Moreover, according to the Times article, many stolen wireless phones are often used in robberies and other high profile crimes, therefore, tracking of stolen phones may help minimize those kinds of criminal activities and help aid in investigations. In recent remarks on the stolen cell phones initiative by the chairman of the FCC, Julius Genachowski, he emphasized the growing problem of cell phone thefts, “In DC, New York and other major cities, roughly 40% of all robberies now involve cell phones –endangering both the physical safety of victims and the safety of the personal information on stolen devices. In D.C., the percentage of robberies involving cell phones is up 54% since 2007. Over the last several months we have heard from Senator Schumer, who called this vital issue to our attention and made it a priority.” The new stolen phone database could be a great help to wireless consumers if properly administered. Perhaps this action will also result in more people returning found cell phones to their proper owners once they realize knowledge that they cannot use the phone without being discovered. The FCC chairman also vowed to hold quarterly meetings to keep current on the growing problem of cell phones theft.

The FCC chairman went on to say that he was sending a message to consumers that “we’ve got their backs” on this issue. The specifics of the new FCC plan to combat wireless device theft are as follows:

1. Creating a database to prevent use of stolen smartphones and tablets. This database will enable
carriers to disable stolen smartphones and tablets, dramatically reducing their value on the black
market.
2. Putting in place automatic prompts on smartphones and tablets for consumers to set up passwords
and take steps to secure their devices
3. Launching a public education campaign urging consumers to use applications that increase
security and reducing the value of stolen devices, including apps that enable consumers to locate,
lock and wipe missing smartphones and tablets. This campaign begins with an FCC tip-sheet we
are issuing today, and we’ll work with the police chiefs, the industry and Congress to spread the
word.

I recall a few years ago when my teenage son once lost his new $400 (retail cost) AT&T wireless smartphone which had fallen out of a car onto a sidewalk to be found by someone else. Later, I called the phone and a young male answered. When I asked if he could return our wireless phone with no questions asked for a reward, he simply hung up on me, surely knowing that the phone was now his and there was no way I could track him. Talk about feeling totally helpless! The next stop for that smartphone was probably craigslist and the finder of the smartphone could convert his lucky find to quick cash with no consequences. One can only hope that kind of criminal behavior will stop with the new database. It is refreshing to see that the FCC and Congress who pushed for the new database seem to be helping consumers who are being victimized by wireless phone theft! In summary, as I see new initiatives by the FCC like this and for other consumer protections like hacking prevention and stopping telecom cramming, I am highly encouraged by this kind of progress.

This telecommunications article is brought to you by BottaBoom Consulting LLC., a telephone cost recovery service located in Tucson Arizona. BottaBoom has been providing successful professional business telecommunications audit services for nationwide consumers for over 20 years. You can contact the telecom audit professionals at 1-888-487-5326.

Often, companies do not have the internal staff or capability to successfully perform accurate and proficient telecommunication audit duties.
Customers often cannot stand to work with the telephone companies and do not know how to successfully work with them like a professional telecom consultant does.

• A telecom consultant can take the sales gooblygook spewed by telecom company personnel and interpret it into laymen’s terms for their client to understand and evaluate.
• It costs customers nothing out of pocket, only a percentage of their actual verified savings.
• No customer resources are required except perhaps relaying a bit of history to the telecom auditor.
• A telecom audit is a quick way to reduce major telecom expense by 30%-50%.
• Clients still get to make the final decisions on telecommunication audit cost savings.
• Ethical telecommunication auditors don’t actually sell telecom product, you don’t have to listen to a sales spiel and there is no conflict of interest.
• All telecommunication orders and activities are now in writing and easily traceable.
• Telecommunication service ordering and invoice reconciliation is now centralized for control and accuracy.
• A telecom inventory is produced as a deliverable of the telecommunication audit.
• Call traffic studies, circuit usage and data usage studies are conducted and interpreted for the client by the telecom consultant.
• Customer employees can be trained simply by working with and being kept apprised by the telecom consultant.
• Client’s CFO and CEO get reports of the savings that they are receiving and are projected to receive. They can share these reports with your board of directors to show how they are slashing expense.
• New Telecommunication ordering is simplified, new services and features are discounted at the bundled rate because of the reference documentation on telecom services.
• New relationships with the clients’ carriers are formed. Telecommunication sales teams are held to the task of taking care of their customers.
• Telephone carrier management escalation sheets are now available in case telecommunication services go down or the client is experiencing service issues.
• Telephone lines and data circuits are now documented and kept by key management personnel and the telecom audit company for improved emergency preparedness.
• A new understanding of telecommunication billing systems and costs are now readily available to key members of the client’s organizations.

A professional telecommunication audit can bring order to your business phone bill and help your personnel concentrate on I.T.  business cost savings that telecom audit firms like Bottaboom.com can bring is phenomenal.  Call Bottaboom telecommunication audit consulting today at 1-888-487-5326 for a free cost savngs analysis from a qualified telecommunication consultant.

Hard to believe, but it’s been 20 years since I first had the
exhilarating experience of a big payoff from the telephone company for a significant
billing error. That first $40,000 refund to a credit union for a data circuit billing
error from AT&T changed my life. It set me on a path that would allow me
and my company to save hundreds of thousands of dollars in telecommunications
overcharges for many clients over the years.

