| When most companies need to lower expenses they | | | | with each line you own, and pay for monthly. Most |
| start by lowering the number of employees instead of | | | | importantly your customers need to be able to reach |
| looking for other solutions. One way to lower | | | | you! How often have you had each line tested for |
| expenses is to have a phone bill audit and reduce billing | | | | accuracy? Have you ever had your advertised lines |
| errors that cost (in most cases) more than several | | | | tested to verify correct forwarding is in place? |
| employees annual salaries. | | | | Checking where your lines are routing is very important |
| If you are overwhelmed by telephone bills and | | | | since your customers can't reach you if your lines |
| contracts as a consumer, how do you think | | | | aren't working, or if your lines are forwarding to the |
| Corporations keep track of their phone bills? If you | | | | wrong place. |
| can’t be certain all your bills are correct, just | | | | We want to make the industry aware that the |
| imagine having thousands of bills paid monthly without | | | | telephone companies aren’t out to intentionally |
| anyone reviewing them or analyzing them. Most | | | | overcharge them. Most companies don’t have |
| Fortune 500 Companies don’t have a dedicated | | | | a trained billing auditor, and many have never had a |
| telecom auditor on staff and they rely on the | | | | detailed telecom audit. Why are there overcharges on |
| information they obtain from their carriers. During the | | | | your bills? It normally happens by human error, or can |
| past 14 years we’ve seen only a handful of | | | | occur when many people are placing orders and |
| Corporations with an accurate inventory of all their | | | | some are unsure of the correct way to place orders. |
| phone and data lines. Do you think Corporations and | | | | Do you keep accurate records for all your telecom |
| mid sized companies have time to check their | | | | orders? If you don’t keep detailed records then |
| advertised lines monthly, or even annually? | | | | it will be difficult to prove any billing discrepancies. |
| I’ve just mentioned several ways to reduce | | | | Let’s say you cancel a phone line today. |
| expenses, but I think you may still be skeptical so here | | | | Tomorrow you dial the number and it gives a |
| are further details. Most companies have late fees, but | | | | disconnect message. Do you go to the next bill and |
| having late fees might mean that an AP Dept. is | | | | check it for accuracy? Does anyone in your company |
| extremely busy and can't pay all the bills prior to the | | | | have time to monitor each and every bill that comes |
| due date. Some bills may be set aside for review, and | | | | into your office on a monthly basis, and check for |
| others may be held while the AP Rep. is trying to | | | | every order that was placed? Having the correct |
| determine a bill's accuracy. An Accounts Payable | | | | documentation equals a refund. |
| employee doesn’t have the tariff training to | | | | What companies offer these auditing services? Most |
| identify tariff billing errors (through no fault of their own). | | | | firms advertise on the internet, or in the local phone |
| Most corporations have a telecom department | | | | book. Many audit companies around the world perform |
| concentrating on keeping their services online and | | | | telecom audits and each has their own spin. Some just |
| working properly. These service technicians | | | | audit the low hanging items and conduct an overview, |
| aren’t billing experts and most don’t | | | | while others do a deep cleaning audit. As with any |
| understand contract and billing review to determine if | | | | business there are many who do a great job, and |
| they are getting the rates their company should be | | | | some that do as little as possible. It is up to you to do |
| receiving. Without them the telecom equipment failure | | | | the research and find the company that best fits your |
| and service outages would play havoc on the entire | | | | individual needs. Choose a company that fits your |
| company. Auditel has found that many large | | | | budget. Some firms offer fee structures based on |
| corporations have a telecom service department, but | | | | contingency fee basis, splitting the future savings and |
| almost none have a telecom billing department. | | | | credits and refunds with you. While others, charge a |
| Having a complete audit is like having a car washed | | | | fee based on the size of your audit. No matter which |
| versus having the car totally detailed. While the corner | | | | company you choose, make sure to contact their |
| gas station can wash the outside of your car, to | | | | references, along with the Better Business Bureau for |
| thoroughly clean it the way you would like it done, you | | | | their area. If companies have had complaints they |
| either need to do it yourself, or consult a car detail | | | | aren’t likely to inform you. |
| professional. The same is true of an audit. While it may | | | | Are you interested in learning how to audit your own |
| be more convenient to scan the top of the bills, | | | | bills? If so we highly recommend telecom workshop |
| the devil is in the details. Most companies don’t | | | | based training. These workshops are not seminars and |
| take the extra time to do a complete and total audit, | | | | these courses teach you how to actually audit |
| eliminating all the wastes. It is time consuming to | | | | telecom bills. Though there are many seminars |
| consolidate bills, and to correct every billing error and | | | | available on the market today, most don’t |
| tariff, but to do a thorough audit the entire process | | | | provide a process. You may leave the seminar with a |
| needs to be completed. Every mistake needs to be | | | | wealth of information, but will throw your hands in the |
| corrected. | | | | air when you actually try to conduct an audit. Locate a |
| In our experience there have been very few firms | | | | company with experience and contact references for |
| with tariff trained auditors reviewing the telecom bills on | | | | the firm to fit your needs. Make sure the instructor has |
| a monthly basis. We recommend that every company | | | | actual auditing experience. The experience you will get |
| have a telecom bill audit to review their telecom | | | | from a workshop will outweigh any seminar you may |
| services and ensure each vendor’s accuracy. | | | | attend, saving you time and money in the long run. |
| An audit can be primarily based on telephone bills, or | | | | Make sure you are provided with auditing software to |
| expanded to include the entire telecom | | | | help you track your telecom inventory and to log all of |
| department’s billings, including frame relay, data, | | | | your orders submitted to the various vendors. |
| and wireless, etc. Don’t forget your contracts | | | | After you have completed a telecom audit you need |
| need to be reviewed as well. If you have never had a | | | | to determine how to maintain your audit savings. If you |
| telecom audit performed, or if you thought that all | | | | don’t have the time to learn tariff, and if you |
| telecom audits were centered on long distance, you | | | | don’t have the staff to audit your bills on a |
| need to re-consider a tariff based analysis of all your | | | | monthly basis, perhaps you should consider outsourcing |
| telecom bills. Every company can benefit from having | | | | your telecom project. Many companies provide |
| all their telecom contracts reviewed on an annual basis. | | | | outsourcing to those in need of a telecom project |
| Here is a question for those of you with more than | | | | completed, or a monthly audit to maintain their telecom |
| one phone line on your telephone bill: Does your | | | | bills. The size of your billings will determine how often |
| telephone company provide you with an updated | | | | you will need to have your bills reviewed. If your |
| inventory of all your phone lines? The detailed | | | | company spends more than $150,000 on a monthly |
| information outlining your existing services is given to | | | | basis, you should consider a monthly audit. If your |
| you by your phone company through a Customer | | | | company has mergers or acquisitions on a regular |
| Service Record (CSR). Some of these CSRs look like | | | | basis you will need a telecom audit to keep track of |
| hieroglyphics. With a large corporation gaining | | | | the inventory and an experienced auditor can pay for |
| information from all the phone companies is time | | | | their services 20 times over. Would you like to have a |
| consuming and can be a headache. If you need a | | | | lot of months where you could say we are below |
| detailed inventory which will encompass all of your | | | | budget? The choice is yours. Telecom audit, |
| locations this can be provided by full service auditing | | | | outsourcing, or training each may be what your |
| firm. Why the need for a detailed inventory? Your | | | | company needs to get a handle on your telecom |
| company needs to know what fees are associated | | | | spending. |