1. APPLICATION
OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE
1.1
These Terms and
Conditions of Service (“Terms and Conditions”) apply to specialized switching
services furnished by COMTECK OF INDIANA, INC., hereinafter referred to as the
“Company”, with its principal address 210 North Main Street, Sweetser, Indiana
46987, for the provision of Interstate Telecommunications Service for
communications initiated from locations between and among domestic points in
the United States and territories, and for the provision of International
Telecommunications Service to international points specified herein. Service is furnished subject to the
availability of facilities and subject to transmission, atmospheric and like
conditions by wire, cable, radio and/or a combination thereof. By accepting Company’s Service, you (the
“Customer”) agree to the terms and conditions set forth herein.
1.2 From
time to time, the Company shall offer special promotional offerings allowing
special discounts or modifications of its regular service offerings to its
Customers. Such offerings may be
limited to certain dates, times, and locations.
1.3 Company
may modify these Terms and Conditions upon advance written notice to
Customer. The most current version of
these Terms and Conditions can be found on Company web site at www.comteck.com. Any changes to Terms
and Conditions become effective on the Effective Date set forth in the written
notice. By continuing to accept
Company’s Service after the Effective Date, Customer agrees to the Terms and
Conditions as modified.
1.4 When
services and facilities are provided in part by the Company and in part by
other companies, these Terms and Conditions apply to that portion of the
service or facilities that it supplies.
1.5 Service/trademarks
of the Company are indicated by “ä“,
registered service/trademark are indicated by “â“, and copyrights are indicated by “ă“. In addition, the Company
logo is a registered servicemark of the Company.
2. DEFINITIONS
The following definitions apply for certain
terms used generally throughout these Terms and Conditions:
Access Code: A sequence of numbers that, when dialed, connect the caller to
the provider of operator services associated with that sequence.
Access Line: A communication channel that is used for access to a Company
service point.
Access Line Group: An access line or a number of access lines
from a single Customer or authorized user location which have the same
termination characteristics and which are arranged in a hunting sequence.
Accounting Code: A multi-digit code, which enables a Customer
to allocate long distance charges to internal accounts.
Additional Increments: The
rate element used to bill for the chargeable time when a call
continues beyond the initial minute.
Aggregator: Any person or entity, that is not an operator service provider
and that in the ordinary course of its operations makes telephones available to
the public or transient users of its premises, or university for telephone
calls between states that are specified by the user using an operator service
provider.
Analog Transmissions: Denotes information transmitted in the form of
continuously varying signal current and/or voltage.
Answer Supervision: An electrical signal fed back up the line by
the local telco at the distant end of a long distance call to indicate
positively the call has been answered by the called phone.
Application for Service: A standard order form that includes all
pertinent billing, technical, and other descriptive information that will
enable the carrier to provide the communication service as required.
Authorization Code: A multi-digit code that enables a Customer to
access Company’s network and enables the Company to identify the use of proper
billing.
Authorized User: A person, firm, corporation, or other legal
entity that is authorized by the Customer to be connected to the service of the
Customer. An Authorized user(s) must be
named in the application for service.
DEFINITIONS (Cont’d)
Autodialer: A device that allows the Customer to dial pre-programmed
telephone numbers, such as the Company access number or authorization codes, by
pushing one or two buttons. Dialers can
be bought as a separate device and added to a phone.
Automatic Numbering Identification (ANI): A type of signaling provided by a local
exchange telephone company that automatically identifies the local exchange
line from which a call originates.
Billed Party: The person or entity responsible for payment of the Company’s
service as follows:
For an Operator Assisted
Call:
a. in case of a Calling Card or Credit Card call, the holder of
the calling card or credit card used by the Consumer;
b. in case of a Collect or Third Party call,
the one responsible for the local telephone service at the telephone number
that agrees to accept charges for the call; and
c. in the case of a Room Charge call, the
Customer.
For a Direct Dial Call:
Direct dial calls are billed to the originating
live number, or the party assigned the Company’s authorization code used to
complete the call.
Billing Period: The interval between Customer invoice to Customer invoice that
shall consist of approximately 30 days.
