As a professional telecommunications audit professional, I’ve been bucking the Telecommunications Expense Management (TEM) software trend for many years now.  But lately,  I’ve come around as I’ve seen the magic and technological wizardry and ultimate cost savings first hand that TEM truly offers. I am sold on TEM and I’m ready to tell the world that TEM has finally arrived and is truly ready for prime time.  As I’ve reviewed and sat in on various TEM presentations and as a CEO of a company myself, and have now actually used many of the TEM software applications, I must say I’m now convinced that TEM software helps me better manage company costs and reduce expense.  If it is good enough for me, it’s good enough for my telecom audit clients.  Perhaps we should even change the name from telecom expense management software to telecom audit software.

TEM software offers value and allows for automated telecom audit and telecom service reviews which ultimately results in significant cost savings for many kinds of businesses.  TEM software can help businesses not only save money on their telecommunications services but also allow for far better control over invoices.   Control is so very important because telecom billing across the large business enterprise is so complicated and many enterprises have lost the ability to consistently have control over telecommunications expense.  Cost savings and control was something that traditionally only human auditors could accomplish, however, automated TEM software tools compliment the skills of the human auditor.

Does this mean that the manual telecommunications audit is dead and that telecom auditors are a dying breed?  No, however, the further that I delve into what TEM has to offer and see the benefits, the more that it is evident that both the manual audit and automated TEM tools can co-exist and actually benefit and compliment one another.  In fact, traditional auditors can still add value to the TEM marketplace and like myself, they can successfully offer TEM software applications to their clients because it finds errors that a human auditor can easily miss.

Here is a breakdown of what TEM software now offers businesses and how it can help with the telecommunications audit process:

1. Ability to reap huge telecom cost savings and establish control over telecom services and billing
2. Effectively Identify, track and file billing disputes
3. *Robust reporting package
4. *Centralization, simplification of the telecommunications billing network
5. *Online access to the program from anywhere
6. *Software backup of TEM program
7. *Allocate costs to all or some users and cost centers
8. *Successfully audit a wide range of telecom services effectively
9. *Compliment a manual telecom audit
10. *All billing media can be loaded into the program
11. *Best pricing advantage across the enterprise
12. *Increased speed of processing telecommunications invoices, approval and audit
13. *Increased Budgeting effectiveness
14. *Better ordering processes for new services
15. *Telecom Billing interpretation and review in foreign languages

Do you like what you’re reading?  Want to try TEM software and a telecommunications audit at no out of pocket cost to your company?  Contact the telecom audit pros, or call 1-888-487-5326.

How have TEM software vendors accomplished the feat of producing a product that can perform all of this magic from a remote server? First, the speed of delivery and processing invoices and formatting the data into an understandable format and reporting form for the end user.  TEM utilizes Electronic Data Interface (EDI) technology which allows a single large telecom invoice or many invoices to be downloaded from the carrier and processed for error review the very day it is created!  EDI allows a client’s phone bills to be sent directly from the telecom carrier to a server that the TEM software resides on so that it can be quickly processed and accessed by the client.  This allows for quicker a processing and breakdown of those hard to understand phone invoices and faster reporting of errors and tracking and notification of problems.  Ultimately, this gives us all more immediate control over our telecom costs across the enterprise.  Also, not only do we get immediate useable data, unlike a complicated telephone bill, the TEM software format is much more easily understood.  Again, it comes down to more control.

Some TEM vendors have also developed techniques to allow processing of  all kinds of billing media, from paper invoices, CDROM billing formats and even faxed invoices to be optically scanned and utilized for TEM applications for those invoices that cannot be accessed through EDI.  Although, the majority of carrier billing systems today can provide EDI interface there are still a few that cannot.  Therefore, some TEM providers have made provisions for input of these kinds of invoices into the software for processing.  This allows the TEM provider to process everything with no exceptions and it allows for centralized control over the billing enterprise.

Moreover, TEM applications can manage everything from directly notifying the carriers of problems to accepting and processing new orders and making sure that contract rates and tariffs are applied correctly across all services.

TEM is a dependable way to help dramatically cut many kinds of costs, and it makes sense also that TEM can also be utilized as part of a contingency fee-based business model for existing audit companies that offer TEM as part of the  package to their clients.  Why?  Because the savings from implementing a telecom expense management plan can actually produce enough cost savings to  pay for the program.

