Toll Fraud: The Sneak Attack

Discovering Toll Fraud is unfortunately an eye opener for most of us.  The reason I refer to it as the "Sneak Attack" is that in most cases we do no realize what's hit us until the invoice comes in at the end of the month. We find ourselves in react mode instead of proactive mode.  (sigh)

We all need to take a serious look at our PBX and start locking down points of entry. 

A few of the points of entry to monitor closely are the following:

• DISA:  Direct Inward System Access.  This method is a way into your PBX where associates need to dial back into the office and use the PBX dial tone to make calls out.  This application can be password protected to aid in the security of the application.  From my experience, this method is fraught with security issues and should be tightly controlled.  DISA is not one of my favorite applications as it can easily get out of control and misused/abused in an organization.
• voicemail password:  passwords should be as long as you can possibly make them without annoying the majority of the users.  The shorter the password length, the more you are prone to hackers.
• voice menus:  do not use simple passwords to your voice menus.  Passwords such as 1111 or 3333 are commonly used passwords that make it easy for hackers to gain access to your PBX and obtain dial tone to start placing calls.  Be it long distance or local calls, once your PBX is compromised, it can be crippling to your organization
• authorization codes:  some organizations use long distance authorization codes to allow their users to make long distance calls out of the PBX.  Monitor these codes closely and cancel them once an associate no longer works for your organization.
• calling cards:  monitor your reports closely and know your organization's call pattern.  Once an individual has left your organization, cancel the cards.  Calling cards are prime for misuse/abuse.  Much like a debit/credit card, the numbers can be memorized and unless you monitor your reports closely, you would not necessarily notice that a card is still being used long after employees have left.  These cards are also prime for "shoulder surfing".  If you use your card at an airport as an example, by punching in the numbers, hackers can easily make note of the digits on your card and reuse the card or sell the numbers, and again, no one is the wiser until you get your invoice.

I have heard horror stories around the misuse/abuse of some of these points of entry and in a lot of cases, it becomes "buyer beware" as your carrier may hold you liable for any of these costs. 

If you cannot recall the last time you did a security audit on your phone system, it might be wise to have one completed before you get in a reactive mode.  Your PBX vendor should be able to complete one for you at a minimal cost.

Let me know of horror stories you have come across?

Better to be proactive than reactive!

Is there any value in doing a Physical Telecom Site Inspection?

The value of conducting a physical inspection at each site should not be understated.  So, the answer to whether there is any value in performing one, is unequivocally, absolutely YES.  It should be part of your overall strategy to validate your inventory and your contract compliance.  Too often, we rely on equipment records (ERs) to complete a line inventory.  Although obtaining an inventory of circuits by using your ER and the site inspection are separate tasks, they are both as important as the other and are links to one another.  They both offer "eye opening" results. 

Become one with your cabling guy during this process.  They can be very informative in toning and tagging all of the circuits at each location.   

You would be surprised at the number of times small and mid-sized organizations are aghast at the results uncovered during this process.

We all have good intentions when doing renovations in our locations in cancelling unused circuits, but the reality is that this road is paved with good intentions and our busy lives get away from us and one month turns into another and then another and then the circuits are still being billed after several years.  Staff turnover, inaccurate record keeping and then we start scratching our heads wondering if a particular location is as efficient and cost effective as it should be.

I find great value in the above and have always been pleasantly surprised at the results.  Hope you will as well.

If you have completed a site inspection, let me know what the results have been?  Were you happy, indifferent or found no value in completing one?  I would love to hear how the process went for you?

TEM/WEM...what it is and what it is not.

TEM/WEM is a popular acronym in the Expense Management Industry.  It may be a very tiny acronym but it comes packed with a lot of punch! 

Wikipedia  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecom_Expense_Management_(TEM) describes TEM (Telecom Expense Management) and WEM (Wireless Expense Management) as a specialty financial discipline involving the application of systematic analysis to telecom service orders, inventory, bills regarding telecom services.

