Apartment Manager's Guide
for Managing Telephone Service
and Issuing Long Distance Calling Cards

Click on one of the following items, or call the Telephone Center (379-3000) with any questions! Hours: Monday thru Friday, 8:30am-5:30pm.

• Key Points About the Phone Lines


• Apartment Manager's Responsibilities


• How to place calls from an apartment


• Standard features on the phone lines


• Other Features


• About Voice Mail


• About Caller ID


• Jack Repairs


• Other Phone Line Problems


• Additional Lines


• Internet


• Nuisance/Threatening Phone Calls

• The apartment telephone lines are owned and managed by SCSI for the apartment complex. The lines are not owned by the apartment complex.
• Under this concept, tenants avoid the hassle and expense of having to connect and disconnect their telephone line each time the responsible tenant moves in/out of the apartment. This also saves wear and tear on the apartment.
• Tenants also avoid the hassle of having to sort through a monthly telephone statement to determine who is responsible for which long distance calls.
• They also avoid the problem of one tenant getting stuck with someone else's "unknown" long distance charges.
• Long distance calls can only be made from the apartments with the use of a long distance calling card.
• Tenants may not add DSL or any other telecommunications services to the telephone line.
• Tenants may not accept collect calls (except in a true emergency).
• Tenants may not bill any services (e.g., AOL, prepaid calling cards) to the apartment telephone number.
• The Caller ID for the apartment phone lines will display "SCSI." It does not show the name of the apartment complex.

1. Give every new tenant one of the telephone packets with the dialing instructions, regardless of whether they get a calling card or not. (The packet includes the apartment dialing indstructions, and either voice mail instructions or an order form for voice mail.)
2. Maintain security of the O.C.T. calling cards issued to your office.
3. Issue an O.C.T. calling card to any tenant requesting one.
4. Issue the calling cards in account number numerical order.
5. Maintain the master signature list for the calling cards as they are issued.
6. Retain the master signature sheet until it is completely filled, then return it to O.C.T. for permanent filing. (This sheet is a very important reference list in case questions arise about the tenant to whom a card was issued.)
7. Retain the original white copy of the Service Request Form; give the yellow copy to the tenant.
8. The white copies are picked up by, or mailed to us once a month just prior to the end of the monthly billing cycle (on the 25th of each month).
9. Refer the tenant to the current rate schedule for the different rate options.
10. If the tenant does not choose a rate option on the contract, the account will be billed at Rate Option 1.
11. Each customer may have only one active account. Current accounts must be paid in full before a new card is issued.
12. Call the Telephone Center anytime your supply of calling cards or brochures starts to get low!
13. Call the Telephone Center with any other questions! (Mon-Fri, 8:30am-5:30pm)

• To reach a "911" dispatcher, your tenants dial 9+911.
• Local calls and toll-free numbers are made by first dialing "9" for an outside line then dialing the local number or the toll-free number (800, 888, 877).
• These lines are "blocked" so tenants cannot directly dial long distance calls.
• A calling card must be used to dial long distance calls including directory assistance.
• Tenants using a long distance calling card from O.C.T. can dial long distance calls from their apartments by first dialing "8" then entering their authorization code and dialing the number.
• O.C.T. also provides local access numbers for the Provo, Salt Lake, Ogden and Logan so customers can get the same rates as if dialing from an apartment phone line which is part of our telephone network.
• Directory assistance calls incur a charge for each call. (This charge is not unique to our telephone lines. Regular residential customers also incur charges for directory assistance including 411 and other types of information services).
• To reach directory assistance, the caller must use a long distance calling card. He or she then dials the number for the area code plus 555-1212. For example, to call directory assistance for the Wasatch Front area, one would call 1-801-555-1212.
• Other long distance calling cards can be used. The tenant dials the toll-free number provided by their carrier. Refer the tenant to the dialing instrucitons for complete details.
• Tenants must not accept collect calls except in true emergency situations. After accepting such a call, they should contact our Telephone Center and let them know about the collect call they accepted and to make payment arrangements.
• Although various "blocks" are placed on our lines, it sometimes happens that a telemarketing company or third-party telephone company operator will allow a tenant to charge services to the apartment telephone number. This is considered abuse of our telephone service. When such charges appear on S.C.S.I.'s monthly statement, we bill the apartment for these services. The responsible tenant is asked to pay for these unauthorized charges. When a pattern of abuse is noted, it is possible that we may interrupt the apartment's telephone service until the situation is resolved.

• Four-digit dialing to other apartments on our network.
• Automatic redial of the last number dialed from the apartment.
• Three-way calling.
• Call waiting.
• Call forwarding

• Press *67 to block the Caller ID on each outgoing call.
• Press *70 to disable the Call Waiting feature. (This is useful to keep incoming calls from disrupting an Internet connection.)

