The purpose of this section is to establish a policy for the approval use of the City's telephone system. This policy will provide a structure in which the telephone system can be most effectively used and prevent occurrences of abuse.
(a) Applicability.
(1) The City's telephone system is one of our primary means of conducting business with the citizens and businesses of the City. Our telephone system must be used in the most productive and effective manner to satisfy those that we serve. Personal preferences will be secondary to utilization that best meets our customer satisfaction goals.
(2) The telephone system includes any City owned telephone processing equipment and any telephones connected to this system. Desk phones, mobile phones, cell phones/walkie talkies and pagers are included in this telephone system. All such equipment and related software and any related information retained by the system including voice mail are the property of the City.
A. Mobile phones, cell phones/walkie talkies and pagers shall be issued only to those employees with a demonstrated work-related need for these types of communication devices. The department head or other authorized personnel shall be responsible for determining if such a need exists. When an employee no longer has a demonstrated need for the equipment or when employment is terminated, the employee shall return any equipment that has been issued to him/her. Supervisors will annually review the inventory of users to ensure designated employees continued to demonstrate a need for these devices. Like all other City assets and resources, cellular phones and similar are acquired with public funds to enable our employees to transact the public's business in the most efficient and cost-effective method possible. Employees who have been assigned these devices shall use them in the same manner and with the same care and stewardship as do employees who have conventional, stationary telephone equipment. Loss of any equipment shall be reported immediately to the employee's department head. If theft is suspected, a report shall be completed with the Police Department.
B. Any employee assigned a mobile phone shall be conscientious of the monthly allotted minutes and/or package dollar amount to ensure that it is not exceeded. Billable minutes used for personal calls shall be reimbursed to the City. A periodic review of all cellular phone bills will be conducted by the department head or his/her designated representative to ensure proper use. It is the employee's responsibility to understand the features and conditions of his/her particular plan. Cell phone/walkie talkie users agree to contact other cell phone/walkie talkies users by direct connect a majority of the time, with only rare instances requiring cellular to cellular connections.
C. Occasionally, employees who do not have a City-issued cellular device may need to use their personal cellular phone for critical City business. These calls may be eligible for reimbursement by the City, provided no other option is available. Use of personal cellular phones is discouraged, due to the often high cost of cellular phone usage versus standard phone usage.
D. Since the telephone system should only be used to conduct City business, this policy applies twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. All full-time, part-time, and casual staff must abide by this policy.
(b) Voicemail.
(1) The City provides voice mail for employees to conduct City business. Voice mail may be a "public record" subject to disclosure in the same way that messages of similar substance contained in or upon media are defined as "public record" pursuant to applicable law.
(2) Employees should, therefore, exercise care regarding the content of their voice mail transmissions.
(3) All voice mail messages are a part of the City's telephone system and therefore, are considered City property. City Administration reserves the right to review all communications made by City employees in regards to use of the City's telephone system. Voice mail messages will be monitored for specific reasons, such as evaluating the effectiveness and operation of the telephone system, finding lost messages, investigating of suspected criminal acts, breach of security or other policies, and recovery from system failures. The City will refrain from accessing an employee's voice mail, unless reasons for doing so are consistent with the City's need for supervision, control and efficiency in the workplace. Nevertheless, all City employees are hereby advised that there is no right or reasonable expectation of privacy in the use of the City's voice mail system.
(c) Acceptable Use.
(1) City employees are expected to abide by the generally accepted rules of etiquette. These include, but not limited to, the following.
A. Be polite. Do not get abusive in your messages to others.
B. Use appropriate language. Do not swear, use vulgarities or any other inappropriate language.
C. Do not use the system in such a way that would disrupt or interfere with any other user.
D. Prohibited uses include, but not limited to, illegal activities, threats, harassment, slander, defamation, obscene or suggestive messages, racially offensive or derogatory messages, political endorsements, commercial activities, and use or attempt to dial 900 or sexually oriented telephone numbers.
E. Employees shall exercise extreme caution when using a communication device while driving or operating a public vehicle. Unless utilizing a "hands-free" device, employees should stop the vehicle as soon as safely possible to continue using the communication device.
(2) Voice mail security is an important matter. If an employee feels that he/she can identify a security problem, notify City Administration. Do not demonstrate the problem to other users. Do not use another individual's voice mail account without written permission from that individual. Any unauthorized change to the user telephone will be considered a security violation.
(3) Some personal use of the telephone system is expected. Long distance personal calls must be reimbursed to the City. Any extensive use of the telephone system for non-business reasons is prohibited. The appropriate department head would make this determination.
(d) Responsibility.
(1) City management has the sole authority to change the telephone system configuration and/or security, and must authorize any changes to the users telephones. Personal long distance access codes must be approved by the appropriate department head and administration.
(2) The City is not liable for any illegal or inappropriate telephone activity conducted by a staff member.
(3) In the event that an employee receives voice mail that is of an abusive, threatening, criminal or otherwise inappropriate nature, the employee shall save the message and advise his/her department head. The department head shall review the message and respond in an appropriate manner. If the content of the message is such that intervention or involvement by the Police Department is appropriate, the Police Chief and City Administration shall be notified.
(Ord. 3263. Passed 11-25-19.)