Wholesale: Products & Services

Retail Public Access Lines (PAL) - V19.0

NOTE: Smart PAL service is grandfathered effective August 19, 2015 and is no longer available as a new service effective in all CenturyLink QC states.

Product Description

Retail Public Access Line (PAL) service is a fully finished end-to-end service tariff rated for use with pay telephone equipment provided to Customer Owned Coin Operated Telephone (COCOT) customers, Independent Payphone Providers (IPPs), and Payphone Service Providers (PSPs) for use with Customer-Owned Coin or Coinless FCC registered telephones in locations accessible to the general public.

Retail PAL lines are provided as Two-Wire Voice Grade telephone service, Loop Start, Two-Way or One-Way Outgoing Only, Flat, Measured, or Message Rated, One-Party service, and Intrastate/IntraLATA service.

PAL service provides access to the Local Switched Network, the Toll Network, 911 Emergency Service, Directory Assistance/Operator Services, 800/877/888 type services and N11 Services (e.g., 311, 811).

Payphone providers wanting to connect their own equipment to the CenturyLink Network for public use utilize PAL service. All payphone equipment connected to PAL lines must be FCC registered or must be connected behind an FCC registered protective coupler.

There are two types of PAL service available from CenturyLink: Basic and Smart.

BASIC PAL

With Basic PAL service the coin control signaling, including coin collection and coin return is completed by the customer’s software enhanced, “intelligent” payphone set. Basic PAL service can be described as a “smart” phone using a “dumb” (basic, no frills) line.

With Basic PAL service the coin control signaling, including coin collection and coin return, is provided by the software contained in the customer-owned intelligent (smart) payphone set placed on the ‘dumb’ Basic PAL telephone line.

The following PAL service offerings are available only with Basic PAL service:

Flat, Measure, or Message Basic PAL service consists of a Two-way or Outgoing Only line, generally without screening options.

Coinless Subscriber Service (CSS) allows connection of coinless telephone equipment to the local/toll switched network. CSS is Flat-rated with built-in screening. The line screening codes clearly identify the CSS line to operators who are required to handle and advance calls and prevent billing of Collect and Third Number calls to the account. CSS is available as One-way, Two-way, and Collect-only PAL service.

• 0+ dialing is required on all Outward calls, including local calls, with the exception of calls to the 911
• One-way Outgoing CSS service blocks all incoming calls
• One-way Outgoing Collect Only CSS blocks not only block all incoming calls but also restricts outgoing calls to collect only

Guestline service allows businesses to provide restricted telephone service to the public, is available as Flat, Message, or Measured-rated service and may be used with either a coin or coinless telephone.

Guestline blocks 1+ dialing so outgoing long distance calls must be placed through an operator. Incoming collect calls are restricted. Guestline service provides access to Directory Assistance, free calls to 911, the "O" operator, and denies billing of Incoming Collect and Third Number calls.

Interexchange Carrier Access Line (ICAL) service provides Retail PAL service to Interexchange Carriers and is restricted to outward calling and includes screening options. Calls are routed directly to the Interexchange Carrier for transport.

Inmate PAL service is provided in inmate facilities, such as jails, correctional institutions, and halfway houses, which are generally provisioned to allow only collect calls and not to allow access to 800 type numbers, 911, or 1+ dialing.

SMART PAL

Smart PAL provides network-controlled payphone features to the PAL phone via the CenturyLink Switched Network. Smart PAL provides the PAL customer coin control, ability to set usage rates to the end-user for local calls and low per minute rates for intraLATA sent paid (1+) calls.

NOTE:  Due to Network changes, effective July 24, 2015, Smart PAL will temporarily be unavailable to provide operator assistance on 1+ dialed numbers.

Smart PAL service can be described as a “dumb” (basic, no frills) phone using a “smart” (extra features, screening) line.

Availability

Retail PAL services are available where facilities exist throughout CenturyLink QC. Not all types of PAL lines are available in every state.

Terms and Conditions

The following terms and conditions apply to Retail PAL service:

• Changing to or from a Retail PAL service may require a telephone number change
• CenturyLink is not liable for shortages of coins deposited and/or collected from pay telephones
• CenturyLink is not liable for end-user fraud associated with the failure of the PSP's pay phone to perform correctly
• PSPs are responsible for:
  • Installation, maintenance and operation of the pay telephone
  • Coin collection and/or return of coin functions for Basic PAL
  • Refund of coins when lost or collected in error
  • Rates and charges incurred on the PAL, as toll adjustments will not be allowed on the account unless it is a CenturyLink error
  • Payment of maintenance service charges when the problem is isolated to the pay telephone set
• CenturyLink will accept one white page listing for each main telephone number at no charge

Technical Publications

Telcordia™ Technical Generic Requirements (GRs)/Technical References

Pricing

Rate Structure

PAL service is billed for on a month-to-month basis.