Business Service: The phrase “Business Service” means
telecommunications service provided to the Customer for use primarily or
substantially for a business, professional, institutional or other occupational
purpose.
Calling Card Call: A call for which charges are billed, not to
the originating telephone number, but to a telephone calling card issued by a
local exchange or long distance telephone company for this purpose.
2.
DEFINITIONS (Cont’d)
Cancellation of Order: A Customer initiated request to discontinue
processing a service order, either in part or in its entirety, prior to its
completion.
Channel:
The path for electrical transmission between two or more points.
Collect Call: A billing arrangement that bills the charge for a long distance
call to the called station’s telephone number.
The person agreeing to accept the call, whether or not they are a pre-subscribed
customer of the Company shall be responsible for all charges related to the
call. Regardless of whether the person
is a Customer of the Company or the individual receiving such a collect call,
he or she shall be subject to the provisions of these Terms and Conditions that
are applicable to the call accepted.
Command Routing: This feature allows the 800 service Customer
to have 800 calls rerouted by the Company’s network in the event of access
blockage to an ANI or T1 circuit ID previously defined by the Customer.
Commission: The Federal Communications Commission.
Company:
COMTECK OF INDIANA, INC.
Connecting Carrier: A telecommunications company, which may be
either an interexchange or a local exchange carrier, that supplies the Company
with facilities to originate or terminate the Company’s long distance services.
Consumer: The term consumer means a person initiating any telephone call
using operator services.
Customer: The Customer is the person, firm, corporation or other legal
entity which: orders, cancels or amends service; is responsible for the payment
of charges; and is responsible for compliance with all Terms and Conditions
including any fraudulent use, misuse, or abuse of the Customer’s Service or
Customer provided equipment by third parties, the Customer’s employees, or the
public. This includes payment for calls
or services that originate at the Customer’s number(s), are accepted at the
Customer’s number(s) (e.g. collect calls), are billed to the Customer number(s)
via third number billing, the use of a calling or travel card, or the use of an
assigned special billing number or authorization code to the Customer.
Customer Dialed Calling Card Call: A Calling Card Call that does not require
intervention by an attended operator position to complete.
2.
DEFINITIONS (Cont’d)
Customer-Provided Facilities: All facilities, including those obtained from
other communications common carriers, provided by the Customer and/or
authorized user, other than those provided by the Company.
DISA:
(Direct Inward System Access) This feature of a PBX or telephone system allows
the outside caller to dial directly into the telephone system and access the
system’s features. A Customer would
typically use this feature for making long distance calls away from the office
using their less expensive business long distance lines.
Dedicated Access Service: The generic term for a service in which the
Customer’s traffic passes over an access line connecting the Customer’s premise
to a LEC switch, which is used solely for that Customer’s traffic.
Designated Service Date: Denotes the Customer specified installation
date requested at the time the order for service is initiated. If the Company finds it cannot provide
service by that date, the designated service date becomes that date specified
by the Company on which the installation of service can be performed.
Designated Service Point: The Customer designated point of termination
of a local distribution channel. The designated service point may be a Customer
or authorized user premise or a local exchange company central office or
Centrex station.
Disconnection: The disconnection of a circuit, dedicated access line or port
connection being used for existing service.
Domestic Interstate Message Telecommunications
Service: The furnishing of direct dial and operator
assisted domestic interstate switched network services to the Customer for the
completion of long distance voice and dial up low speed data transmissions over
voice grade channel between and among points within the United States.
End User: An individual or entity designated by the consumer to be
responsible for the payment of calls placed using the Company’s services.
Equal Access Office: Switch operated by a LEC equipped with the hardware
and software required to allow the customers to pre-subscribe to the inter-exchange
carrier of their choice.
Equal Access Code: An access code that allows the consumer to
obtain an equal access connection to the carrier associated with that code.
Excessive Call Attempt: An attempt to make a call over the Company’s
network using an invalid authorization code during a measured 15 minute period
within which 10 or more incomplete call attempts are made from the same access
line, and where those attempts do not complete because an invalid authorization
code(s) was used.
2.
DEFINITIONS (Cont’d)
FCC:
Federal Communications Commission.
Foreign Exchange Service: Foreign exchange service provides subscribers
with the capability of local dialing in a remote exchange via private line
services.
