T
ThomasJ
Guest
Can anyone make sense of this, they have called me again and i have asked for the terms and conditions I have received this....
How much will i be charged per call???? they bill per unit!!! what is a UNIT??
1
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
DEFINITIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS
BILL SECOND - ONE-SIXTIETH OF A MINUTE.
CALL UNIT - THE BASIC UNIT BY WHICH CALLS ARE RATED BY THE COMPANY.
CENTS PER MINUTE (CPM) - THE COMPANY’S CHARGES BILLED IN WHOLE CENTS OR FRACTIONS OF A
CENT FOR THE CALL DURATION IN SECONDS FOR MINIMUM CALL UNITS AND INCREMENTAL CALL
UNITS, WITHOUT THE ADDITION OF ANY EQUIVALENT CALL UNITS (ECU’S).
CENTS PER CALL UNIT (CPCU) - THE CARRIER’S CHARGES BILLED IN WHOLE CENTS OR FRACTIONS
OF A CENTS AS MINIMUM, ANCILLARY AND/OR INCREMENTAL CALL UNITS AND APPLIED TO THE
DURATION OF TIME IN MINUTES OR FRACTIONS THEREOF BEGINNING WHEN THE CUSTOMER’S CALL
IS CONNECTED TO CARRIER’S NETWORK AND ENDING WHEN THE CALL IS DISCONNECTED FROM THE
NETWORK.
EQUIVALENT CALL UNIT (ECU) - A CALL UNIT WITH A SPECIFIED VALUE WHICH IS APPLIED TO
RECOVER THE ADDITIONAL COSTS OTHER THAN TRANSPORT INCURRED BY US IN PROVIDING
SERVICE TO YOU.
INCREMENTAL CALL UNIT (ICU) - A CALL UNIT BY WHICH THE INCREMENTAL DURATION OF CALLS
IS CHARGED.
MINIMUM CALL UNIT (MCU) - A CALL UNIT BY WHICH THE MINIMUM DURATION OF A CALL IS
CHARGED.
MINIMUM PERIOD - THE MINIMUM PERIOD OF TIME FOR WHICH CHARGES ARE INCURRED OR TO
WHICH BILLING TIME IS ROUNDED.
TOTAL CALL UNITS (TCU) - THE SUM OF ALL CALL UNITS WHICH DETERMINES THE TOTAL SERVICE
CHARGES APPLICABLE TO A CALL.
USAGE INCREMENTS - INCREMENTS OF CALL DURATION IN SECONDS USED TO DETERMINE THE
NUMBER OF ECU'S APPLICABLE TO CALLS OF 20 MINUTES OR LESS.
RATE BASIS AND STRUCTURE
RATE BASIS AND STRUCTURE – CALL UNITS. OUR CHARGES ARE BASED ON PROVIDING YOU ACCESS
TO AND USAGE OF OUR NETWORK AND OUR RELATED COSTS OF OPERATION. WE CHARGE FOR
TRANSPORTING YOUR CALLS TO THEIR INTENDED DESTINATION AND FOR MAINTAINING YOUR
CONNECTION UNTIL YOU OR YOUR CALLED PARTY EFFECTIVELY DISCONNECTS FROM OUR
NETWORK. WE DO NOT CONTROL WHEN EFFECTIVE DISCONNECTION OCCURS AS THIS DEPENDS ON
FACTORS OVER WHICH WE HAVE NO OR ONLY LIMITED CONTROL, SUCH AS THE AVAILABILITY OR
ABSENCE OF AUTOMATIC TIMING EQUIPMENT DEPLOYED IN THE NETWORK, FAILURE OF ONE PARTY
TO HANG UP, ATTACHMENT OF YOUR OR YOUR CALLED PARTY'S EQUIPMENT OR FOR OTHER
REASONS BEYOND OUR CONTROL. WE CANNOT AND DO NOT ASSUME ANY LIABILITY FOR HOLDING
TIME DURATION’S OR OTHER CALL COMPLETION PROBLEMS OVER WHICH WE HAVE NO CONTROL.
