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