WHAT IT IS...is a combination of software and professional services to address telecom lifecyle processes within your organization and to benefit from the implementation of an effective solution.  I've re-posted the following blog which I found best describes the value of an expense and inventory management tool.

http://www.temia.org/expert-blogs/Telecom-Expense-Management-Today-and-a-Vision-for-the-Future-of-TEM.html

Doing your homework, will pay off in the long run.  AOTMP has asked the industry at large to rate their TEM/WEM provider.  Worth the read.
http://www.aotmp.com/index.php?id=267


I've included a case study to provide some insight into the benefits of working with your TEM/WEM provider.  
http://www.temia.org/case-studies/canadian-service-provider

WHAT IT IS NOT....is a short quick fix to solving an immediate need in reducing your expenses and the bottom line.  It does not offer the long term benefits obtained by working with your TEM/WEM provider. 

All in all, adopting and working with a TEM/WEM provider does offer a solution to controlling your telecom costs. 

Your Telecom Agent will have some insight into this whole process and should be able to guide you and help you source a provider that will meet your business needs.

Where do I start? (Part III)

On previous blogs related to this topic,  Where do I start? and  Where do I start? (Part II) I've mentioned several points relating to what your Telecom Agent can do for you.  Although not all Agents will offer all points discussed in my blog, these points are a list of topics to pick and choose from that you find are most important to you and your business. 

1. An Agent can manage your telecommunication contracts. They can help you review/audit your invoices so that you are better prepared for your contract negotiations. They can also review your contracts to hi-light any clauses that you might not necessarily regard as a flag. It must be said that contracts should also be reviewed by your internal Legal Department for their due diligence. Once your contract has been signed, your Agent can track for any renewal dates to help you renegotiate prior to expiry. More about this in a later blog.

2. Your Agent can assist with your Billing and Chargeback Management. By optimizing your usage policies you can increase your telecom savings, billing irregularities. Your Agent can also guide you in finding the right TEM/WEM provider. Oops another acronym. TEM and WEM (Telecom Expense Management and Wireless Expense Management) are widely known acronyms in the telecom industry and these are not only descriptors of the telecommunication vernacular but are also much valued service providers who are a fully integrated wire line and wireless Telecom Expense Management software suite and managed services portfolio that provide enterprises or SMBs the ability to comprehensively manage their current and planned unified communications environments. I will offer some opinions in a later blog regarding TEM/WEM services.

3. Your Agent can with or without the support of a TEM/WEM solution, assist with your claims recovery. They can identify errors in your invoices, follow up with vendors to handle missing or misapplied payments and even negotiate with vendors for late payment charges. There are basic free etools that can be used to assist with this process, although these are restricted to the telco/vendor’s services only. Keep in mind that there is a point in time where it is best to seek the services of a vendor who has the means to provide you with more robust portfolio. See point #2. Your Agent may be able help you if that is the direction that is best to meet your needs.

The topic of finding a Telecom Agent, can be daunting.  I hope that the points I am outlining in my blog are giving you some idea of what services can be offered to you. 
Your comments on any topics are always most welcomed. 

Quick fixes to telecom services

You definitely would like to cut back on costs as most of us do as we struggle through our economic times.  Finding savings is time consuming.  We want quick fixes and we want them now.  There are ways to get some quick returns if you take a few simple steps.

One is to pull all services together.  Build an inventory of your wireline, wireless, data, network, Long Distance invoices and any known contract details into a spreadsheet.  Make note of who the invoices belong to in your organization and the monthly costs. 

This would then move you into the second step which is the visibility needed to focus on these expenses.  You might be surprised at how quickly something stands out from a cost perspective or that a particular office has been closed for some time. 

I've completed these simple steps for clients in the past and have always found it to be an eye opener for clients.  Not only does it provide my clients with the visibility needed into their telecom spend, I always find it to be a great sense of accomplishment of a job well done.                                                 

There are of course pressures that require a more in-depth analysis of your services.  Some that come to mind are the scheduling and reviewing of telecom contracts, reporting and tracking the spend, optimizing wireless rate plans and features, centralizing invoices.  Even with the knowledge that these pressures are still valid and still need to addressed, the first few steps noted above will give you some quick returns. 

