| honesty is rampant on planet Earth, and the Telecom | | | | keep secure their passwords and authorization codes, |
| industry is far from immune to unscrupulous individuals | | | | just as they would their credit card information. When |
| who seek to defraud your company. While an | | | | employees are made aware of the reality of toll fraud |
| effective Telecom Expense Management (TEM) | | | | and what can be done about them, they can become |
| system provides the tools for detecting instances of | | | | proactive in catching and reporting suspicious calling |
| toll fraud, here are some tips that can help curb toll | | | | patterns. The AT&T website provides information on |
| fraud, even if your company doesn't have a TEM | | | | how to spot suspicious calling patterns. |
| system yet. | | | | Employees should be informed of where to report any |
| Toll fraud is the fraudulent, illegal use of a company's | | | | suspicious calls, so that appropriate corrective action |
| telecommunications system by a third party from a | | | | can be taken promptly. Also, measures should be |
| remote location. According to a report from The | | | | taken to keep PBX and other equipment secure. |
| University of Texas, it is estimated that toll fraud in the | | | | Passwords should not be obvious and be changed |
| United States exceeds one billion dollars per year and | | | | periodically. |
| continues to rise. And in 1992, Bell Canada blocked | | | | A good Call Accounting system can provide improved |
| calling card calls to overseas destinations, as calling | | | | security and an excellent return on investment (ROI) |
| card fraud was causing them to lose half a million | | | | by alerting security or management personnel to |
| dollars per day. | | | | unusual and suspicious calling patterns. |
| The damage to a business due to toll fraud is not | | | | Call accounting provides another way to clamp down |
| limited to inflated telephone bills. For example, | | | | on unauthorized and fraudulent calls by billing back |
| productive employees may be frustrated by not being | | | | telecom charges to the various departments. When a |
| able to get an outside line that has been taken over by | | | | department head suddenly gets a much increased |
| a fraudster. And customers trying to call in and finding | | | | telephone bill, it immediately becomes clear that |
| the line busy may end up taking their business | | | | something has gone awry. |
| elsewhere. | | | | Fraud detection is but a small part of a complete |
| Even though no foolproof system exists to prevent toll | | | | Telecom Expense Management system, which can |
| fraud, there is much that can be done by being alert | | | | provide additional functionality such as phone bill |
| and taking some preventive security measures. There | | | | tracking and asset management. |
| is no substitute for awareness and diligence in | | | | For more information on Call Accounting and Telecom |
| preventing telecom fraud. | | | | Cost Management, visit Telsoft Solutions. |
| Employee education is vital. Employees should know to | | | | |