not require a SRF. Call Customer Services at ext. 7-2061 to initiate a repair order. Procedures, rates, and instructional material can be found.

Long Distance Service

The University uses the State Communications Network (TEXAN) for routing the majority of long distance telephone calls. Therefore, by State law, the University is restricted from routing any long distance call over the network that is not placed for the purpose of conducting University or State business. Telephone authorization codes and reports detailing the long distance calls made with each authorization code are produced by Telecommunications & Networking to assist in the control of unauthorized calls. It is the responsibility of each department to ensure authorization codes are kept secure and monthly reports are reviewed by a departmental authority to ensure authorization codes are used only for official business of the University.

Network Policies

• The data network environment at the University is the responsibility of Telecommunications & Networking. Therefore, all network connections, modifications, disconnections and installations at the University must be approved by Telecommunications & Networking.
• Network traffic monitoring is expressly prohibited unless explicitly authorized by Telecommunications & Networking.
• The external networks to which the University is connected have their own regulations for legal and ethical use. Health Science Center clients are expected to abide by these rules. Clients should request the network policies and procedures from the network's administrator prior to accessing the network. The Health Science Center reserves the right to examine any computer file at any time.

Please refer to The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Handbook of Operating Procedures for further information.