What is BORIS?
BORIS is the computer system that our department uses to maintain all information about the products and services we provide to our customers. Using BORIS, our staff can create and maintain customer account profiles, record the status of installation and repair requests, and process monthly billing. We provide online access to some functions of BORIS to our customers.
What can I do with BORIS?
BORIS allows our customers to do a variety of things: look at telephone and television charges for which they have already been billed, calculate the calling rates for calls they wish to make, look at a close approximation of current telephone and television charges for which they will be billed, and access their open Trouble Ticket (request for repair) and Work Order (request for installation or change) records.
For instance, if you want to look at the current charges on your phone line, you should log in to BORIS, select the MY BILLS menu option, then click on the CURRENT BALANCE tab. You will see a display of your Communications Services account activity as of the current date. You can then click on any charge in the display to look at details, such as calls made, monthly recurring charges (MRCs), and other charges and credits (OCCs).
What you see in BORIS is actually an approximation of what you will see on your next monthly statement. This is because we may not yet know the charges for your calling card calls and other vendor charges (Verizon Internet, for example). We don't receive those charges from off-campus companies until the third week of the month. For these reasons, the total of the call detail will not exactly match the total charge at the top of the statement until the end of that month's billing cycle.
However, looking at even an approximation of your future bill can be very useful. The long distance calls and charges in the online version of your statement are accurate and up-to-the-minute.
You can also print or download your information. Printable panes or windows in the BORIS interface include a small Printer icon in the upper left-hand corner of the pane or window. Some features (your billing statement, for example) are also available in a choice of formats: HTML, Adobe PDF, or Microsoft Excel. You can save both the Excel and PDF files to your computer.
Who can use BORIS?
Communications Services' residential customers of telephone and cable television services can use BORIS.
What do I need before I can use BORIS?
You'll need a personal computer with a web browser, and a UCSBNetID and password.
BORIS supports most current browsers, and supports Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher.
Allow Popups: If you have a pop-up blocker on your web browser, please configure it to allow the BORIS website to use pop-up windows.
How do I access BORIS?
Go to the BORIS Login page on the Communications Services website and enter your UCSBnetID and Password. If you are a student and have not already activated your UCSBnetID, you should visit the U-Mail Student E-Mail Service and click on the "U-Mail Identity Services" link. If you are a non-student Resident, you should visit the UCSB Directory Service and click on the "Register" link.
When is BORIS available for use?
BORIS is normally available for use 24 hours per day, except for planned outages and unplanned equipment failures.
When I try to log onto BORIS it wants to create a cookie. Why?
A cookie is a small, encrypted data string our server creates to contain your unique Identification Number as you move between some applications on our web site. We use "non-persistent" cookies, which are stored in your computer's memory, only while your web browser is running on your computer. Once you close your browser application, the cookie is gone. A cookie cannot be used to access or otherwise compromise the data in your computer or on your hard drive.
Allow Cookies:
You can choose to change your browser settings to disable cookies, but please be aware that cookies are required to use BORIS. If you disable cookies you will not be able to use BORIS.
Is the data sent between BORIS and my computer secure? Can someone else see it?
BORIS uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology to provide privacy, integrity, and authentication.
Privacy protects messages from being read by unintended recipients. SSL supports privacy by encrypting the data that is communicated between your computer and our website.
Integrity protects messages from being altered. If altered, messages cannot be decrypted correctly. SSL supports integrity by using the MD5 message-digest algorithm.
Authentication verifies that the person or machine on the other end of the connection is who it claims it is. SSL supports authentication by using certificates. When a browser connects to a server, the server presents its certificate. The browser then either accepts that certificate automatically (if it is included in the "site certificates" in the browser) or prompts the customer to decide whether to accept the certificate. The certificate allows the customer to be sure that the server is who it is claiming to be. We use certificates from GeoTrust and Thawte, both leading providers of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and digital certificate solutions used by enterprises, websites, and consumers to conduct secure communications and transactions over the Internet and private networks.
Can I download data from BORIS to my computer?
Yes, you can download your past billing statements in PDF or Excel format and save them to your computer. Instructions are available in the BORIS Help files under "View Bill."
Is there any help information available?
You can access the BORIS Help System from any screen after you've logged in to the system. Look for the button labeled HELP in the main menu options at the upper right of the screen.
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