Audit of the Administration of Wireless Communication Devices

Audit of the Administration of Wireless Communication Devices

Report # 08-18

Prepared by Office of Inspector General

John W. Williams, Esq., Inspector General J. Timothy Beirnes, CPA, Director of Auditing Jankie Bhagudas, CPA, Lead Consulting Auditor

TABLE OF CONTENTS

BACKGROUND......................................................................1

OBJECTIVE, SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY..............................2

AUDIT RESULTS....................................................................3

Executive Summary..............................................................3 Develop and Implement Policies and Procedures.............................6 Improve Controls over Wireless Communication Devices................7

Costly Cellular Rate Plans ..................................................8 Unused and Underutilized Cell Phones and Blackberries..............10 Devices Assigned to Former Employees not Terminated or Reassigned in a Timely Manner..........................14 Underutilized Air Cards.......................................................15 Overcharges for Air Cards....................................................17 Invalid Termination Fees..................................................17 International Long Distance Calls by District Contract Worker.......17 Various Questionable Wireless Services....................................19 Payments for Unused Pagers.................................................21 Actual Users not Indicated on Wireless Invoices..........................22 Local Communications Services Tax and Florida State Wireless 911 Charges.........................................22 Strengthen Reimbursement Process for Personal Use of District Cell Phones........................................23 Cell Phone Usage Observations..............................................24 More Stringent Assignment Requirements................................26

BACKGROUND

At the request of Executive Management, we conducted an audit of the controls over the administration of wireless communication devices (e.g., cell phones, Blackberries, aircards, and pagers).

The Information Technology Department (Information Technology) is situated within Corporate Resources. Within Information Technology is the Infrastructure Systems Division that provides systems administration, network operations center management, digital broadcasting, and telecommunications administration. One staff, a messaging administrator in the Infrastructure Systems Division is responsible for issuing and monitoring all wireless communications devices. Specifically, the messaging administrator's responsibilities includes ordering new service, disconnecting service, issuing wireless equipment, coordinating with service providers, monitoring usages, ensuring that the District has the best pricing plans, and distributing monthly itemized cellular usage data to the various departments/divisions throughout the District.

Following is an approximation number of the various wireless devices, as of May 2008:

? 537 cell phones ? 401 Blackberries (cellular telephones with the capability to access the Internet and

send and receive electronic mail as well as text messages) ? 145 air cards (wireless devices for laptops, PDA's or cell phones that allows

wireless internet access) ? 54 pagers Wireless services are primarily provided by Nextel/Sprint and AT&T. The Fiscal Year 2008 budget for wireless communication services was $550,000 and actual expenditures totaled $720,103; and employees and contractors reimbursed the District $7,977 for personal calls made with District-issued cell phones.

Office of Inspector General

Page 1

Audit of the Administration of Wireless Communication Devices

OBJECTIVE, SCOPE, AND METHODOLOGY

The overall objective of our audit was to determine whether internal controls were in place to adequately monitor the issuance and usage of wireless communication devices.

To accomplish our objective, we interviewed Information Technology staff to obtain an understanding of the controls in place over the administration of wireless communication devices. We obtained and analyzed detailed monthly Nextel/Sprint and AT&T invoices and other relevant usage information provided by Information Technology to determine whether the various wireless rate plans were cost effective, whether devices were adequately utilized, whether utilizations were monitored and whether appropriate actions were taken in instances of underutilizations. We also determined whether the devices assigned to former employees/contractors were terminated or re-assigned in a timely manner after departure from the District.

We conducted this performance audit in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.

Office of Inspector General

Page 2

Audit of the Administration of Wireless Communication Devices

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download