If you decide to engage the services of an expense management software solutions to control your costs, the above steps will be required documents in the overall process and the time spent initially will not have been wasted. 

If you are having a problem with the lack of independent experts to assist in the process of cost reduction, I can definitely lend a hand.

Where do I start? (Part II)

In an earlier blog,  Where do I Start? I talked a little about what your Telecom Agent can do for you. The following are a few more items for you to ponder.

1. An Agent will do the digging for you and will bring you options that meet your needs. They will research services/products and costs savings opportunities.


2. An Agent can manage the Vendor. Once you have established who your vendor will be, you can task your Agent to act on your behalf. This can be accomplished by funnelling all MACD through your Agent. (moves, adds, changes, disconnections). MACD?....Sounds like you may be ordering a hamburger but alas NO, this is one of those many acronyms that is thrown into a rather large bucket of other telco/vendor managed USOC (Universal Service Order Code). I’ll talk more about USOC in a later blog.

For now, just keep in mind that these codes are what the telco/vendor uses to link up to the billing platform to produce your invoices. Through your Agent, this will become a single ordering processing system which will allow for business continuity in order processing, order integration with the telco/vendor and facilitates the streamlining of all billing. Your Agent ordered it, and you can rest assured that you are being billed correctly and your Agent can easily explain the charges to you. The Agent becomes your single point of contact for all telecommunication services helping reduce your administrative hassles.

Ask for references from your Agent and do call these references to get a sense of what the Agent has completed for them. Word of mouth can go a long way in beginning to build a long term relationship with your trusted Agent.

Your telecom Invoice

You've just received your first invoice. Be it for wireline, wireless, IP, data, long distance, or any invoice (telecom related or not)....it's finally arrived. Your next step is to pay it, right? Fairly simple process. It looks correct then it must be correct. You pause, and then the thought crosses your mind. Should you take the time to read and understand your charges. Your phone is ringing, and a colleague just walked in to discuss a potential problem. You still have to get ready for your meeting. So, you take one last look at the bill and put it through for your company's internal payment process. You tell yourself that you will go back and look at it in more detail later today! NOT likely. A good majority of us have the best intentions, but life and time just simply gets away from us.

A little story to share. A year or so back, I had negotiated a long distance rate for a customer. The contract was signed and I advised the customer to monitor their first invoice to ensure that the correct rate had been applied.

3 months later after several reminders to the customer to check their invoice, it was discovered that the rate had not been applied after all. I worked with the vendor to obtain a credit and ensure that the rate was finally added for the customer. Needless to say, I now pull variance reports for this customer and have further developed the trust that we initially shared.

Some companies do not have the in-house expertise to take the time to ensure that their invoices are correct. There are a lot of ebilling tools available today that can help with invoice management. Some are free of charge; others are more in-depth managed services. All are great tools at your disposal.

In my opinion, any and all are worth the effort to help you reduce your costs and reap immediate benefits!

Mergers and Acquisitions

In my experiences, this topic has the power to take on a life of it's own.  I have built quite a history in helping clients with this task so I speak from a place that is quite familiar to me.  There are a few acronyms out there that are used to refer to this function;  TOO, TBO, 1404: Assumption of Contractual Obligations to name a few.  This is simply a document that is signed by both parties (outgoing customer and incoming customer) to acknowledge the approval of the release of your services to another party.  It sounds real simple and it is, logically speaking. 

Reality however is a different story.  As long as you go in with the understand that it could take anywhere from 3 to 6 months for the changes to take effect with the vendor, then you have not set any unrealistic expectations.  The changes could take less time, in which case you're laughing. 