• Some apartment complexes subscribe to our voice mail system for each of their apartment telephone lines.
• At other complexes the voice mail is an optional, pre-paid service subscribed to by the tenants of an individual apartment.
• Those complexes which subscribe to our voice mail are able to broadcast messages to every apartment in their complex. Such messages might include reminders about rent due date, activities, etc. They can also send a voice mail message to an individual apartment.
• Where voice mail is not included, individual apartments can subscribe to voice mail for $20 per semester or $36 for two semesters.
• The telephone packet includes a brochure for subscribing for voice mail service where it is optional.

• Caller ID is an optional service on all lines. Contact our Customer Service Center for prices.
• Tenants can add Caller ID to their apartment phone line but they must supply their own Caller ID box or a telephone equipped with a Caller ID display.
• Tenants call our Customer Service Center directly (Provo-Orem 379-3000; from Logan 8 + 379-3000) for current rates.

• JACK REPAIRS:
• Unless apartment maintenance personnel are experienced in telephone repairs, they should not attempt any repairs on the lines, Qwest equipment, or apartment jacks.
• Jack repairs are scheduled through the Telephone Center at 379-3000.
• Repairs which are the result of tenant negligence are billed to the apartment through the apartment office.
• Installation of new jacks are billed to the apartment office and require advance approval of the apartment management office.


• OTHER TELEPHONE LINE PROBLEMS
  • Telephone lines can experience trouble caused by age, weather, electronic interference, and telephone equipment used by the tenant.
  • Trouble on telephone lines should be reported to our Telephone Center at 379-3000.
  • Only S.C.S.I. employees may contact Qwest to report problems on the telephone lines. Tenants and apartment management must not call in repairs to Qwest.
  • Because many problems are caused by tenants' telephone equipment or other electronic/digital equipment in the apartment, a variety of troubleshooting steps must be performed by the tenant before a repair is reported to U.S. West.
  • It is best to have the tenant call the Telephone Center directly (Provo-Orem 379-3000; from Logan 8 + 379-3000) so we can troubleshoot the problem before it is called in for repair.
  
  
• INSTALLING ADDITIONAL LINES
  • Tenants desiring installation of private, additional phone lines should get prior approval from the apartment management office.
  • These additional lines can be ordered through our Telephone Center at 379-3000 and will be billed monthly by O.C.T. (currently $24.95 plus tax.)
  • These additional lines have the same long distance blocks and features as the apartment line.
  • O.C.T.'s current charges for installing these additional lines can be obtained by calling the Telephone Center.
  • Installation requires 5 working days, and can be longer depending on Qwest's workload.
  • Tenants may contact Qwest directly and be billed by U.S. West with the line listed in their name. (We provide no repair for these lines.)
  • If a line is installed by Qwest, they normally will install the line only to the "demarc" or "network interface" which is the Qwest junction box on the building. They require the tenant to contact O.C.T. to have the line installed from the demarc into the apartment.
  • There is a minimum $78 charge for this service, and it can be more depending on the complexity of the wiring required. This charge must be paid in cash (no checks) to the technician at the time of installation.
  • Tenants desiring a phone line for DSL service through Qwest must order an additional private line through Qwest.

• O.C.T. offers its own high-speed shared bandwidth service for Internet access at many apartment complexes in Utah County. Click here for a list of those aparments.
• Owners or managers desiring information about adding this service in their apartment complex should contact Our Customer Service Center.
• O.C.T.'s service may be filtered so it meets BYU standards.
• Some tenants desire their own private Qwest telephone lines for for DSL or "megabit" service. Because of the nature of our telephone lines, Qwest is currently unable to offer this type of service on our apartment phone lines.
• Tenants desiring such service should contact Qwest about availability and cost of a private, additional phone line.
• Internet access through regular Internet Service Providers can be dialed up on the apartment phone line. The tenant needs to modify the dial string in order to use this type of service.

• Prank calls, and annoying, harrassing or threatening phone calls are never easy to deal with.
• We are not able to provide a tenant with the number of the phone number the caller used to call his or her apartment.
• Prank callers often move from one phone number to another to try to avoid detection.
• For this reason, adding Caller ID to the apartment telephone line is the most effective means of identifying the source of the nuisance calls.
• We can add "Call Trace" to a phone line, but it is usually a less reliable method for detecting the prank caller's identity.
• Call Trace is added to a phone line only after an official complaint has been filed with the local police department.
• The local police officer must call us and request us to add this feature, and give us the police complaint file number.
• Each time a number is traced there is a charge of $1.85.
• If Call Trace is added to a line, the tenant receiving a nuisance call hangs up, then picks up the handset again and presses *57 immediately after receiving the call. This generates a report to Qwest.
• This report is provided only to the police department; it is never provided to the tenant.
• We understand that the police department will not take action until the caller has made at least three calls from the same phone number.