A study conducted by Avema Corporation revealed that most medium to large companies in Canada are regularly overcharged on their telecom costs, and that these companies could recover anywhere between $10,000 to $500,000 or more. If the right procedures were in place, these billing errors could have been detected earlier and the overcharges avoided.
“Expensive billing errors are often buried within complex telecom invoices and many organizations do not have the time, resources or a system in place to uncover all these errors,” says Roger Yang, president of Avema. “Most telcos have old and very complex billing software, and data entry into this software is prone to human error.”
“But companies can take action. We recently helped a medium size software company obtain a refund of over $100,000, and we’ve helped other clients retrieve costs that represented 20 percent or more of their annual telecommunications spend.”
Yang adds that about 95 per cent of his clients realize an unexpected refund, or at least a significant cost savings. The key is to regularly review and manage telecommunications charges, which are often one of a company’s top five expenses.
Common billing errors to look out for:
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After circuits or phone lines have been disconnected, verify that each component is taken off the monthly bill.
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Check invoice charges against the actual contract. It’s surprising how often new contract rates are not put in place
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If your contract specifies a one-time or periodic credit, make sure that those credits are applied.
Yang says that more businesses now recognize the need for outside help to review costs, streamline telecommunications management and eventually recover overpayments. To give clients control over their telecom costs, Avema offers its Advanced Vendor Management (AVM) system. The AVM system includes a comprehensive audit of telecommunications costs and gives companies visibility into those complex invoices.
Avema Corporation is a Canadian based firm providing telecom cost management and telecom auditing services. Founded in 1995, the company recently formed the Avema Global Alliance, a multinational network of service providers that help large companies to manage their telecommunications costs.
The companies in the study employed between 250 to 10,000 staff, and the refunds obtained were typically for overcharges over a one to four year period.