Hertz:
Is a unit of frequency equal to one cycle per second.
Holiday:
One of the following Federally recognized Holidays: Independence Day, Memorial
Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day.
Message:
Represents an inter-exchange toll call for which appropriate charges shall be
assessed.
Inbound Service:
Denotes a service where the subscriber has a toll-free number, such as
an 800 or 888 prefix whereby the caller does not incur a toll charge.
Initial Minute: The rate element used to bill for the first chargeable minute, or
fraction thereof, of a call.
International Message Telecommunications
Service: The furnishing of
station-to-station direct dial International switched network services for the
completion of long distance transmissions over voice grade channels to other
countries as specified herein.
Line Haul Mileage: Denotes mileage distance between the Company
Terminal Office sites.
Local Access Line or Local Distribution Channel: The facility consisting of the necessary
equipment and local telephone company lines which are required to interconnect
the Customer’s or authorized user’s premises to a Company Service Point within
the same local exchange area or extended service area.
Local Access Transport Area (LATA): A geographic area established for the
provision and administration of communications service. It encompasses one or more designated
exchanges, which are grouped to serve common social, economic and other
purposes.
Local Calling Area: Denotes a geographic area in which a Local
Exchange Company end user may complete a call without incurring long distance
charges.
Local Exchange Area: The term “Local Exchange Area” denotes a unit
established by the Company for the administration of communications services in
a specified area which usually embraces a city, town, or village and its
environs. Specific definitions of the
Company local exchange areas are available upon request.
2.
DEFINITIONS (Cont’d)
Local Exchange Carrier (LEC): A company which provides telecommunications
service within a local exchange LATA.
Local Time: The time observed, standard or daylight savings, at the rate
center associated with the originating point of the call.
Measured Charge: A charge assessed on a per minute basis in
calculating a portion of the charges due for a completed Operator Assisted,
Direct Dial Call, Credit Card or Third Party Call.
Measured Service: The provision of interstate long distance
measured time communications
telephone service to Customers who access the
Company’s service at its switching and call processing equipment by means of
access facilities obtained from a local exchange carrier. The Company is responsible for arranging for
the access line.
Message
Toll Service: The term “Message
Toll Service” (“MTS”) is an interstate long distance service that utilizes
switched access facilities to both originate and terminate a call.
Mileage Rate Band: Mileage interval used to establish rates for
the Company services.
Minimum Average Time Requirements (MATR): A generic term indicating a specified period
of time, used in the determination of usage charges, which represents the
minimum average duration of calls completed during a billing period.
Modem:
A device that modulates and/or demodulates signals for proper transmission via
dedicated or switched facilities.
Multiple Channel Service: Is a service offering whereby a Customer may
order more than one leased channel where the line haul mileage of the channels
falls within the same mileage rate band.
Normal Business Hours: Normal business hours are represented by the
period between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding
holidays.
Operator Assisted Call: An interstate telephone connection completed
through the use of Operator Services.
Operator Service Charge: A non-measured (fixed) surcharge that is added
to a measured charge in calculating the total charges due for a completed
Operator Assisted Call.
2. DEFINITIONS
(Cont’d)
Operator Services: Any telecommunications service that includes,
as a component, any automated or live assistance afforded to a consumer to
arrange for the billing and/or completion, of a telephone call that are
specified by the user through a method other than:
* Automatic
Completion with billing to the telephone from which the call originated;
* Completion
through an access code or a proprietary account
number used by the consumer, with billing to an account previously established
with the carrier by the consumer; or
* Completion
in association with directory assistance services
Other Communications Common Carrier: A government regulated entity offering
communications services to the public.
Point of Presence: Locations where the Company maintains through
its own facilities or through arrangements with other carriers an operations
center for purposes of providing long distance service.
Premises: All buildings occupied by the Customer and/or his authorized user
on a contiguous property (except railroad right of way, etc.) not intersected by
a public road.
Pre-subscribed Provider of Operator Services: The Provider of Operator Services to which the
Consumer is connected when the Consumer places a call using a Provider of
Operator Services without dialing an access code.