Some key points for you to know:

1. A Business Credit Form may need to be filled in by the new customer if they do not currently have any services with the vendor.  This takes time; plan for it.
2. Some smaller incumbents may not be as strict with their requirements and a simple letter on company letterhead from both parties stating the release and the acceptance of the services is sufficient for the transfer to take place.
3. Consider all of the services and ensure that you have a complete list of what is being signed over.  Don't assume that the vendor will know which of your services are being transferred.
4. Include a separate letter advising the vendor which person is authorized to complete the changes on your company's behalf  otherwise, the person who has signed the documents will be the person who will be notified/called with all of the subsequent questions the vendor may have.  If your CFO/President signed the release, then they will be getting the calls.  I think you get where I'm going with this.  This is when your letter authorizing your Agent to act on your behalf will come in very handy.  They will manage the transfers for you which will be all transparent to you.
5. Some vendors will not accept the transfers unless and until the account is paid to current.
6. Some vendors will not prorate the charges, so if you sign off on the transfer to be completed mid month of your billing cycle, you will then need to discuss and work out any prorated charges with the new customer.
7. Ensure that all of the documents are properly filled in and legible.  This may cause unnecessary delays since some vendors are more particular than others on the completeness of the documents.
8. Make sure that you know who all of your vendors are.  You may have a different vendor for your long distance services than from your local access services or managed services.
9. It is important to know what services/contracts will expire or no longer be provided with the transfer to a new customer.
10. A deposit may be requested of the new customer.
11. Some vendors will charge for the transfer to be completed.  Much like placing any other programming order with the vendor.  Typically the new owners will see this charge on their first invoice.

I always discover new challenges when completing these documents on behalf of my customers.

My motto is:  BE PREPARED.

Where do I start?

You have been mandated to take on the wonderful experience and sometimes hilarious and complex world of outsourcing. You need to find a Telecom Agent who will be your eyes and ears in the convoluted world of telecommunications. Where to start! I recently read an article that laid it out in a nutshell. Unless you have the in-house expertise, this is an area that is best left to those who have the patience, humour and knowledge of the industry. Trust me on this one.....Lots of patience is needed and this sprinkled with humour will keep your Agent going like the energizer bunny. There are so many things to consider and the list of services that an Agent may or may not offer is so widespread that it is hard to determine a finite structure. For this reason, I will break this into several posts related to the topic at hand. This is in no means a definitive list of services, however, it is written with a bit of humour and a safe place to land where you can obtain food for thought. I hope you enjoy reading it.

1. A Telecom Agent takes a holistic approach to the industry and will give you the good, the bad and the ugly and you can tap into their wealth of knowledge since this is what they breathe, eat and sleep.

2. An Agent understands your business needs and preferences. This is a relationship that is nurtured and will sustain the test of time whereas you may need to repeat your needs to the telco/vendor every few years when they rotate their Account team. This can be painful if you are dealing with more than one telco/vendor.

3. An Agent has your best interest at heart and is invested in your success. Let me simply say that the benefits of utilizing a Telecom Agent can be a blessing when you start weighing the efficiencies gained for the Payable function such as electronic invoicing, electronic payment, automate ways to reduce errors, maintain more accurate records and speed up the payable process. Other huge benefits are the single point of accountability, the reduced Administrative hassles, cost reduction, maximizing efficiencies, immediate results and win back productivity time for internal resources along with simplified streamlined processes.

Definitely more on this topic in a future blog.

My Bucket of Knowledge

Firstly, let me tell you a little about bit about myself.

I have been in the telecom industry for 28 years now and have enjoyed everything bit of it. I’ve had some good laughs, some long days, some great experiences and I’ve also had my share of ups and downs. I’ve bumped into quite a few hurdles, large and small, which in hindsight, have all contributed to my bucket of knowledge over time.

I have had the pleasure of working with a lot of great colleagues in the industry who have all contributed to my love of it. Now that my bucket runneth over, I recently thought, "What better way than to share my bucket in the form of a blog?" Let’s face it... if I didn’t love it, I wouldn’t still be here. So it’s all relatively good!

I’ll post my stories from time to time on telecom related subjects and hope that they bring on a smile or that I get to chat with interested folks around the rim of my bucket. It has been said that you should write about something you know or something that you are passionate about. Well for me, that would be Telecommunications.

My blogs are in no way meant to paint the industry with any negativity, because it is a fabulous industry to be part of and it is what it is. My blogs are strictly my opinion and a place where I can share my encounters.