September 30, 2008 - A recent ruling by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) stated that telecom service providers must now track all revenue.

Any call in the United States will be subject to this fee.

No, these fees mandated by the FCC apply only to audio conferencing.

Yes. The FCC order states that all telecommunication providers, including conferencing, must comply and has given the USAC permission to make sure companies are in compliance.

Yes, this fee is mandated for all telecommunication services. Non-profit organizations are not exempt from this fee.

Yes. The USF fee applies to all telecommunications regardless of the type of device used.

USF fees are based on end-user revenue.

• Currently the fee averages around 11%. For a detailed listing of the current and actual rates, please visit: http://www.fcc.gov/omd/contribution-factor.html.

Yes. The FCC ruling states that all telecom providers must assess USF fees.

Yes. If you ever require a conference call credit, applicable fees on what is being credited back will be included.

USF stands for "Universal Service Fund". The FCC regulates the fee and the collected funds are filtered through the USAC to provide phone service for rural areas and help to filter internet access into schools and libraries.

The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) is a not-for-profit corporation that administers the Universal Service Fund (USF), which is mandated by the Federal Communications Commission. The USAC assists in providing telecommunication services to low income communities, rural health care providers, schools and libraries. They also ensure that high cost services are available in urban areas.

http://www.usac.org/default.aspx

"On June 30, 2008, the Commission released the InterCall Order, in which the Commission determined that InterCall, Inc. (InterCall) and all similarly situated audio bridging service providers are required to contribute directly to the universal service fund (USF).As part of the InterCall Order, the Commission also directed the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) to conduct outreach to both stand-alone audio bridging providers and integrated teleconferencing service providers to ensure that such providers properly contribute directly to the USF based on their interstate and international end user revenues derived from providing audio bridging services."

The FCC Public Notice is available here.

FCC rulings require fees to begin being assessed from AccuConference on October 1, 2008. These fees will appear on billing statements for all conferences initiated after October 1, 2008. Most clients will see the fee on their invoices after October 1, 2008.