Another value that TEM brings us is the ability to manage telecom over wide regions and large numbers of services.  TEM allows the auditor to better scrutinize many more services, from long distance to local, from wireless to data, from PBX and VOIP maintenance service contracts to calling cards.  This was previously all but impossible for even a large group of telecom auditors for client companies who were billing millions of dollars a month in telecommunications services.

Finally, the reporting function of TEM is absolutely phenomenal.  For example, if you need budget numbers and breakdown by cost centers (we always do) I now have immediate information and not just a summary of the total telecom spend across the enterprise.  I can now break spend down by company telecom services, geographical location or cost center in a matter of minutes instead of days.  I can break down telecom spend data in so many ways now and so can you.   Invoice error and exception reports are available with a keystroke each month.  Once you locate the errors, you can send off a email note to the carrier with your refund request, all in the same process.

In summary, things usually change for the better and so has traditional telecom auditing and TEM.  It is time to examine TEM for your enterprise and use this great tool to compliment the skills we as telecom auditors have honed so well over the years.

Are you interested in contingency-fee based telecommunications audit services and/or TEM software applications for your company? BottaBoom now offers automated TEM software and audit cost savings for its clients.  Schedule a free telecommunications expense management demonstration today for your business.  Contact us at this link: Contact the telecom audit pros, or call 1-888-487-5326.

The benefits to participating telecom auditors, will be the ability to gain insights into the issues that prospective clients are dealing with in real time, giving us the opportunity to feel the pulse of any new strategies from the carriers that affect us as an industry.

You can view the forum and sign up here:

http://telecomauditforum.telecomauditmanagement.com

The rules for the first two categories are as follows:

First Category
“Telecom Audit Support – Answers for Business Telecom Managers by Telecom Audit Experts”.

This is where telecom managers will post their questions and off limits to telecom auditor introductions and self promotion postings, any introductions or self promoting posts will cause the offending member to be excluded from posting in the future and the post will be removed from the forum.

Second Category
“Telecom Audit Consultants – Short Introductions from the Telecom Audit Consultants who are Members”.

This is where you can post an introduction about yourself, your company or your specialties. Keep it short and concise, any long introduction of over 100 words will be deleted (my first paragraph on this post is 103 words), and if it continues to happen the offender will be removed from the forum.

In order to make this forum a success, cooperation to support the site must be made in the way of getting the word out, so if any of you, who are bloggers, can suggest this forum as an additional source to obtain help with telecom auditing to your readers, it will help. Any links back to this forum from telecom auditing sites will help build value with Google, so that it appears on search results.

I know that in the beginning, the forum is going to have a bunch of introductions from telecom auditors and very few posts from telecom managers asking questions but in the long run we may be able to create something of value to us all.

The moderator, Victor Dietz is open to suggestions, so feel free to post them.

http://telecomauditforum.telecomauditmanagement.com

About the forum moderator: Victor Dietz is the president and founder of Dietz Communications, Located in Kansas City, Missouri. DC Provides a wealth of Telecom knowledge to clients in the fields of Telecom Expense Management, Telecom Auditing, Mobile Wireless and Network Management. Their website can be accessed at: http://www.telecomexpensemanagement.org/

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve started a new relationship with a client whose telecommunications invoices totaled several thousand dollars a month across a wide network of locations, and the company employed only one (unqualified) person to manage all their telecom billing and ordering. Unfortunately, the result is always the same: these companies had been unknowingly hemorrhaging money for years by overpaying outrageous sums and erroneous charges for their telecom services.

Bringing in a professional telecommunications consultant (AKA, a temporary telecom manager) with appropriate resources and experience makes sense. This can effectively fix ineffective cost management and show quick, dramatic results. In today’s economy, you could easily bring in an outside expert on a temporary basis, because many great former telecom managers are out of work and working as consultants. Why not take advantage of this win-win opportunity?

Why do so many company executives still insist on using an in-house employee to manage their telecom billing? I have come to realize that they just don’t understand why this doesn’t usually work to their best advantage. They are stuck in old ways of thinking – not like the competent businesspeople they usually are.

Not only is it unfair to dump telecom management duties on some unfortunate, ill-prepared employee, but these poor souls are also destined for ultimate failure and blame. Having a person inexperienced in the intricacies of managing complex telephone bills is not conducive to running a solid, more profitable business.

