Are Employees Costing Your Company a Small Fortune?

Are Employees Costing Your Company a Small5 Things You Can Do Immediately To Identify and
Fortune?Stop Telecom Abuses by Employees
When it comes to telecom costs, many companies in1.)Establish a written company policy for employee
America are being ripped off right under their noses.telecom usage. Make an inventory of all the services
The culprit? Employees.and features that your company utilizes, then break it
"Company workers can knowingly and inadvertentlydown and list acceptable usage for each company
cost a company a small fortune in unnecessarydepartment. For example, sales people who are on the
telecom spending", says Karen Thatcher, CEO ofroad constantly will have more wireless usage or
TelCon Associates, a telecom management andcalling card privileges than someone who spends more
consulting firm. "Employee abuses can be as innocenttime at the home office.
as using pay-per-use features that can and should be2.)Block unnecessary pay-per-use features on local
blocked to outright and systematic fraud. The goodservice plans. With the exception of directory
news is that all companies can eliminate these abusesassistance, most local service providers can block
with routine diligence, strict company policies andunwanted pay-per-use features. Your local package
common sense."may include some features that were previously billed
Here are some illustrative examples that show howon a per-use basis. Check with your local carrier to
the innocent and blatant employee abuses candetermine the features you want, and then block
skyrocket your company's telecom bills...others that can be easily abused. These would include
Abuse #1 - Jerry is a conscientious and faithfulfeatures like directory-assistance call completion; call
employee, constantly on the lookout for ways to savereturn, 3 way calling, and especially 900 number
the company money. At home, Jerry saves moneyservices.
when calling his out-of-state friends and relatives by3.)Block all inbound collect calls. Accepting collect calls
dialing 10-10-XXX before he dials the area code andcan be a huge expense if done on a regular basis.
number. 3 cents per minute is a much better rate thanCalls that originate from state penitentiaries are
the 7 cents per minute rate the company gets, Jerryhandled through a company called Correctional Billing
reasons. Sounds smart, until you consider a 25 - 99Services. If you find this company name included on
cent minimum charge per call is incurred every time aany bills, then an employee is accepting collect calls
call is completed using 10-10-XXX services. Since mostfrom an inmate inside a prison or correctional facility. If
calls from work result in Jerry leaving a short voicemailthe line is reaching a DID number, then it is easy to
message, the net rate Jerry is costing the company istrack the culprit accepting the calls. If not, it may be
25 cents to as high as 99 cents per minute!more difficult to determine just who is receiving the
Abuse #2 - Linda's dreams were shattered when hercalls. You can and should block collect calls from being
fiancé was arrested for drug possession andaccepted. Call your local exchange carrier and let them
sentenced to 3-5 years in the state penitentiary. On aknow all the lines you would like blocked.
tight budget, Linda cannot afford the collect calls she4.)Designate and train one or more employees to
receives from him to stay in touch. One day shereview bills on a monthly basis. Most employee abuses
nervously accepted his call during her lunch hour. To becan be uncovered with routine auditing of local phone
on the safe side, she then allowed two full months tobills. Assign one or more employees to thoroughly
pass to see if anyone would notice the charges. Sincereview the bills each and every month. In doing so, you
no one routinely (every month!) audits the companywill uncover not only employee abuses but also a wide
telecom bills, Linda now enjoys frequent conversationsvariety of abuse and fraud by the carriers themselves!
with her incarcerated fiancé from the comfort5.)Consider outsourcing your telecom department to an
her desk - compliments of the company! Knowing sheexperienced telecom bill management firm. Many
can get away with this abuse, Linda now routinely callscompanies are now utilizing telecom bill management
a local Date-Line 900 service to "keep her optionsand consulting firms to take care of every aspect of
open" on the dating scene. The cost? $1.95 per minute.their telecom departments. For a small fee per bill, you
Abuse #3 - Bill has always believed the old saying,can have all the headaches and time-consuming tasks
"time is money". In fact, efficiency is the one trait Billof bill paying, moves/adds/changes, and monthly
attributes to his sales success and companyauditing done for you. They will uncover employee and
advancement. That's why he uses directorycarrier abuses and fix them as they occur. This kind of
assistance and directory assistance call-completionarrangement can easily pay for itself and eliminates
whenever he needs it - from his desk and his cellthe need for a salaried employee to spend time
phone when traveling. He saves valuable time notreviewing and paying bills and especially dealing with
having to look up phone numbers himself and thentelecom carriers each time a line or feature is added,
manually dial the number. Bill is unaware that to offsetremoved or changed.
falling rates, telecom carriers have increased fees forTelecom overspending can be a real source of waste
these "pay-per-use" charges enormously since thein any company. The bigger the company, the chances
Telecom Act of 1996. Directory assistance can incurfor employee abuses grow. Make it a point to
charges of $1.25 or more per use. Add call completionimplement the steps you need to take to identify and
to the mix and charges reach $1.60 or more per use.eliminate these abuses. Failing to eliminate employee
Imagine having a few hundred employees using theseabuses could be costing your company a small fortune
services just once per day - every working day of thein unnecessary telecom spending.
year!