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The 5 Most Common Local Telephone Billing Errors
After over 100 years of practice, telephone companies still
cannot seem to get it right. In a study of clients over a
five-year period, TelCon Associates
found that 77.4% were incorrectly charged on one or more of
their telecom bills. The bulk of these errors were uncovered
primarily for local and intralata services.
While the percentage of errors is high, billing errors usually
account for only a small portion of total savings during telecommunications
audits.
Nevertheless, it is a good idea to be familiar with the most
common errors that will appear on your local telephone bills.
Keep in mind that errors may take the form of "overbilling"
and/or "underbilling".
Routine examination of your local phone bills will, sooner or
later, turn up the one or more of the following most common
types of errors:
#1 - Intermittent Errors
Intermittent errors are just as the name implies - they appear
on a non-regular basis. This type of error is usually associated
with the "Other Charges and Credits" pages of the phone bill.
Examples of intermittent errors may include:
Other charges and credits for installation or changes are often
found to be incorrect, especially for services provided under
many negotiated deals or contracts. Incorrect applications for
refunds or credit adjustments is another typical intermittent
error. Surprisingly, you may find this error soon after your
carrier representative has agreed to the refund or credit!
Charges for uncompleted calls are sometimes found on billings
from two types of vendors-resellers using feature group A
connections to carrier central offices, and vendors that are
reselling service from a virtual private network.
Facility malfunctions can result in you being charged for lines
that are not working resulting in higher charges for usage
forced onto other lines or services.
#2 - Recurring Errors
Recurring errors are the result of incorrect information and
data in the vendors' customer service records. These types of
errors can be very costly simply because they appear each and
every month until they are corrected.
Examples may include: inventory discrepancies, contract
discrepancies, differences in tariff or rating regarding grade
of service, mileage charges, enhancements, etc.
Recurring errors are not as easily uncovered as are intermittent
errors. This type of error can only be corrected through a
thorough audit of customer service records. A routine
examination of phone bills will not reveal all
recurring errors.
#3 - Tax Errors
Tax errors are most commonly associated with exemptions or
incorrect taxing districts. When facilities are taxed
incorrectly, the associated usage charges may also be taxed
incorrectly. Examples of tax errors may include:
- Taxes being collected after exemption has been filed (a copy
of the applicable exemption certificate or earlier exempt
billing will verify the overbilling)
-Exempt account without authorization
-Taxes applied for wrong jurisdiction
-Taxes applied despite statutes or rulings exempting them
For more basic information on telecom taxes, refer to this
newsletter article - Understanding the Taxes Imposed on Telecom Bills.
#4 - Metering and Database Errors
These types of errors are commonly associated with local and
long-distance calling charges. They can occur through metering
malfunctions or clerical transcription errors. Examples include:
-Double metering (easy to identify since each call is shown
twice and in complete detail)
-Charges for incomplete calls .
-Usage from a different subscriber (another easily identifiable
error-charge for another individual's line number will appear on
carrier bill)
#5 - Telecom Agent Errors
Agent errors continue to be a problem as more and more agents
are accepting either partial or end-to-end responsibility for
service segments provided by vendors.
Agent misfeasance occurs when a supplier orders or assumes
responsibility for service segments provided by several
different carriers or vendors, then fails to exercise
responsibility for those services. Examples may include:
-Local lines ordered and installed by equipment vendor or IXC.
(In the event those lines are no longer needed, the agent is
nowhere to be found to cancel the unused lines and services!)
-Excessive or sub-optimum facilities installed
-Promises of credits or changes that fail to materialize
Telecom billing errors will never disappear. However, even a
little knowledge in what kinds of errors to look for can go a
long way in reducing telecom expenses.
About the author:
Karen Thatcher is President of TelCon Associates, a 32 year old
telecom consulting and management firm. TelCon Associates helps
companies gain control and reduce telecom/IT spending through a
guaranteed cost-reduction consulting process. For more
information and free resources to help you reduce telecom
spending visit: http://www.telconassociates.com
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