Responsible Organization (Resp. Org.): The carrier entity that has responsibility
for the management of 800 numbers in the Service Management System (SMS)
including maintaining Customer records in the SMS system. Also, the entity which accesses the SMS to:
a) search for and reserve 800 numbers; b) create and maintain 800 number
Customer records, including call processing records; and c) provide a single
point of contact for trouble reporting.
The SMS recognizes one Resp. Org. for each 800 number.
Service:
Service means any or all service(s) provided pursuant to these Terms and
Conditions.
Service Control Point (SCP): The real-time data base system in the service
network that contains instructions on how Customers wish their calls to be
routed, terminated or otherwise processed.
Service Points: Those cities from which the Company makes its services available
to its customers.
2. DEFINITIONS
(Cont’d)
Special Access Line (SAL): A dedicated Analog DAL or Digital T-1 Access
Line(s) directly connecting Customer’s telephone equipment to the Long Distance
Provider without using the Local Exchange Carrier’s switching equipment.
Special Promotional Offering: Special discounts or modifications of the
Company’s regular service offerings which may, from time to time, be offered to
its Customers for a particular service.
Such offerings may be limited to certain dates, times, and locations.
Special Services: Denotes service provided and performed by the
Company involving special engineering, design, programming, development or
production activities to provide services requested by a Customer to meet
special needs not otherwise provided under these Terms and Conditions.
Station:
Any location from which a message can be originated or received.
Station-to-Station Call: A call placed to a telephone number, with the
understanding that the caller will speak to any person who answers the called
number.
Subscriber: A person or other entity that selects a telecommunications
company to be the Presubscribed Provider of Operator Services for one or more
locations within that person or entity’s control.
Switch:
A local telephone company switching system where telephone exchange service
customer station loops are terminated for purposes of interconnection to each
other and to trunks through electronic services which are used to provide
circuit routing and control.
Switched Access Service: Provides the ability to originate and
terminate calls between two end user’s premises over facilities of the
telephone company.
Telecommunications: The transmission of voice communications or,
subject to the transmission capabilities of the service, the transmission of
data, facsimile, signaling, metering, or any other form of intelligence over
dedicated or switched facilities.
Terminal Equipment: Devices, apparatus, and their associated
wiring such as teleprinters, telephone handsets, or data sets used for
origination or termination of telecommunications services.
2. DEFINITIONS
(Cont’d)
Third Party Call: A call for which charges are billed, not to
the originating telephone number, but to a third party telephone number which
is neither the originating nor the terminating telephone number.
Vertical Features: Services such as call validation, “Plain Old
Telephone Service” (POTS) number translation, and provision of statistical
information on the Customer’s 800 traffic, which may be obtained by the Company
from local exchange company access tariffs on behalf of 800 Service Customer
for which the Company serves as Resp. Org.
Voice-Grade Channel: Denotes a communications channel with a
nominal bandwidth of 4,000 hertz.
WATS:
Wide Area Telecommunications Service.
3. GENERAL
RULES AND REGULATIONS
3.1 UNDERTAKING
OF THE COMPANY
3.1.1 General
3.1.1.1 The services furnished herein are for the transmission and
reception of voice, data and other types of communications. Services provided pursuant to these Terms
and Conditions may be utilized only for the transmission of communications by
Customers consistent with the terms of these Terms and Conditions, and the
rules and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission.
(a)
The Company
undertakes to provide switched Interstate and international Message
Telecommunications Service (MTS) in accordance with the terms and conditions
specified herein.
(b) The Company shall provide Interstate and
International Message Toll Service as an integral part of the Company’s MTS
service offerings.
3.1.1.2 Subject to unavoidable network interruptions, the Company shall
endeavor to provide services and facilities 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
3.1.2 Availability
3.1.2.1 Service is offered subject to the availability of the necessary
facilities and/or equipment of the Company and/or the local exchange carrier
serving the customer. The Company
reserves the right to provide services to and from locations where the
necessary facilities and/or equipment are available.
3.1.2.2 The Company reserves the right to suspend service or delay
service installation until sufficient network facilities are available to meet
the anticipated traffic demand, or terminate a service request with a full
refund of any charges billed to the Customer if satisfactory arrangements
cannot be concluded within what the Company determines to be a reasonable
amount of time.