Communications Fee: Frequently Asked Questions
The monthly communications fee provides basic phone and network services for faculties and departments based on their student course enrollment and full-time-equivalent (FTE) employee count. When additional phone and network connections beyond the FTE count are needed, these will also be charged on a purely cost-recovery basis.
A: The monthly communications fee provides basic phone and network services. Optional services such as long distance calls and cable moves, voicemail and fax services are charged separately on a cost recovery basis. Find more on the cost of phone services.
A: The fee is based on a faculty or department’s student course enrollment and FTE count. When additional phone and network connections beyond the FTE count are needed, these will also be charged on a purely cost-recovery basis. Find more on the cost of phone services.
A: The communications fee is charged on a monthly basis.
A: This is because usage for the phone system is driven by the number of employees in an area, while network costs scale with the number of students.
A: Average staff FTE is calculated based on an average of the daily FTE count over the billing month.
A: The daily staff FTE count for each department is provided by Human Resources.
A: Total student course enrollment is calculated from the faculty’s total student course enrollment over the last three academic terms. The term cutoff dates are March 1, July 1 and November 1.
A: The student course enrollment count for each faculty is provided by the Registrar’s Office.
A: If the total number of telephone sets exceeds the average staff FTE count for your area, additional phones are counted and charged at a cost-recovery rate. Find more on the cost of phone services.
A: When the fee was introduced in February 2017, adjustments were set at a specific amount to ensure overall faculty and department costs did not vary significantly for basic phone and network services. After the first year, each area’s fees may fluctuate based on FTE counts and student course enrolments. If there is no significant increase or decrease to these numbers, your overall communications cost will not go up or down significantly.
A: There are no plans to phase out or change the department adjustment.
A: Yes. Please contact the CCS Help Desk at help@torontomu.ca or 416-979-5000, ext. 556806 with your request.
A: Please visit the Phones & Faxing section on the CCS Forms page and select the form related to your request.
A: All existing network ports are maintained without additional costs, even if you have more ports than FTEs.
A: Yes, but there are no guarantees regarding the number of connections that the service can handle. For special high-density or high-capacity requirements, CCS will work with your faculty or department to find a cost-recovery based solution.
A: Yes. A monthly bill is sent to each faculty or department liaison at the beginning of every month. If you’d like to be added to the recipient list, please contact Vivian Wong at vivian.wong@torontomu.ca with your request.
A: The bill does not itemize every single phone. For a list of all the phone extensions under your department, please contact the CCS Help Desk at help@torontomu.ca or 416-979-5000, ext. 556806 with your request.
A: To update your area’s contact list, please contact Vivian Wong at vivian.wong@torontomu.ca with your request.