Calls to Directory Assistance (DA), N11 and CenturyLink repair are not subject to measured/message usage charges.

Additional charges may apply for miscellaneous service order request items such as:

• Change from one PAL service to another
• Telephone number change
• Temporary transfer of calls

Rates

The Monthly Charge for a Public Access Line ranges from $7.78 plus taxes/surcharges to $25.08 plus taxes/surcharges; the Non-Recurring Charge for the service activation ranges from $31.00 to $80.00. Both charges are dependant upon the state and or type of service selected.

Refer to the Exchange and Network Services Tariffs/Catalogs/Price Lists for the specific state. The tariff/price list will provide the specific features/options, prices, and capabilities of PAL services by state.

Tariffs, Regulations and Policy

The complete Exchange and Network Services Tariffs/Catalogs/Price Lists, which will provide the specific features/options, prices, and capabilities of PAL services by state, can be found in Section 5.5.7.

• Visit the Tariffs/Catalogs/Price Lists

The term 'Supersedure' or 'Change of Responsibility' refers to an account change whereby any given PAL owned by one agreeing party is 'sold' to another agreeing party. Submitting an authorized PAL Request Form, Letter of Authorization (LOA), and Change of Responsibility form to the PAL Carrier Service Billing Office does this. Following service order issuance, the PAL becomes the responsibility of the latter party on the date agreed upon and specified on the request. Non-recurring service order charges, restrictions, and requirements apply and vary by state.

The PAL customer is responsible for:

• billing their end-user customers, as appropriate
• the refund of coins when lost or collected in error
• in the installation, operation, and maintenance of the pay telephone

CenturyLink is not responsible or liable for end-user fraud associated with failure of the customer’s pay telephones to perform correctly.

Retail PAL service is subject to the same regulations as other business services, such as EAS charges or areas, Taxes, Surcharges, Listings, etc.

If the PAL customer wants CenturyLink to wire past the demarcation point to the pay telephone equipment location, the customer must agree to pay time and materials charges.

Per FCC mandate, CenturyLink technicians may wire past the Minimum Point of Presence (MPOP), but may NOT touch a subscriber’s payphone equipment nor connect wiring directly to the instrument.

Maintenance service charges may apply when trouble reported on the PAL line is isolated to the pay telephone instrument.

Payphone Specific Digits (PSDs) or "Flex ANI codes" are used in the payphone industry as part of the dial around compensation process (also known as Per Call Compensation). PSDs are transmitted by Flex ANI software and are provided as part of the PAL service.

PSPs often request to test and verify that the PAL service is accurately functioning. The CenturyLink FLEX ANI test number is 877-663-6344.

Optional Features

PAL optional feature availability and pricing may vary according to the state specific Tariffs/Catalogs/Price Lists. PAL optional features availability may vary based on Central Office capability.

The following features/options are available for Retail PAL service:

• CenturyLink Long Distance
• Visit the Small Business web page for CenturyLink long distance information
• PAL customers choose the carrier of their choice
• Blocking options
  • collect and/or third number billed calls
  • long distance blocking
  • international blocking
  • split blocking
  • Routing all 0+ and 00+ InterLATA calls to the presubscribed carrier
• Pay per call blocking (e.g., 900, 976)
• Visit the Call Blocking Job Aid for Pay per call blocking information.

Implementation

Public Access Line services are sold directly to three kinds of customers.

• Customer Owned Coin Operated Telephone (COCOTs) customers who own coin/coinless pay telephones for use at their place of business.
• Payphone Service Providers (PSPs) who provide and manage payphone service for their end-user customers and provide the pay telephone instrument.
• Independent Payphone Providers (IPPs) who contract with a Payphone Service Provider to place payphone equipment at the site provider's place of business. This allows the IPP to provide payphone service without having to manage and/or maintain the pay telephone instruments. In general, the IPP pays the site provider a commission based on the calls generated from the payphone.