OTHER COSTS OF OPERATION. OUR CHARGES ARE ALSO BASED ON OUR OTHER COSTS OF OUR
OPERATIONS NEEDED TO PROVIDE YOU SERVICE, SUCH AS GENERAL OVERHEAD,
INSTALLATION/ACCOUNT SET UP, GENERAL AND ACCOUNT ADMINISTRATION, FEES AND COSTS
IMPOSED BY REGULATION, AND OTHER COSTS.
CALL UNIT RATE STRUCTURE. OUR CHARGES FOR A CALL USE A CALL UNIT METHOD DESIGNED TO
RECOVER OUR COSTS OF PROVIDING CONNECTION, CALL DURATION AND GENERAL OPERATING
OVERHEAD. CALL UNIT BILLING. TO ACCURATELY BILL IN CALL UNITS, THERE ARE THREE BASIC
TYPES OF CALL UNITS - MINIMUM, INCREMENTAL AND EQUIVALENT. DEPENDING ON THE DURATION
Page 2.
2
OF YOUR CALL, WE ADD TOGETHER THE TYPE OF CALL UNITS THAT APPLY TO DETERMINE YOUR
TOTAL CALL UNITS FOR THAT CALL. WE THEN BILL YOU FOR THE TOTAL CALL UNITS INCURRED
FOR EACH OF YOUR CALLS. MINIMUM AND INCREMENTAL CALL UNITS ARE EACH BASED ON
STANDARD INDUSTRY TIMING INTERVALS OF MINUTES AND SECONDS.
EQUIVALENT CALL UNITS. OUR COSTS OF PROVIDING SERVICE NOT RECOVERED BY OUR CHARGES
FOR CALL TRANSPORT ARE RECOVERED FOR EACH CALL IN DIRECT PROPORTION TO THE DURATION
OF THAT CALL BY APPLYING AN EQUIVALENT CALL UNIT OR ECU. YOUR PAYMENT OF THESE ECU
CHARGES CONTRIBUTES TO THIS COST RECOVERY IN DIRECT PROPORTION TO YOUR USAGE OF OUR
SERVICES. IN THIS WAY YOU ARE NOT MADE TO CONTRIBUTE TO RECOVERY OF THESE COSTS WHEN
YOU'RE NOT USING OUR SERVICES AND WHETHER YOUR USAGE OF OUR SERVICE IS LARGE OR
SMALL, YOUR CONTRIBUTION IS NEVER DISPROPORTIONATE TO THAT USAGE. ECU CHARGES ARE
BASED ON CALL DURATION. THE PROPER RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN USAGE INCREMENTS AND
APPLICABLE ECU CHARGES IS ILLUSTRATED IN THE TABLE FOLLOWING. FOR ANY CALL YOU MAKE
IN EXCESS OF TWENTY MINUTES, THERE ARE NO ADDITIONAL ECU’S CHARGED FOR THAT PORTION
OF THE CALL IN EXCESS OF TWENTY MINUTES.
RATE BASIS AND STRUCTURE – CALCULATIONS. CALL DURATION IS MEASURED IN 6-SECOND
INCREMENTS, WITH A 6-SECOND MINIMUM. CALLS THAT END IN FRACTIONS OF A 6-SECOND
INCREMENT ARE ROUNDED UP TO THE NEXT FULL 6-SECOND INCREMENT.
TOTAL CHARGES PER CALL ARE CALCULATED BY USING THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE
FOLLOWING TABLE TO DETERMINE THE TOTAL CALL UNITS (TCU’S) IN EACH CALL AND BY
MULTIPLYING THE TCU’S BY THE RATES APPLICABLE TO THE SERVICE PROVIDED. THE FOLLOWING
TABLE MAY BE USED TO DETERMINE THE TCU’S IN ANY CALL OF A SPECIFIED DURATION AS SHOWN
FOLLOWING:
CALLS IN MINUTES
DURATION FORMULA CALCULATIONS
(IN MINUTES)
1-19.9 TCU'S = [CALL DURATION (IN MINUTES) X 2 + 3.3]
20 + TCU'S = [CALL DURATION (IN MINUTES) + 23.3]
NOTE 1: CALL DURATION IN MINUTES IS STATED AS A DECIMAL.