A great many employees who manage the telecommunications function in-house have been assigned the task because it’s been delegated from management, often because no one else wants to do it – not because they are qualified to take on the role. These employees often fail, and not because they don’t want to do a good job. It’s because they have not had the necessary cost-cutting education that consultants get by routinely working with hundreds of different telecom vendors, a wide variety of complicated billing technologies, constantly changing promotions and special offers, and executing proven cost-saving processes.

What’s more, in the recent past throughout corporate America, many valuable in-house telecom managers were phased out as VOIP and IT-intensive services and technologies took over, making some of their formerly valuable services expendable. Nevertheless, those same telecom managers are still available to lend their telecommunications audit expertise as valuable business consultants who can still help companies save money. They have the background and experience to help.

Another reason small companies lack competent employees to oversee telecom activities is that many medium-sized companies believe that they cannot afford to hire someone with experience. This is a huge mistake. Employees who manage telecommunications costs that total over $50,000 each month usually justify their salaries with the cost-saving techniques they bring to their job. Your investment pays off with their expert industry knowledge, negotiation skills, and ability to get your company the best price for telecommunications services. This type of employee – as well as cost consultants – should be able to justify their existence through the actual cost savings they produce.

For smaller companies, finding an in-house qualified person to manage telecommunications vendors and telephone spending is not realistic. For companies spending less than $50,000 each month, the expense of a full-time employee to manage the phone bills is not usually a good financial investment. Instead, these businesses should rent a telecommunications manager-consultant, even if it’s for a only a few months. This person can cut spending and get control of your telecommunications billing network. It makes great financial sense, and it works because great savings are always produced.

Smart business people bring highly qualified, objective and impartial outside professionals (AKA, a temporary telecom manager) on board to manage and audit their company’s telecom spending. Contingency-fee-based project management consultants are a great way to do this. Since there is no out-of-pocket cost, there is no risk. If the consultant doesn’t generate savings, there is no cost.

Proven management consultants can save many more times their actual fees by doing the specialized telecommunications work for companies. These consultants understand that when entering into a consulting relationship that the work is not permanent. They are expected to evaluate the current situation, clean things up, produce dramatic cost savings and depart.

The byproduct of a consultant’s participation is a more profitable bottom line to the clients and companies served. Some would argue that companies should just hire a telecom expense management company to take away the task. However, the main difference between a telecom auditor and a telecom expense management company is that telecom expense management companies are there for the long run, and you might find yourself somewhat stuck with them. With a temporary telecom manager, a short-term expert fixes problems and leaves you with a smooth-running operation.

For most executives, it makes more sense to rent a telecommunications manager to manage their expenses. All CEOs, CIOs and CFOs should consider outsourcing telecom billing expertise for just a few months and see what I’m talking about. You can measure the actual value to your company’s bottom line.

As a telecommunications management consultant myself, I have found that telecommunications departments that are in most disarray either have employees lacking telecom expertise or cannot afford a full-time telecom manager. These are my best kind of client. I am able to help them with substantial savings that accomplish a satisfying financial goal of improving the bottom line. I am able to find many economies for these clients.

The temporary telecom manager is able to create a positive impact on an organization by swooping in and saving many thousands of dollars in real bottom-line company savings. What’s more, as telecom consultants, we can bring control and simplicity to a chaotic situation: untangling the confusing corporate telecom billing process, investigating and securing refunds, and showing companies how to perform telecom service ordering competently and wisely.

Need advice or help with your telecom cost savngs? Please contact the telecom audit pros at 1-888-487-5326 for a free telephone bill audit review. If we find no telecom refunds or recurring savings, you owe us nothing!

About the author: Mark Evans is a professional telecommunications auditor with over 20 years’ experience untangling companies’ phone bills and negotiating with vendors to secure savings and refunds for his clients.

I recently lost 25 lbs. after promising myself that I needed to trim excess fat! It took a lot of work, but I adjusted my lifestyle and shed the extra pounds. As a result, I feel much better.

You can do the same thing with your telecom costs, trim the fat and make changes that keep your costs down. However, like any change, you must be committed to it and make sure that your staff and management is bought in to your telecom cost savings plan.

Be interested in showing your boss the monthly savings. Create excel spreadsheets that track your progress and telecom cost savings as you go, it is very easy to do and very effective. Send monthly trending reports on how you’ve trimmed costs. And in the workplace today, no time is better than now to show your true value to your company by cutting corporate telecommunications costs.