Product Prerequisites

Pre-Ordering

It is the responsibility of the Retail PAL customer to:

• Negotiate all aspects of products and/or services required
• Place all service requests with CenturyLink using appropriate forms
• Provide CenturyLink with accurate location information for state regulated emergency reasons
• Pay in full any/all charges incurred as a result of provided PAL service, including but not limited to:
  • the product/service itself
  • toll charges
  • Directory Assistance charges
  • listings
  • applicable usage
• Be responsible for the installation, operation, and maintenance of any PSP pay telephone equipment used in connection with this service
• Be available to answer all questions pertaining to their requests, such as:
  • Clarify address and/or service locations
  • Ensure listing integrity and respond to queries regarding listings

  To request a CenturyLink Customer Service Record (CSR), contact the Customer Service Inquiry and Education (CSIE) Center.

Ordering

Orders may be faxed to 800-285-8188 or emailed to PAL@centurylink.com.

• Download the Retail PAL Order Form - MS Word

• Download the Retail PAL Order Form - Adobe PDF

A purchase order number (PON) is required on all retail PAL order requests. The following parameters and restrictions apply:

• All States – No special characters other than hyphens are allowed, i.e., *,. $,. ^, (, ),. /, \, etc.
• MN, IA, ND, SD and NE – PON may consist of 1-21 alphanumeric characters
• MT, ID, UT, WY, CO, NM and AZ – PON may consist of 1-30 alphanumeric characters and must include a space or hyphen within the PON
• WA and OR – PON may consist of 1-30 alphanumeric characters

The Retail PAL Order Form Job Aid will provide you instruction on completing PAL order forms, including the field name, required or optional usage, a field description and customer use.

• Download the Retail PAL Order Form Instructions - MS Word

The following table provides Retail PAL Class of Service USOCs, the type of PAL service, description of PAL service, and availability by state.

Class of Service USOC	Type of PAL Service	Description of Service	Availability
11G	Basic	Measured Out Only service measures outbound calls from the PAL phone	NE
11Y	Basic	Measured Out Only service measures outbound calls from the PAL phone	IA
122	Basic	Flat Guestline service Guestline blocks 1+ dialing and all outgoing toll calls must be placed through an operator. Incoming calls are also restricted from being billed as collect	AZ
12E	Smart	(Grandfathered as of 08/19/2015) Measured Two-Way includes Incoming and Outgoing Call screening, Pay per Call Blocking	IA
12G	Basic	Measured Two Way (coin or coinless)	NE
12R	Smart	(Grandfathered as of 08/19/2015) Measured Outgoing Only includes Outgoing Call Screening, Pay per Call Blocking	IA
12Y	Basic	Flat Two-Way	AZ
14C	Smart	(Grandfathered as of 08/19/2015) Message Outgoing Only includes Outgoing Call Screening, Pay per Call Blocking	AZ, CO, ID S, MN, MT, NE, NM, OR, SD, UT, WY
14S	Basic	Measured Two Way (coin or coinless)	IA
152	Basic	Measured Guestline with Fraud Protection includes toll restriction and all sent paid calls	AZ
15Q	Basic	Measured Two Way	AZ, UT, WY
15W	Basic	Measured Two Way with Call Allowance	AZ, OR, UT
16Q	Basic	Measured Two-Way	OR
16Q	Basic	Measured Outgoing OnlyTwo-Way	MN, NE, SD
172	Basic	Flat Guestline service with Fraud Protection prevents billing of collect and third number billed calls to the PAL service, restricts Operator assisted toll calls by station users to collect, bill to third party, or calling card calls	CO, MT
17Q	Basic	Message Two Way (coin or coinless)	MN, NE, OR, SD
182	Basic	Message Guestline service prevents billing of collect and third number billed calls to the PAL service, restricts Operator assisted toll calls by station users to collect, bill to third party, or calling card calls	CO, MT, NM
192	Basic	Measured Guestline service prevents billing of collect and third number billed calls to the PAL service, restricts Operator assisted toll calls by station users to collect, bill to third party, or calling card calls	CO, UT*
19Q	Basic	Measured Two-Way without screening (coin or coinless)	AZ*, CO
19V	Basic	Measured Two-Way service restricts outgoing Operator assisted toll calls to collect, bill to Third Party and Calling Card Calls	AZ*
1FY	Basic	Flat PAL, full resale, without screening	AZ*, CO, MT, NM
1FZ	Basic	Flat Two-Way with Fraud Protection includes toll restriction, allows 1+ calling	AZ*, MT, NM
1GY	Basic	Flat Out Only (coin or coinless)	AZ, CO, IA, MN, NE, ND, OR, SD, UT, WA. WY
1KY	Basic	Flat Two Way (coin or coinless)	IA, ID N, ID S, MN, NE, ND, OR, SD, UT, WA, WY
1MA	Basic	Message Two-Way (coin or coinless) with no screening	AZ*, CO, MT, NM, OR*, UT*
1MT	Basic	Message Two-Way with Fraud Protection allows toll restriction, allows 1+ calling	MT, NM
1MZ	Basic	Public Interexchange Carrier Access service includes Incoming Fraud Protection and Outgoing Fraud Protection	IA, MN
1N8	Basic	Interexchange Carrier service, Outgoing only, with Fraud Protection	ID N, OR*, WA
1NH	Smart	(Grandfathered as of 08/19/2015) Message Two-Way includes incoming and outgoing call screening, pay per call blocking	AZ, CO, ID S, MN,.MT, NE, NM, OR, SD, UT, WY
1NP	Basic	Coinless Subscriber Two-Way service, prevents company Operators from billing collect and bill to third number calls to the PAL service, prohibits direct dialed toll calls, users are restricted to placing calling card, bill to third number, and collect calls only	AZ, ID S, MT, NM, WA
1P9	Basic	Coinless Collect Only prohibits calls to DA, 911, Interexchange Carriers other than the Carrier presubscribed to the line, 800/800 type service, 676, 900, 976, and 960 telephone number, CenturyLink repair service; restricts CenturyLink Operator assisted calls to collect only, prevents CenturyLink Operators from billing collect and bill to third number calls to the PAL service	AZ, ID S, MT, NM, WA
1PZ	Basic	Coinless Subscriber Outgoing Only Basic PAL, prohibits direct dialed toll calls, users are restricted to placing calling card, bill to third number, and collect calls only	AZ, CO, ID S, MT, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY
1W3	Basic	Message Two-Way with Call Allowance	AZ*, UT*
1WE	Basic	Measured Two-Way with Call Allowance	ID S
1WK	Basic	Measured Two-Way with Call Allowance and Fraud Protection includes toll restriction, allows 1+	ID S
1WN	Basic	Measured Guestline Two Way with Allowance includes toll restriction and sent paid toll restriction, blocks 1+ calling	ID S
5FO	Smart	(Grandfathered as of 08/19/2015) Flat Outgoing Only with Outgoing Call Screening, Pay per Call Blocking	ALL
5FP	Smart	(Grandfathered as of 08/19/2015) Flat Two-Way with Incoming and Outgoing Call Screening, Pay per Call Blocking	ALL
A6F	Smart	(Grandfathered as of 08/19/2015) Additional Flat Two-Way with incoming and outgoing call screening, pay per call blocking	IA
A6J	Smart	(Grandfathered as of 08/19/2015) Additional Line Outgoing Only with outgoing call screening, pay per call blocking	IA
A7F	Basic	Additional Out Only	IA
AL2	Basic	Additional Flat Two-Way	IA

