Wireless Device Policies

All Contracted and Individual-liable cell phones and wireless devices at York

Definitions for Wireless Devices

Contract Based Smart-phones and Wireless Devices

Contract based smart-phones or any wireless devices which the college has under contract and incur cost for services such as wireless access for cell phones, data plans and texting capabilities.

These devices can access the internet and can be on the York College network. Contract based wireless devices purchased with encumbered funds directly or associated with York College are considered property of York College and are to be used for York College business only.

All employees who acquire a contract based wireless device will automatically have that device configure with all York security restrictions and IT auto destruct/data-wiping protocols.

Individually Acquired Smart-phones and Wireless Devices

These are smart-phones or any wireless devices that the employee purchased outright with data plans for personal use. Any employee needing to connect their individually acquired device to the York WiFi is subject to policies that may limit certain features on the device.

Individual-liable Smart-phones and Wireless Devices

These are smart-phones or any wireless devices that the employee purchased outright with a data plan for personal use but would like to configure the device to serve “double-duty” for their business email and network access. Any employee who is using their wireless device in “double-duty” mode must comply with IT auto destruct/data-wiping protocols and security restrictions.

Request for smart-phones and wireless devices

Smart-phones and wireless devices requiring data plans and under contract by York are currently only available to qualified approved department heads and chairs.

These are personnel whose responsibilities and activities on and off campus require mobile communications availability and connectivity at all times.

Email communications and access to desktop phones are available to most York employees and is the ideal method for communicating while on campus.

Policies governing the use and configuration of Wireless Devices at York College

The following are policies for all Smart-phones and wireless devices and are enforced by York College:

All Wireless Devices: All users must have senior management approval for acquiring and maintaining any wireless device purchased by York College.

Also, any type of wireless device that makes use of York College
networks or support resources must also be approved by management. (See Approval, Certification Policy and list of supported devices at end of this document) The approval process takes into consideration the requirements for responsibilities that may require this type of business related device with no exceptions.
Service Plans: Currently the college has volume discount plans with three carriers: Sprint, Verizon and AT & T. Cost for these plans are fixed.

No provisions under the Telecom budget are made for damaged equipment, upgrades or accessories. In order to control cost, IT enforces policies that limit data plan options based on the service plans. For details on these limits see Service Plans.
Lost or Damaged Wireless Devices: The replacement cost of lost or damaged wireless devices will be paid by the employee responsible for that equipment plus a $50 administrative fee. As stated previously there are no provisions under the Telecom budget made for damaged equipment, upgrades or accessories.
Upgrades: Since no provisions under the Telecom budget are made for wireless device upgrades only under exceptional circumstances and only if approved by a senior manager and then by the CFO and CIO and all cost covered by a source fund other then telecom can an upgrade be made.
Exceptions: No exceptions unless the cost for the fees will be allocated from a funding source other then Telecom.
Unstandard Unsupported Devices: Any devices not on the list of supported devices will not be authorized for purchased by IT in the normal cycle of wireless device acquisition period. IT will support department or employee acquired wireless devices on a best effort basis and apply whatever security controls are needed in order to maintain compliance with all security protocols.
Standard Apps: All Wireless devices come from the factory with standard applications. IT may or may not be familiar with these standard set of applications due to the constant changing development that occur with wireless devices in general. Support for these standard applications is on a best effort basis. In most cases you may be directed to interact directly with the vendor’s website for information and help. IT supports synchronization between the Inbox, Calendar, Contacts and Tasks. Our Service Desk personnel will be able to support you with these. Third party applications are not supported nor are contract based York wireless device users encouraged to change the default configuration of the York
owned devices. If the devices fails to work due to changes made, IT will only roll back in order to restore the supported configuration.

It should be understood that wireless access to email is a convenience. While the forwarding of e-mail messages to the wireless devices is supported for devices on the supported lists, the communication between our electronic mail system and the vendor’s wireless network (Blackberry or AT&T or Sprint) via the Internet can be unreliable. Therefore individuals should expect periods of delays in messages being transferred from a mailbox to the wireless device and in some cases, messages not being transferred at all. This is the nature of wireless networks and is beyond our control.
Non-Standard Apps: Most Wireless devices have options on them to purchase or subscribe to applications and resources that incur additional cost.

