Placing Orders Can only Members Purchase? Membership Eligibility How Can I be a Member? I'm a Member, how do I order? 80/20 Rule or Work at Home Rights? Differences with Media and Licenses Staff Purchases with OETC What are “shrink-wraps”? Differences Shrink-wraps and Licenses What is a Concurrent License? How do we indicate exactly what item we want to purchase? How will the designated technology specialist for my school or school district place orders through OETC? Is there a form for the designated/authorized purchaser at my school or district to fill out to be able to purchase items online? Are there certain deadlines during the year for purchasing? What is the normal delivery time? How much are shipping charges? What about returning items? What is the relationship between E-RATE, SPINs, and OETC?

A. To place an order, OETC members should FAX or MAIL a purchase order to us, or order online. At this time, we cannot accept orders over the phone.

Members may also sign up to purchase items online by downloading, completing, and faxing the OETC K-12 Authorized Purchaser Form or the Higher Ed Authorized Purchaser Form back to OETC at 503.694.4495. Once the completed authorized purchaser form is mailed or faxed to the OETC IT Director, a username and password will be emailed to the User Administrator who signed the form so that they may login and begin the process. Online orders may be paid for by credit card, procurement cards, purchase orders, or check.

Staff and faculty may make personal purchases through OETC if their school, district, or college is a current OETC member and they will not be violating any ethics policies or laws. Personal purchases are limited to shrink-wrap items (See the "What are shrink-wraps?" question below.). A great option for personal purchases is to use the www.techhead.org site which allows for the limited personal purchase of some items for volume license prices.

Payment for Orders

We can accept credit cards, procurement cards, checks, and purchase orders that are mailed or faxed to us.

Fulfillment

Once we receive your purchase order, it can take 1-4 weeks to fill the order. Please use our item numbers whenever possible. If there is no item number, please be sure to indicate whether the software is for Macintosh or Windows. Each OETC price list web page will have any additional ordering information specific to the software on that page. If your purchasing procedures require that you mail a copy of the purchase order after you have faxed it, please mark it as a confirmation of fax copy or note in some way that you have already faxed the order. Otherwise, the order may be double-shipped. (As well as double-charged.)

Stocking

We do not stock any of the shrink-wrap items here at the OETC offices. (Shrinkwrap items are a "boxed" single installation of any product most often used for personal home use. Included in the box is one limited-install CD, one license, documentation or manual (that maybe electronic), and technical support. This product cannot be used in conjunction with other volume products and can only be installed on one computer.)

Shrink-wrap items are ordered from our contractors as needed. Some items are drop-shipped directly from the contractor to you, others come to us and are immediately shipped back out to you. If you are concerned about a shipment you haven't received yet, please contact us. You will need to know your purchase order number and the approximate date that the order was sent to us.

Please add a $5 shipping fee to software orders, and Alaska and Hawaii members should go to www.oetc.org/shipping.html for details on shipping to those locations. License only orders do not require a shipping fee. Orders are shipped only to the authorized purchaser designated in your membership agreement.

A. With the exception of our online WriteSite tool (http://ws.oetc.org), all other items and services purchased through OETC are available ONLY to educators and school districts who are current members of OETC. See the questions below to find out how to become a member.

A. Membership in OETC is open to any accredited educational institution serving pre-K-16 students. This includes, but is not limited to, public pre-K-12 school districts, state-recognized private schools, community colleges, two and four year universities and colleges, regional educational service districts, professional educational organizations serving educators of pre-K-16 students, and state agencies primarily responsible for the administration of public education. An educational institution is defined as an incorporated or governmental not-for-profit entity with the purpose of providing direct instruction to students in grades preK-16 applicable towards a degree recognized by an independent accreditation organization.

A. To renew or start membership in OETC, please review the membership agreement prior to filling out the membership application. The OETC membership application, table of membership fees, and application instructions are available on our "Join OETC" web site. Please complete the membership form and return it to OETC with a purchase order or agency check for the annual membership dues. Memberships are for the academic year July 1 to June 30. The membership application must be signed by the Superintendent or Chief Executive Officer of your educational institution.

A. Orders may commence upon acceptance of the membership agreement and receipt of your Agency purchase order for membership dues. Signing the membership form denotes acceptance of all conditions of the membership agreement. Membership forms cannot be accepted via the web or e-mail because we need this signature. Orders will only be accepted by fax, mail, or online. Phone orders are not accepted. Member orders will be shipped to the authorized purchaser for your school or district specified on the membership form.

A. Several software publishers on our list allow home use according to the “80/20 Rule.” This rule states that if a school purchases a software license for a specific computer where the teacher/staff is the primary user (80%+ of the time), the teacher/staff may install the software on a home computer at no extra charge. The use of the software at home is governed by the same license agreement as at school, (i.e., it may not be used for commercial/for-profit use.)

The 80/20 Rule only applies to staff and faculty, for as long as they are employed by the qualified OETC member. Lab computers do not qualify for the 80/20 rule. The school or college is responsible for providing media for installation. Media may not be purchased from the OETC by individuals. If you have questions regarding this, please contact us.

A. In most cases, media (CDs /disk sets) and licenses may be purchased separately. If a school is outfitting a lab they can buy a single CD to install the program on all computers and buy licenses for each computer on which they wish to install the software.