NOTE 2: THE FORMULAS ABOVE SHOW CALLS OF ONE MINUTE OR LONGER IN DURATION FOR
ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES. ALL CALLS ARE SUBJECT TO THE MINIMUM CALL UNIT OR CALL
MINIMUM FOR THAT CALL. CALCULATIONS SHOULD BE PERFORMED FOR ANY PARTICULAR CALL
WITH THE CALL MINIMUM FOR THAT CALL AS THE MINIMUM CHARGE FOR THAT CALL AS
CALCULATED USING THE TABLE PRECEDING.
NOTE 3: INDUSTRY STANDARD ROUNDING METHODOLOGIES ARE APPLIED IN CALCULATING
THE DURATION OF A CALL. A CALL THAT ENDS ITS DURATION AT LESS THAN THE MINIMUM
DURATION BILLING INCREMENT APPLICABLE TO THAT CALL IS ROUNDED TO THE NEXT HIGHEST
INCREMENT. A CALL’S DURATION AS ROUNDED IS THEN USED IN THE CALCULATION OF THE TOTAL
CALL UNITS ON WHICH SERVICE CHARGES ARE BASED AS SPECIFIED PRECEDING.
NOTE 4: CUSTOMER INVOICES LIST THE TOTAL CALL UNITS CHARGED PER CALL. TCU’S ARE
LISTED IN EACH INVOICE IN DECIMALS, E.G., 1.0, 2.1, .3, 40.7. CALL DURATION MAY BE DETERMINED
BY USING THE CALCULATION PROVIDED IN THE TABLE PRECEDING IN REVERSE.
How much will i be charged per call???? they bill per unit!!! what is a UNIT??
1
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
DEFINITIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS
BILL SECOND - ONE-SIXTIETH OF A MINUTE.
CALL UNIT - THE BASIC UNIT BY WHICH CALLS ARE RATED BY THE COMPANY.
CENTS PER MINUTE (CPM) - THE COMPANY’S CHARGES BILLED IN WHOLE CENTS OR FRACTIONS OF A
CENT FOR THE CALL DURATION IN SECONDS FOR MINIMUM CALL UNITS AND INCREMENTAL CALL
UNITS, WITHOUT THE ADDITION OF ANY EQUIVALENT CALL UNITS (ECU’S).
CENTS PER CALL UNIT (CPCU) - THE CARRIER’S CHARGES BILLED IN WHOLE CENTS OR FRACTIONS
OF A CENTS AS MINIMUM, ANCILLARY AND/OR INCREMENTAL CALL UNITS AND APPLIED TO THE
DURATION OF TIME IN MINUTES OR FRACTIONS THEREOF BEGINNING WHEN THE CUSTOMER’S CALL
IS CONNECTED TO CARRIER’S NETWORK AND ENDING WHEN THE CALL IS DISCONNECTED FROM THE
NETWORK.
EQUIVALENT CALL UNIT (ECU) - A CALL UNIT WITH A SPECIFIED VALUE WHICH IS APPLIED TO
RECOVER THE ADDITIONAL COSTS OTHER THAN TRANSPORT INCURRED BY US IN PROVIDING
SERVICE TO YOU.
INCREMENTAL CALL UNIT (ICU) - A CALL UNIT BY WHICH THE INCREMENTAL DURATION OF CALLS
IS CHARGED.
MINIMUM CALL UNIT (MCU) - A CALL UNIT BY WHICH THE MINIMUM DURATION OF A CALL IS
CHARGED.