Since the York issued Wireless device is to be used for York
business only and the cost incurred to support the device is funded by an encumbered allocation any additional resources requested for the wireless device has to be approved by management and funded by the requesting party. The Non-Standard application will not be supported and any cost incurred from restoring services for problematic client initiated downloads is the responsibility of the employee.
Security: All faculty and staff using wireless devices that are
connecting to and synchronizing with York College systems are
required to have security enabled on their devices. Removal or failure to use the security measures as installed by the IT department is strictly prohibited and is subject to the device to be removed from York College systems.
Beta applications: Beta applications are considered to be applications that either have been developed in-house and installed on a select group of Device’s for testing or third party application that are being evaluated for possible purchase at York College. If you have been selected for testing please keep in mind that the Service Desk doesn’t support or provide resolutions for problems regarding Beta Applications.

The Service Desk will however field calls and direct them to the Information Technology Group that is sponsoring that Application. When the Beta Application enters into a phase of testing that includes fielding calls for reporting of problems, only at that time will the Service Desk field the calls strictly for documenting issues that will be reported back to the Information Technology Group that is sponsoring the Beta Application. When the testing phase is completed and a determination has been rendered regarding the Beta Application, the Service Desk role will revert to actively supporting the new application.

Please be aware that running a beta application may effect other supported applications. All conflicts with supported application will not be supported and will be referred to the sponsoring group.

Approval and Certification process for contract based wireless devices

Formal request for contract based wireless devices such as Blackberries, IPhones, and Cell phones must come from senior management in order for IT and Purchasing to process the acquisition of such devices.

Currently you can submit a request for a contract based wireless device by using the YConnect Self Service Portal and making a request from IT using the drop down menu option for Telecom Services and filling in the description field with your request. Please be aware that requesting contract based wireless devices is not
automatically guaranteed even with approval. These devices are subject to availability by vendors York College has no control
over. Since the devices are contract based we do not keep an inventory of unused devices. Also, business cycles and funding may dictate how and when these devices can be acquired.

Your request will generate an email for the request and that email will be directed to upper management for approval.

Warranty and Replacement services:

Warranty and replacement services will be handled by IT. Report all issues or inquires regarding your Individual-liable or York
contract based wireless devices directly to our Service Desk at Ext. 5300. We will not support personal devices and will encourage users with personal devices to get support from the manufacture or vendor from which the device was obtained. Damage to devices that need replacement are not covered. Review section 3 for details on lost or damaged devices. IT will attempt to provide loaner and temporary devices on an availability state only.

Approval Certification Policy

Requests for wireless devices such as cell phones or blackberries for any employees must come from their immediate manager and must be presented with a business justification that is approved by the Department Head responsible for that division.

Devices on the approved list:

The following devices have been approved for request and for accessing York College data networks and email:

BlackBerry
IPhone
IPad
Android

Service Plans

The follow are the data plans for all supported devices. Please keep in mind that plans vary depending on requirements which are solely base on business needs.

Verizon
America’s Choice
AT&T
America’s Choice
Sprint
Nextel Wireless

Service & Support

When problems occur with a York supported wireless device, all the normal flow of support will be provided via the York IT Service Desk. If the Service Desk cannot resolve the issues, work orders will be generated for PC Support or Telecom involvement.

If the unit has to be returned for repair, the unit and the work order will be forwarded to our Inventory admin at the Service Desk for processing.

If the damage is outside of the supported coverage for free repair, we will incur a charge for repair. An administrative fee and cost to cover the repair will be charged to the employee.

Please check the section on upgrades for information regarding request for changing devices.

How our billing works for contracted devices

All wireless devices under contract with a data plan are billed monthly by the covered vendor. Those bills are reviewed and signed off on by IT. Overages are checked for and turned over to Purchasing for follow up processing for payment with the employee.

How are overages and abuse managed?

All wireless devices under contract with a data plan are subject to monthly reviews in order to insure proper billing for each device on the plan. Any employee going over minutes are flag and turned over to the Purchasing department for follow up processing for payment from the employee for the overage. Details on what needs to happen next will be sent to the employee by the Purchasing department.

Deactivating or Returning wireless devices

The Service Desk should be called at ext. 5300 for any returns or deactivation.

Traveling Abroad

Any York employee with a York contracted wireless device that needs use of the device while traveling abroad on York official business or needs to monitor York mail while away must provide two weeks’ notice to our Service Desk. This will allow time for the resetting of the device for international service in order to reduce roaming charges. Failure to properly notify us will result in additional cost which will be the responsibility of the employee and administrative fees may also apply.

Report Lost or Stolen Devices

If your York contracted wireless device or your Individual-liable wireless device with a configured York account is lost or stolen you must report this immediately to York Information Technology department. During normal business hours please contact the Service Desk at 718-262-5300 or open a YConnect Self Service ticket .

We will immediately disconnect service and in most circumstance remote wipe the device to protect against data thief.