You don’t have to be a professional telecom auditor to achieve solid cost saving results, although a professional can trim your telecom costs with no out-of-pocket costs and is a great alternative if you have limited time and resources. Moreover, some people are just plain intimidated by the phone companies and their constant techno-geek-speak. Once the telecom carriers pick up on one’s lack of knowledge, they move in for the kill. Nevertheless, start with the small things, call the phone company and ask their representative the following question, “my company and I are trying to conserve costs, what can I do to save money?” You will be surprised at the response you will get and the savings you can achieve on your own with this simple question. Even telecom audit pros ask that question and believe me, these days that question is extremely popular. If the particular phone company representative you reach says they cannot help you, don’t be discouraged, call back and try asking another representative. If you reach a good representative, they can help you…a lot. And remember to ask for the most recent and best pricing promotions available, tell them you are doing your due diligence, and let them know you are shopping around the competition also. Believe me, in most cases they’ll understand and will be willing to help.

Next, document all of your business locations, phone lines and services and costs. Make sure that your ordering process is complete. Centralize order control so that you have one employee or at least a single department assigned to make phone moves, adds and changes for your entire company and that random employees are not simply ordering what they want whenever they want. This can get out of control quickly. And don’t forget your cell phones and blackberries, they are a huge part of your business costs.

So lighten your telecom load and make some simple cost saving changes, you’ll be glad you did.

Meanwhile, the Internal Revenue Service has dropped its recommendation that one quarter of business

cell phone usage be taxable because this is their estimateof personal usage that goes on within businesses. IRS Commissioner DougShulman announced on January 8, 2010, that the agency would wait for Congress to pass legislation onthe issue.

There is an excellent article this month in Blackberry Central written by Susan Nunziata regarding the latest tax implications. In the article, She advises that the tax issue from the IRS on personal cell phones

continues and is far from settled. She gives some excellent real life examples and court rulings regarding how some companies and their employees are still being held accountable by the IRS for personal use of cell phones. The IRS rules are being misinterpreted and misapplied by some business organizations out there.

I wholeheartedly agree with her findings. From a professional telecommunications audit perspective, note that there are a lot of companies that don’t have a cell phone policy or enforce the use of business calls only for their employees (which would satisfy most IRS requirements on business use of cell phones).

Basically, the IRS wants individuals who use business cell phones for personal use to be to be taxed as a part of their income for personal use. They also want businesses to not claim those smart phones for depreciation and business use purposes. Congress wants consumers to have an easier time of managing the expense and make the taxation piece fair and easier to understand.

Nunziata’s article has some great points and goes on to discuss and illustrate the rules of employing cell phones at your company as follows:

1. Assess your existing policies for corporate issued smartphones, and require your employees to keep records of each call and its business purpose.

2. regularly audit smartphone records and require employees to reimburse your company for all personal use.

3. Consider whether an individual liable model is appropriate for the cell phone users in your company.

Again, I believe that most businesses are not doing this and are either unaware of the rule, or choose to ignore it! Nevertheless, we hope Congress is successful in making the IRS smart phone policy easier to adhere to and understand.

You can save money with a business cell phone bill audit or a cell phone policy written for your company. Contact the telecom audit pros at BottaBoom today or call 1-888-487-5326 for a free telephone bill audit review. If we find no telecom refunds or recurring savings, you owe us nothing!

About the author: You can learn more about this author at this link: Telecom Audit Professional

Rule 1: If you cannot get satisfaction with the phone company representative that you have been working with, you must escalate to higher management.  If the next level cannot help you either, then escalate the phone problem even higher until you ultimately get satisfaction.  Remember, you may hear the word “no” to your request two or three times before you finally hear a “yes,” to fixing a billing problem.  Also, before you escalate to each level of supervision, let the person you are dealing with know that you are not satisfied and that you will be moving up the chain of command with the issue.  I have often found that just the mention of possible escalation gets things moving.

Rule 2: Be nice.  No matter how difficult the telephone company personnel are, don’t lose your cool.  Be professional and matter of fact, do your homework, and be able to state your telecom issue in writing, succinctly and clearly.