*Identifies grandfathered service

Provisioning and Installation

CenturyLink will provide a Standard Network Interface (SNI) or a registration jack at the demarcation point - the authorized access point for connection to the CenturyLink network. The SNI is mounted in a visible and accessible location.

The demarcation point will be placed within 12 inches (or a similarly reasonable distance) of the protector or regulated facility in accordance with CenturyLink policy and FCC docket 88-57. Should you desire CenturyLink to wire from the demarcation point to your equipment location, you can elect to do so by agreeing to pay time and materials charges. CenturyLink will not connect your equipment to the line.

Maintenance and Repair

If you encounter problems with the service please contact CenturyLink Repair at 800-954-1211.

Billing

Basic PAL is billed using Flat, Measured, or Message monthly rates. Measured or Message rates include a Call Allowance for a set number of local sent paid calls which are included in the monthly recurring charge.

Smart PAL service bills using a Flat, Measured, or Message monthly rate. Measured or Message rates include a Call Allowance for a set number of local sent paid calls which are included in the monthly recurring charge.

Summary Account Billing is available for your Retail PAL accounts.

Training

There are no Retail PAL courses being offered at this time.

Contacts

Ordering Fax Number	800-285-8188
Ordering Questions	866-434-2555
Billing Address	250 Bell Plaza RM 601 Salt Lake City, UT 84111
Billing Fax Number	800-335-5651
Billing Hours of Operation	6:00 AM - 6:00 PM MT
Billing Disputes	800-335-5672 or email: Wholesale.Dispute@Centurylink.com
Billing Questions	800-335-5672
Escalations	866-434-2555
Order Escalations	866-434-2555
Repair	800-954-1211

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Where do I email my order requests?
Email your Retail PAL order requests to PAL@centurylink.com

What if I want to fax my requests to CenturyLink?
Fax your requests to 800-285-8188.

Last Update: August 19, 2015 

Last Reviewed: October 24, 2023

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