Attention town employees: STOP TEXTING ON TOWN-ISSUED CELL PHONES.
The Board of Selectmen last week unanimously adopted a new cell phone text messaging policy for town employees due to an increase in messaging charges over the last few months.
First Selectman Mary Ann Drayton-Rogers said June 7 the towns’ text messaging line item on the phone bill substantially increased. She called cell phone texting “expensive and unnecessary.”
According to Finance Director Jim Hliva, billing records show that between February and April, text messaging charges on the town’s bill escalated from $100 a month to $500 a month.
“All of a sudden, when it got to $500, that is when First Selectman Rogers jumped on it and said ‘No more,’” Hliva said.
Overall, Hliva said the total phone bill in Oxford — including cell and land-line bills — has increased from $1,513.49 in February 2008 to $2,870 last month.
The increase is due to texting, along with new lines and circuits at the new senior center and emergency dispatch center.
Drayton-Rogers had a meeting with department heads and staff to address the texting issue and drafted a formal text messaging policy.
The policy states “unless given permission in writing by the First Selectman or the Board of Selectmen, text messaging will not be permitted.”
However, an exception was granted for the Fire Marshal/Fire Department Chief Scott Pelletier, due to the nature of his work.
“The dispatcher texts information to the fire marshal for exact locations of fires and emergencies in town,” Drayton-Rogers said.
Fire Marshal Scott Pelletier said the text messaging system is part of the new emergency services dispatching service. He noted that when fire officials are talking on the cell phone or out of range, they could still receive emergency information by text message.
“It is not excessive,” Pelletier said. “As long as it is used for that purpose it should be fine.”
The policy also says town cell phones are to be used for town business and not personal calls. Charges for “unavoidable personal calls” would be charged to the employee for reimbursement.
The town previously adopted a similar “Use of Cell Phones While Driving Policy” in February 2008, which is consistent with Connecticut state law.
The town has four cell phone plans divided into four categories with varying anytime minute usage issued to 17 employees in various departments. Those employees received a copy of the new policy with their paychecks last week.
Zoning Enforcement Officer Anna Silva says she does not use the text feature on her town phone, but said the phone is useful for keeping in touch with contractors and town business-related associates.
Silva said that eliminating the option for employees to text does not stop callers from leaving pages, which appear as text messages on the phone.
“There is no way to prevent someone leaving a text message unless they eliminate it from the plan entirely,” she said.
Hliva said Rogers was made aware of the phone numbers from which the text messages originated and she had discussions with those employees. Since then, the text line item has decreased to $16.60 in June.
“I think this is going to help without a doubt,” he said. “Anytime you have a policy that controls expenses it is definitely going to help.”