MINIMUM PERIOD - THE MINIMUM PERIOD OF TIME FOR WHICH CHARGES ARE INCURRED OR TO
WHICH BILLING TIME IS ROUNDED.
TOTAL CALL UNITS (TCU) - THE SUM OF ALL CALL UNITS WHICH DETERMINES THE TOTAL SERVICE
CHARGES APPLICABLE TO A CALL.
USAGE INCREMENTS - INCREMENTS OF CALL DURATION IN SECONDS USED TO DETERMINE THE
NUMBER OF ECU'S APPLICABLE TO CALLS OF 20 MINUTES OR LESS.
RATE BASIS AND STRUCTURE
RATE BASIS AND STRUCTURE – CALL UNITS. OUR CHARGES ARE BASED ON PROVIDING YOU ACCESS
TO AND USAGE OF OUR NETWORK AND OUR RELATED COSTS OF OPERATION. WE CHARGE FOR
TRANSPORTING YOUR CALLS TO THEIR INTENDED DESTINATION AND FOR MAINTAINING YOUR
CONNECTION UNTIL YOU OR YOUR CALLED PARTY EFFECTIVELY DISCONNECTS FROM OUR
NETWORK. WE DO NOT CONTROL WHEN EFFECTIVE DISCONNECTION OCCURS AS THIS DEPENDS ON
FACTORS OVER WHICH WE HAVE NO OR ONLY LIMITED CONTROL, SUCH AS THE AVAILABILITY OR
ABSENCE OF AUTOMATIC TIMING EQUIPMENT DEPLOYED IN THE NETWORK, FAILURE OF ONE PARTY
TO HANG UP, ATTACHMENT OF YOUR OR YOUR CALLED PARTY'S EQUIPMENT OR FOR OTHER
REASONS BEYOND OUR CONTROL. WE CANNOT AND DO NOT ASSUME ANY LIABILITY FOR HOLDING
TIME DURATION’S OR OTHER CALL COMPLETION PROBLEMS OVER WHICH WE HAVE NO CONTROL.
OTHER COSTS OF OPERATION. OUR CHARGES ARE ALSO BASED ON OUR OTHER COSTS OF OUR
OPERATIONS NEEDED TO PROVIDE YOU SERVICE, SUCH AS GENERAL OVERHEAD,
INSTALLATION/ACCOUNT SET UP, GENERAL AND ACCOUNT ADMINISTRATION, FEES AND COSTS
IMPOSED BY REGULATION, AND OTHER COSTS.
CALL UNIT RATE STRUCTURE. OUR CHARGES FOR A CALL USE A CALL UNIT METHOD DESIGNED TO
RECOVER OUR COSTS OF PROVIDING CONNECTION, CALL DURATION AND GENERAL OPERATING
OVERHEAD. CALL UNIT BILLING. TO ACCURATELY BILL IN CALL UNITS, THERE ARE THREE BASIC
TYPES OF CALL UNITS - MINIMUM, INCREMENTAL AND EQUIVALENT. DEPENDING ON THE DURATION
Page 2.
2
OF YOUR CALL, WE ADD TOGETHER THE TYPE OF CALL UNITS THAT APPLY TO DETERMINE YOUR
TOTAL CALL UNITS FOR THAT CALL. WE THEN BILL YOU FOR THE TOTAL CALL UNITS INCURRED
FOR EACH OF YOUR CALLS. MINIMUM AND INCREMENTAL CALL UNITS ARE EACH BASED ON
STANDARD INDUSTRY TIMING INTERVALS OF MINUTES AND SECONDS.
