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Semi-annually review your Customer Service Records (CSR). This is the easiest way to examine bundled charges for monthly reoccurring services that don’t typically get detailed on your phone bill. The CSR will magnify the "fine print" for charges that get overlooked and can have a significant effect on the average
monthly recurring costs. |
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If you move, change service providers, or convert your service from analog to digital trunks, make sure you have a plan to discontinue your existing services. Often when "provisioning" occurs - the process of transferring lines from one telco to another - not all lines get provisioned. The customer then receives
invoices from both the former and the new service provider.
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Prior to DSL and other high-speed Internet access services, modem lines proliferated for the purpose of accessing E-mail and the Internet. When businesses convert to a high-speed Internet connection, the legacy modem lines are often left in service, although they are not used, simply because they were not expressly
discontinued. |
While understanding your current billing is important, it is equally crucial to monitor whether your ongoing telecommunication costs are going up or down or remaining constant. To do this
you need to audit call volumes to arrive at the average call cost for the business. The simplest way to do this is to divide the total amount of your monthly bill by the number of call minutes used during that month.
You now have a benchmark average call cost which you can use each month
to measure whether your charges are remaining constant or are going up
and down. You also have a benchmark for negotiating what you pay for
your telecommunications.
I cautions that it can be difficult to establish the average call cost for a business. Your company may have several different accounts, possibly with different suppliers, and you will need to decipher the
information in each account before you can establish the average call cost.
I believe that the telephone bill, properly interpreted, can be the source of vital management information for businesses. Think about it. Every business these days exists through communications. The
majority of that communication is recorded in one way or another in the phone bill. The pay-off for a detailed understanding of the phone bill is not just a smaller phone bill, it is also an opportunity to gain a better understanding of just how, when and with whom your company is communicating and that in itself can lead to more effective
communication and better business."
For more
information about Jack Bogle and services provided by Access Business
Communications, Inc. visit ABCI
Software and E-Publishing.
