UBC Okanagan is making improvements to the billing process for campus telephone services, effective May 2025. This change is part of a broader effort to modernize communications and improve cost management across the university.
Billing changes in May will only affect phone service charges that have been billed for in previous periods, including employees who have transitioned to the new softphone service model, or have requested a new service, move or change in service since April 2025.
What’s Changing?
- Monthly Billing:
Departments will move from quarterly to monthly billing for all campus phone lines. Charges will be based on the number of active phone lines in your department as of the second Wednesday of each month.
- Workday Integration:
Instead of receiving PDF invoices, all phone service charges will now be processed automatically through Workday as an Internal Service Delivery (ISD). Charges will be auto-approved through this system. Each service charge will be itemized as a transaction in the ledger, improving readability and tracking.
- How to Review Charges:
Departments can review their monthly phone charges directly in Workday by running the “Ledger Summary – Distributed” report.- Navigate to: Expenses → Supplies and Sundries | Internal → Utilities → Telecommunication Charges.
- Click on the month you wish to view, or year-to-date (YTD) for a rollup of all charges.
Why the Change?
- The new billing process is designed to provide more timely and transparent cost information to departments, making it easier to track and manage expenses.
- This update supports the university’s shift toward flexible, hybrid work models and ensures a sustainable approach to communication costs.
What You Need to Do:
- Review your department’s phone lines and consider whether all are still needed. Cancelling unused lines can help reduce costs under the new model.
- Familiarize yourself with the new Workday reporting process to stay on top of your department’s telecommunications spending.
Looking Ahead:
- UBCO IT is working toward transitioning all campus phone lines to a new software-based phone service, Softphone, by mid-2026. More information about this service and how it works will be shared as the migration progresses.
Questions or Support:
- For questions about billing or how to access reports in Workday, please submit a ticket
- View the UBCO Phone Billing FAQs knowledge base article in the UBC Self-Service Portal
- For updates on upcoming changes to phone services, stay tuned for future announcements.
