By: Diane Benjamin
I decided to see what the PCard and phone bills were for January. I was interrupted and side-tracked at least a dozen times, forgive me if I missed something.
http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=15632
January phone Checks written: $26,112.00
February checks: 6,843.36
January phone PCard Charges: $11,301.98
Total January: $37,413.98
February PCard: $209,026.79
https://blnnews.com/2018/02/23/phones-just-one-month/
Total February: $216,077.72
I don’t know what could explain the difference other than new phones for all!
Do they have a written cell phone policy?
I would say those charges of $100-$150 would be for monthly service only. All other charges would probably be for new phones. I’ve seen several Staff members with new tablets. Those are sometimes charged through phone companies. 🐥
Not all of it is phones. For some departments Verizon is also AVL on fleet vehicles.
AVL? Need explained!
http://Www.networkfleet.com
I assume it tracks people too?
Whomever does their procurement is missing out on volume discounts in a major, major way.
They don’t need discounts. They have taxpayers. It’s like a free lunch…they really do exist if you work for the government.
Just guessing that all the police cars, ambulances and fire trucks have a computer in them. So they probably have a Verizon Data card in those, that’s 100 right there.
Like in this photo
http://www.pantagraph.com/news/challenge-remains-in-hiring-minority-female-police-officers/article_36979ced-346a-53a9-9ede-c8c2e37872a0.html
They were charged to many department.
So maybe all those departments have mobile devices that use some type of Verizon data card.