A. OETC offers shrinkwraps of selected software for personal purchase by faculty and staff currently employed by a member school district, ESD, college, or university. (Retired educators and staff are not eligible to purchase shrinkwrapped software through OETC.) Doing so is not a violation of any state's ethics laws or school policies. As long as your institution's membership is current, you may submit a personal purchase request and the shrinkwrap item will be shipped to your institution in your name. Personal requests for shrinkwrap software must be received on school letterhead and accompanied by a check for the total amount, including a $5 shipping charge ($20 if in Alaska).

A. A "shrinkwrap" is what we call a "boxed" single installation of any product (most often used for personal home use.) Included in the box is one limited-install CD, one license, documentation or manual (sometimes electronic), and technical support. This product cannot be used in conjunction with other volume products and may only be installed on one computer.

A. A volume license is owned by the member institution for installation in classroom labs, or administrative use. The license keys are assigned to OETC based on OETC's vendor agreements and cannot be registered by the institution. These licenses can be purchased ala carte and a single volume license media set or download can be used to install the software for each license purchased. Technical support is not included with volume licenses. Volume licenses cannot be purchased for personal use.

A shrink-wrap is a boxed copy of the software. The term 'shrinkwrap' is derived from the outer plastic covering historically used to "seal" the box. The shrink-wrap contents vary by manufacturer. Minimally shrink-wraps contain a copy of a single user license agreement, a method for installing the software (dvd, cd, or instructions for download), and a product key or serial number that can be registered by the end user. Some manufacturers opt to include installation guides or documentation. Shrink-wraps can be purchased for installation on an individual workstation within a network, however, they are not designed for multiple user usage, nor can shrink-wrap media be used in conjunction with volume licenses. Attempting to use shrink-wraps for anything other than their intended purpose is (in some cases) a violation of its license agreement, and can cause network/product instability.

A. Concurrent Use (Shared) Licenses: A shared license allows multiple users to use a product concurrently, or simultaneously. For example, if a company has a shared license for ten users, up to ten users can access at any given time, although more than ten users may have a valid login. A system administrator can monitor the number of licenses in use by querying the license server or by using the license usage reporting tool.

A. When placing an order, please use our item numbers whenever possible. If there is no item number, please be sure to indicate whether the software is for Macintosh or Windows. Each page will have any additional ordering information specific to the software on that page.

A. The designated purchasing staff member should fax or mail a purchase order to us. If your purchasing procedures require that you mail a copy of the purchase order after you have faxed it, please mark it as a confirmation of fax copy or note in some way that you have already faxed the order. Otherwise, the order may be double-shipped. (As well as double-charged.) We cannot accept orders over the phone.

A. Yes. Authorized purchasers should download, print out, fill in, and have the appropriate person sign the K-12 Authorized Purchaser Form or the Higher Ed Authorized Purchaser Form before faxing it back to OETC at 503.694.4495. This is the only way to get your needed password so you can begin placing order online through OETC. Authorized purchasers should ensure that they have included their email address on the form or they won't receive a password to get into the online purchasing system. Only one name and valid email address is required to get your school or district in the OETC system and able to order items.

A. Yes, there are "End of the Year Deadlines" for all items available through OETC, including WriteSite. Below is a list of ordering deadlines:

6/06/08 - Last day to receive hardware orders by 6/30/08
6/13/08 - Last day to receive software orders by 6/30/08
6/23/08 - Last day to receive invoices by 6/30/08

6/30/08 - Office closes at 5 p.m. for inventory and reopens on Monday, July 7, 2008

A. Once we receive your purchase order, it can take 1-4 weeks to fill the order, depending on whether or not the reseller needs to fulfill the order. We do not stock any of the shrinkwrap items here at the OETC, they are ordered from our contractors as needed. Some items are drop-shipped directly from the contractor to you, others come to us and are immediately shipped back out to you. If you are concerned about a shipment you haven’t received yet, please contact us. You will need to know your purchase order number and the approximate date that the order was sent to us.

A. Please add a $5 shipping fee to software orders. License only orders do not require a shipping fee. Orders that cannot be shipped UPS Ground will incur additional charges. Orders are shipped only to the Contact Person designated in your membership agreement. Hardware shipping is on a sliding scale based on the dollar amount of the order. Alaska, Hawaii, oversized, or furniture orders are charged actual shipping charges.

Standard OETC Hardware Shipping Charges*

Total $ of hardware order:	Cost of shipping:
$0-100	$5.00
$101-300	$12.90
$301-500	$16.80
$501+	$20.40

*Alaska, Hawaii, oversized, or furniture orders are charged actual shipping charges.

A. We cannot accept returns, except for defective items. Return Authorization required on all returns.

A. The OETC has acquired a service provider information number (SPIN) to facilitate an OETC member's use of the federally funded ERATE program. With OETC's participation in the program, schools will be able to stretch their technology dollars even further by taking advantage of the discounts the OETC has secured with eligible vendors when making an ERATE purchase. The OETC SPIN is: 143022399.

New Product Announcements

When a new product is announced by a manufacturer, it takes four to six weeks for that product to be available through the education market. Please be patient and we will update the web site with new product information once they are available through OETC.

Final Notes:

* Prices and availability may change without notice.
* OETC membership must be current to order products from the OETC price database.
* Orders are shipped only to the technology specialist or staff person specifically designated in your membership agreement.

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