Rule 3: Reward results.  If the person at the phone company does a good job for you, let them know.  After the project is over, take a minute to send an email to your phone company’s sales or service representative’s supervisor or manager and cc their manager.  I have a email “reward” template that I use often for these kinds of circumstances.   Another good idea is to send  a Starbucks card and tell them to have a cup of coffee on your dime! You will be surprised how this goodwill will help you, and be sure to send your appreciation in a genuine manner, because you should be genuinely appreciative of a telephone service person who gets you results.  And, the phone company should know that a particular rep is valuable to customers.  Being a phone company service representative is one of the most stressful positions, full of daily complaints and problems.  I cannot tell you how often I have heard, “if only all my customers were as easy to work with as you, I would love my job.”  If you are with a telecom audit company, and you treat phone company employees well and with respect, your company’s reputation in telecom circles will be more positive and you will get better results.

Rule 4: Attack and pursue each and every problem or question.  If you review a telecom bill and have any question regarding a charge, find the answer.  I cannot tell you how many times I have thought perhaps this or that charge on a telecom bill looks legitimate but had a slight doubt about a particular feature.  I then ask the phone company representative about the charge anyway, and I find that the charge actually was not legitimate and a huge telecom refund is forthcoming.  Don’t let the matter drop or waste away, email your representative weekly for updates, cc their supervisor on your request.

Rule 5: Seek professional telecom audit advice from other consultants or the internet.  There are many telecom billing consultant experts out there that know the answer to your telecom issue. The CCMI Voice Report’s  ”telecom talk” email forum is an excellent way to seek help from your telecommunications audit peers.  There are thousands of outstanding telecom consultants on that forum and the are always happy to help.  Another telecommunications forum for help  is The Telecom Audit Professionals International Group (TAPI) is another group on Linked in that you can join that is full of seasoned telecom audit pros who will be happy to assist upon your request or question.  Finally, use the internet, you will find an abundance of good information out there regarding phone taxes, FCC rulings, and many other valuable telecom audit information that can help you a lot.

In summary, be persistent with your telecom billing issue, its all about producing effective telecom cost savings and getting satisfaction for your clients.  And remember, if you cannot get customer satisfaction on your billing issue within the phone company, you can always escalate to the courts or file complaints with the FCC.  There are two kinds of complaints that you can file, a formal complaint which is basically a web form that you fill out and send.  The telephone company must then send you and the FCC an answer.  Next, you can file a formal complaint, which usually involves hiring a telecom attorney who specializes in such action.   Another means of getting results is to contact your state’s attorney general and filing a consumer complaint with them.  And still another method of escalation is to file a complaint with the FTC, also via an online form.  The FTC is especially effective against cramming complaints.

You can also hire a professional telecom cost savings professional auditor to help you with your telecom billing issues.  Contact BottaBoom at http://www.bottaboom.com to assist you with your telecom bill problem.  We’ve solved hundreds of major telecom bill issues over the years and successfully secured numerous refunds for our clients, contact us, we’ll be glad to help you.

Telecom Audit Professionals International

TAPI-Telecom Audit Professionals International

Our Mission: Business telecommunications audit professionals who wish to share and gain knowledge of this industry. Discuss news, blogs and current events, telecom auditing experience and techniques related to telecom billing, telecom expense management and telecommunications cost reduction and control.

You can submit a request to join our TAPI group by following this link on linked in: http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=2397874

Finally! U.S. Senators take aim on early termination fees on cell phone contracts: This is encouraging news out of Washington, our public servants are finally mobilizing in an attempt to help consumers with early termination rights and gain more control over their cell phone telecom costs. This effort to fix the early termination fee process has been in the works now for a few years; lets hope that the senate enacts some good legislation that ends this ripoff practice of tricking and locking in consumers unfairly into years of financial commitment to their cell phone carriers.  Also, we need to put an end to carriers charging huge premiums to get out of those cell phone contracts imposed by the major wireless carriers. The article discusses some really good alternatives, like pro-rating costs on remaining months of contracts. Currently there are few rules in place to protect wireless customers. The wireless telecom carriers clearly have the upper hand right now, a lot of them are squelching consumers rights to roam to other carriers, particularly when their customer service stinks.  I predict if this legislation is passed, there will be a mass exodus of customers from unscrupulous wireless carriers who have greedily locked them in for years.  Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and four other senators are sponsoring the bill, you can read more here:  http://klobuchar.senate.gov/newsreleases_detail.cfm?id=320406&