EQUIVALENT CALL UNITS. OUR COSTS OF PROVIDING SERVICE NOT RECOVERED BY OUR CHARGES
FOR CALL TRANSPORT ARE RECOVERED FOR EACH CALL IN DIRECT PROPORTION TO THE DURATION
OF THAT CALL BY APPLYING AN EQUIVALENT CALL UNIT OR ECU. YOUR PAYMENT OF THESE ECU
CHARGES CONTRIBUTES TO THIS COST RECOVERY IN DIRECT PROPORTION TO YOUR USAGE OF OUR
SERVICES. IN THIS WAY YOU ARE NOT MADE TO CONTRIBUTE TO RECOVERY OF THESE COSTS WHEN
YOU'RE NOT USING OUR SERVICES AND WHETHER YOUR USAGE OF OUR SERVICE IS LARGE OR
SMALL, YOUR CONTRIBUTION IS NEVER DISPROPORTIONATE TO THAT USAGE. ECU CHARGES ARE
BASED ON CALL DURATION. THE PROPER RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN USAGE INCREMENTS AND
APPLICABLE ECU CHARGES IS ILLUSTRATED IN THE TABLE FOLLOWING. FOR ANY CALL YOU MAKE
IN EXCESS OF TWENTY MINUTES, THERE ARE NO ADDITIONAL ECU’S CHARGED FOR THAT PORTION
OF THE CALL IN EXCESS OF TWENTY MINUTES.
RATE BASIS AND STRUCTURE – CALCULATIONS. CALL DURATION IS MEASURED IN 6-SECOND
INCREMENTS, WITH A 6-SECOND MINIMUM. CALLS THAT END IN FRACTIONS OF A 6-SECOND
INCREMENT ARE ROUNDED UP TO THE NEXT FULL 6-SECOND INCREMENT.
TOTAL CHARGES PER CALL ARE CALCULATED BY USING THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE
FOLLOWING TABLE TO DETERMINE THE TOTAL CALL UNITS (TCU’S) IN EACH CALL AND BY
MULTIPLYING THE TCU’S BY THE RATES APPLICABLE TO THE SERVICE PROVIDED. THE FOLLOWING
TABLE MAY BE USED TO DETERMINE THE TCU’S IN ANY CALL OF A SPECIFIED DURATION AS SHOWN
FOLLOWING:
CALLS IN MINUTES
DURATION FORMULA CALCULATIONS
(IN MINUTES)
1-19.9 TCU'S = [CALL DURATION (IN MINUTES) X 2 + 3.3]
20 + TCU'S = [CALL DURATION (IN MINUTES) + 23.3]
NOTE 1: CALL DURATION IN MINUTES IS STATED AS A DECIMAL.
NOTE 2: THE FORMULAS ABOVE SHOW CALLS OF ONE MINUTE OR LONGER IN DURATION FOR
ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES. ALL CALLS ARE SUBJECT TO THE MINIMUM CALL UNIT OR CALL
MINIMUM FOR THAT CALL. CALCULATIONS SHOULD BE PERFORMED FOR ANY PARTICULAR CALL
WITH THE CALL MINIMUM FOR THAT CALL AS THE MINIMUM CHARGE FOR THAT CALL AS
CALCULATED USING THE TABLE PRECEDING.
NOTE 3: INDUSTRY STANDARD ROUNDING METHODOLOGIES ARE APPLIED IN CALCULATING
THE DURATION OF A CALL. A CALL THAT ENDS ITS DURATION AT LESS THAN THE MINIMUM
DURATION BILLING INCREMENT APPLICABLE TO THAT CALL IS ROUNDED TO THE NEXT HIGHEST
INCREMENT. A CALL’S DURATION AS ROUNDED IS THEN USED IN THE CALCULATION OF THE TOTAL
CALL UNITS ON WHICH SERVICE CHARGES ARE BASED AS SPECIFIED PRECEDING.
NOTE 4: CUSTOMER INVOICES LIST THE TOTAL CALL UNITS CHARGED PER CALL. TCU’S ARE
LISTED IN EACH INVOICE IN DECIMALS, E.G., 1.0, 2.1, .3, 40.7. CALL DURATION MAY BE DETERMINED
BY USING THE CALCULATION PROVIDED IN THE TABLE PRECEDING IN REVERSE.