Gartner reports telecom bills are riddle with errors

Gartner Reports Telecom Bills are Riddled with Errors by Lisa Santora

Gartner's report "North American MSBs Seek Cost-Saving Opportunities" states that "Telecom bills for voice and data are often riddled with errors, not discovered for many years." In today's cost-conscious environment enterprises cannot afford such telecom billing errors which eat into already strained telecom budgets. Deploying a telecom expense management tool provided by call accounting software systems can help enterprises identify cost savings and make invoice reconciliation easier through automating processes that when performed manually, rob companies of valuable time and money.

With enterprise offices located around the globe and wireless phone users complicating call detail records tracking, it isn't any wonder that companies find bill reconciliation difficult. Often each office location receives its own separate set of carrier invoices; with many of these numbering in the hundreds of pages and containing confusing line items for services that were disconnected. Manual telecom bill reconciliation often cannot catch the numerous errors contained in most invoices. Managers assigned to bill reconciliation can reclaim valuable time spent by deploying a call accounting and invoice management system that can automate these functions and indicate where cost savings can be made. This information can put a company in a good bargaining position when the time comes for carrier contract negotiation.
Couple cost savings with easy Web-based access via a browser from any desktop computer, and telecom expense management software offers compelling benefits to enterprises looking for ways to stretch their telecom budgets. Another key feature that can potentially pay for the cost of deploying a call accounting system is its ability to track suspicious call activity. Toll fraud is a global problem as evidenced by this m-net article "PABX hackers rack up $9000 phone bill."

The article reports on hackers breaking into an Australian company's network and running up an AU $9,000 bill within one week. Call accounting software systems can alert companies to attacks on the system. Users can set their own toll fraud alert parameters specific to their calling patterns and business environment. The combination of cost savings and security benefits makes a telecom expense management system a solid investment for today's enterprise.

Author, Lisa Santora, writes articles on the business benefits of call accounting and call detail record technology. More information can be found at http://www.telsoft-solutions.com.