Miami Florida: Del Monte Company  pays 10 mil penalty to #TEM firm for stiffing them on fees owed on project: Wow, can you imagine a large, reputable company trying to stiff you on your fees after you saved them millions of dollars?  Ultimately, it appears that justice was served in this case.  I think you will find this article very interesting reading, especially if you are a telecommunications expense management consultant:

http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=54973

Consumer Reports-U.S. Cell phone service providers lacking-In 2010, I see more demand for wireless expense experts and TEM.  Most clients need a cell phone bill  audit now more than ever and this article just reaffirms what we are finding, cell phone service providers, like many land line providers, jsut aren’t cutting it in the area of operational support: http://www.macrumors.com/iphone/2009/12/01/consumer-reports-finds-u-s-cell-phone-service-providers-lacking/

What do you think? Please feel free to enter your comments on our blog below.

Get a FREE no risk telephone bill audit review for your business from BottaBoom today, contact the telecom audit experts here: http://www.bottaboom.com/contact-us/

1. Select a highly proven, cost effective, and competent telecom audit firm.
2. Insist on a majority of the savings from the contingency-fee based telecom audit project.
3. Ensure that the telecom audit is thorough, the first priority is large refunds, however, the telecom audit savings should include every last telecom dollar, including going after cramming on your phone bills.
4. The telecom audit company you choose should include intensive telephone and data tax reviews.
5. Since telecom contract comparison is a the largest money saver for most business telecom audit projects, be sure that the telecom audit includes that important element.
6. Include a cell phone bill audit as part of the project.
7. Seriously consider telecom audit software and telecom expense management
offerings.
8. Choose a telecom audit firm that offers a free initial review and audit of your bills, let them tell you what they think they can save you, it costs nothing out of pocket.
9. Bundle telephone and data services across your enterprise if possible for higher discounts and more effective management, its a buyers market right now, re-negotiate that telecommunications contract for a better deal.

Who does all of this? BottaBoom Consulting LLC! Get a free no risk telecommunications audit review for your business from BottaBoom today, contact the telecom audit experts here: http://www.bottaboom.com/contact-us/

Don’t forget to ask about a utility audit and full service accounts payable audit.
http://www.bottaboom.com/utility-bill-audit-services/

Watch Out For Hidden Fees

For example, I recently audited a client’s AT&T telephone bill that reflected the customer was receiving 1.5 cents per minute as per their contract.  However, the customer did not realize that hidden well within the hundreds of pages of their bills were numerous surcharges and tacked on fees.  The carrier charged $7.50 for each location of outbound and inbound service.  This particular customer had about 7 locations so AT&T added another $52.50 to their bill.  Next, two of those locations had inbound call routing charges on them, add another $100 per location for $200.  Finally, the account also included a $25 administrative surcharge (account service) fee.  In summary, AT&T tacked on almost $300 in additional fees!  The attractive 1.5 cent per minute call charge really was about .05 cents per minute with all of the fees, making the deal not so attractive.

When I explained the actual charges to the client, he said that his AT&T representative never mentioned the extra charges.  Moreover, as we reviewed his long distance contract that he had signed, there was no specific language noting that those additional administrative fees and charges would appear on his phone bill.  Nevertheless, AT&T was legally covered by referring to the website (tariff) within the contract, which contains the fine print or rules of the contract.  Within that phone tariff, the charges and AT&T’s freedom to legally charge for them were clearly spelled out.

For most of us, going to the actual fine print of the tariff and understanding the additional hidden charges can be difficult and time consuming, therefore, we end up unknowingly paying the extra money to the carriers each month.

Be Sure To Negotiate

The good news is that not all carriers do this, and AT&T’s extra fees can be negotiated away from the deal, if you know what to ask for.  In summary, it pays to negotiate your deal and understand what the real deal is.  So be sure to ask your carrier’s sales representative about the extra hidden fees in the deal they are offering you.  Make sure they clearly spell out that there will be no extra fees.

Also, you can learn about call rounding by the long distance carriers by reading our call rounding article at, When a penny a minute is not really a penny a minute.

Another weapon in your arsenal is to contact the long distance telephone bill audit experts at http://www.bottaboom.com for a free analysis of your long distance or complete telecom billing situation.  We offer a free initial review of your bills and can tell you in plain English what the real story is regarding your telephone and data charges. Our telecom audit services typically save clients between 30-50% on their telecom expense.