Guide To Call Cost Reduction

Even if a company has already moved from BT to an alternative provider, there are still opportunities to further reduce costs. Many companies fail to actively monitor or audit their usage and charges, and in the process miss the opportunity to save money.

Now is the time to be doing so. Businesses should ask themselves a few simple questions;

• Have we recently reduced our head count?
• Do we still need all the lines / channels in use?
• Does the company have a phone policy for misuse of phones?
• When did we last carry out an audit on our phone services?

Voice communications are often taken for granted, yet it is at the core of your business; without it you cannot operate. Today, not only do you have the challenge of meeting the communications needs of your business but also those of your customers.

A company needs a telecoms partner that can provide calls and lines at competitive rates whilst maintaining the highest quality. Keeping costs to a minimum is an important factor, but price is just one aspect; the ability to analyse and understand call patterns is a vital insight into the operation of a business.

Converged billing provides a single bill solution for all calls and lines. In addition, your telecoms partner’s billing software should be capable of providing bills that have detailed analysis of voice expenditure, including most frequently used numbers, time of calls and most expensive calls. There should be a web portal giving access to more powerful tools to interrogate your business voice expenditure. The portal should use the latest generation of call data analysis software to enable indepth analysis of fully itemised billing call data records. In addition, extensive data filtering and report production options should allow for comprehensive information and analysis. All reports should be viewable on screen, in colour and be capable of being exported as a delimited file.

Having made the decision to carry out an audit, there are some essential questions that need to be asked.

Firstly, make sure that you are under no contractual obligation with your incumbent provider. Even if you are, it may still be possible to transfer your services to an alternative provider if they are prepared to cover any early termination charges. Businesses should also ask a potential supplier the following:

• Do you use a Tier 1 carrier?
• Can you provide a tariff comparison against the incumbent provider?
• What is the contract term?
• Can you have a copy of the Terms and Conditions?
• Can you provide an example of the detailed billing I will receive?
• Are there any set-up fees or connection charges?
• What if I have a fault with my telephone line; do you provide 24 x 7 support?
• Will I have an Account Manager who will sit down and explain things to me?
• What other services can you provide?

Once you have made your choice of provider, ensure that you have a complete schedule of the services you wish to transfer. Remember, any services that are not transferred to your new provider will need to be terminated with the incumbent. Ensure that you write to your incumbent provider advising them that you will be transferring services, and that you are giving the stated number of days notice as per your terms and conditions. Avoid the words ‘ceasing service’ as some providers will literally cease your lines and this will result in a complete loss of service and possible loss of telephone numbers.

If you haven’t reviewed your telephone call charges, don’t miss out on the opportunity to save and reduce your costs.