Washington Administrative Code › Title 480 - Utilities and Transportation Commission › Chapter 480-120 - Telephone companies › Part VII - TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES › Section 480-120-262 - Operator service providers (OSPs)

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1)
				Only for the purpose of this section:
"Consumer" means the party paying for a call using operator
				  services. For collect calls, a consumer is both the originating party and the
				  party who receives the call.
"Customer" means the call aggregator or pay phone service
				  provider (PSP) contracting with an operator service provider (OSP) for service,
				  such as hotel, motel, hospital, correctional facility, prison, campus, or
				  similar entity.
"Operator service provider (OSP)" means any corporation,
				  company, partnership, or person providing a connection to intrastate or
				  interstate long-distance or to local services from locations of call
				  aggregators.
"Operator services" means any telecommunications service
				  provided to a call aggregator location that includes automated or live
				  assistance to consumers in billing or completing (or both) telephone calls,
				  other than those billed to the number from which the call originated or those
				  completed through an access code used to bill a consumer's account previously
				  established with the company.
This section applies to OSPs providing operator services from
				  pay phones and other call aggregator locations. Each OSP must maintain a
				  current list of the customers it serves in Washington and the locations and
				  telephone numbers where the service is provided.
(2)
Posted disclosure.
OSPs must
				post clearly, legibly, and unobstructed, on or near the front of the pay phone
				the presubscribed OSP's name, address, and toll-free number, as registered with
				the commission. This information must be updated within thirty days after a
				change of OSPs. OSPs must post a notice to consumers that they can access other
				long distance companies and, in contrasting colors, the commission compliance
				number for consumer complaints and the following information:
"If you have a complaint about service from this pay phone
				  and are unable to resolve it by calling the repair or refund number or
				  operator, please call the commission at 1-888-333-WUTC
				  (9882)."
(3)
Oral
				disclosure of rates.
This subsection applies to all calls from pay
				phones or other call aggregator locations, including, but not limited to,
				prison phones and store-and-forward pay phones. When a collect call is placed,
				both the consumer placing the call and the consumer receiving the call must be
				given the rate quote options required by this section.
(a)
Oral rate disclosure message
				required.
Before an operator-assisted call from a call aggregator
				location can be connected by an OSP (whether by a presubscribed or other
				provider), the OSP must first provide an oral rate disclosure message to the
				consumer. If the charges to the consumer do not exceed the benchmark rate in
				(f) of this subsection, the oral rate disclosure message must comply with the
				requirements of (b) of this subsection. In all other instances, the oral rate
				disclosure message must comply with the requirements of (c) of this
				subsection.
(b)
Rate
				disclosure method when charges do not exceed benchmark.
The oral rate
				disclosure message must state that the consumer may receive a rate quote and
				explain the method of obtaining the quote. The method of obtaining the quote
				may be by pressing a specific key or keys, but no more than two keys, or by
				staying on the line. If the consumer follows the directions to obtain the rate
				quote, the OSP must state all rates and charges that will apply if the consumer
				completes the call.
(c)
Rate
				disclosure method when rates exceed benchmark.
The oral rate disclosure
				message must state all rates and charges that will apply if the consumer
				completes the call.
(d)
Charge must not exceed rate quote.
If the OSP provides a rate
				quote pursuant to either (b) or (c) of this subsection, the charges to the user
				must not exceed the quoted rate. If a consumer complains to the commission that
				the charges exceeded the quoted rate, and the consumer states the exact amount
				of the quote, there will be a rebuttable presumption that the quote provided by
				the complaining consumer was the quote received by the consumer at the time the
				call was placed or accepted.
(e)
Completion of call.
Following the consumer's response to any of
				the above, the OSP must provide oral information advising that the consumer may
				complete the call by entering the consumer's calling card number.
(f)
Benchmark rates.
An OSP's
				charges for a particular call exceed the benchmark rate if the sum of all
				charges, other than taxes and fees required by law to be assessed directly on
				the consumer, would exceed, for any duration of the call, the sum of fifty
				cents multiplied by the duration of the call in minutes plus fifty cents. For
				example, an OSP's charges would exceed the benchmark rate if any of these
				conditions were true:
(i) Charges for a
				one-minute call exceeded one dollar;
(ii) Charges for a five-minute call exceeded
				three dollars; or
(iii) Charges for
				a ten-minute call exceeded five dollars and fifty cents.