Today, as I continue to hunt for hidden treasure in telecom
invoices, I’m stunned to find the same kinds of problems I did 20 years ago. Just
as I did in 1992, I still find tax errors, higher-than-contracted-for
telecommunication rates, erroneous billing for “ghost” lines that nobody uses,
billing for non-ordered or unused telecom features, and mismatched calling
plans. 

Who would have thought that I’d still be finding these kinds
of overcharges 20 years later? Surely the phone companies would have fixed these
issues for their customers by now. Unfortunately, no, they haven’t. 

And why haven’t these common billing mistakes been fixed by
now? Because the telecommunication billing errors bring the phone companies
extra billions of dollars—literally—every year. It’s their dirty little secret;
a gravy train with too much free money at stake.

There is no incentive for the phone companies to fix this free-money
revenue stream. Unfortunately, however, the phone companies have fixed one thing:
they’ve reduced their culpability and liability for refunding the overbilling errors
to their customers!

Over the years, the phone companies have incorporated
policies and strengthened contracts to help them to get off the hook and avoid going
back very far in issuing refunds. For example, three-month refund restriction policies
and telecom contracts that restrict third parties from reviewing proprietary
phone bills are common. These are blatant manipulations to preserve the status
quo in phone bill errors. Or, to make minimal reparations for errors that
customers have failed to catch for long periods of time.

Telecom technology has certainly changed; however, the fact
that the telephone companies still reap billions of dollars from billing
mistakes to unsuspecting and loyal customers remains all too common after all
these years. 

I recently conducted a telecommunication audit for a loyal
Verizon customer. The customer has been with Verizon since 1989! I found the
same kinds of errors that I was finding from Verizon 20 years ago. In fact, a
few of this customer’s billing errors actually go back about that far!

Although the fight for telecom refunds is a bit tougher, the billing
errors are still there, waiting to be uncovered. While doing that isn’t easy,
it’s infinitely worthwhile and satisfying.

And, I suspect in 30 years, after I’m long retired, there
will still be telecom auditors and automated telecom expense management
software searching for mistakes on telephone bills and recovering decent
refunds for overcharges. Some things will never change.   

Are you realizing all of the potential telecom cost savings you can get for your enterprise?  Do you need a telecom audit for your business?

Some common themes that were found in the official telecommunications audit report were that phone line inventories were insufficient, the organization lacked formal control over approval of telecom invoices each month due to staff reductions and lack of efficient telecom management.   According to their Comptroller, George Maragos, “”There must be greater oversight and control of the Verizon telephone billing.  The I.T. Department will need to double its efforts to bring telephone service under control and save millions for the taxpayer.”

According to the telecom audit report, some of the individual departments were utilizing phone lines as follows:

The Planning Department with 136 lines for 37 employees;

The Department of Social Services with 1,558 lines for 968 employees;

The Treasurer’s Office with 75 lines for 38 employees.

The County of Nassau should be applauded for commissioning the audit and putting a stop to wasteful spending and attempting to get a handle on it.  The $1.2 million in savings would be a great way to invest in better controls for the organization.

One of the greatest areas of cost savings for telecom audit company clients is the phone line inventory, which often results in the largest payback for the project.  I.T. managers are often shocked to find that they’ve been paying for unused phone lines for years.

BottaBoom Consulting LLC has been in the telecommunication auditing business since 2000, helping hundreds of companies with their telecommunications cost savings.   If you would like a telecom audit for your organization, contact us here: Telecom Audit Contact

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-West Virginia, says a law protecting phone customers from unauthorized charges is needed.

Washington (CNN) — A key Senate chairman says Congress needs to pass legislation to protect customers from unauthorized third-party charges on their phone bills because the telephone industry has failed to prevent the practice.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-West Virginia, said a one-year study by the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee shows about $2 billion a year in “mystery fees” show up on the landline phone bills of Americans, a problem known as cramming.

In a Wednesday hearing, Rockefeller asked an industry representative why major companies like AT&T haven’t stopped unauthorized third-party charges from going onto their customers’ phone bills.

“It’s illegal, it’s wrong, it’s scamming,” Rockefeller said. “Why haven’t you cleaned up your act?”

“The industry has taken significant steps,” replied Walter McCormick, president and CEO of the U.S. Telecom Association. “Even the report that you issued today indicates that there has been improvement, but it remains a very, very significant, very pervasive problem.”

Phone companies such as AT&T, Verizon and Qwest do not have a process to determine if the charges were authorized by their customers.

The third-party billing system was a result of the AT&T divestiture when the FCC required companies to bill and collect for companies that provided long-distance or specialized services, McCormick said. It’s no longer legally required, but many people like the single invoice system, he said.

The Commerce Committee’s report says phone companies receive a small fee — often just a dollar or two — for allowing charges from third-party vendors to appear on their bills. But due to the large number of customers the charges eventually add up.

AT&T, Verizon and Qwest made $650 million during the past five years, according to the report.

The state of Illinois has brought a number of lawsuits to fight cramming. Attorney General Lisa Madigan told the panel people are unaware their phone numbers can be charged almost like a credit card and her investigations indicate customers are not even getting services in return.

“My office has yet to see a legitimate third-party charge on a bill,” said Madigan, who added most customers don’t detect the charges on their bills.

When third-party vendors are contacted they claim the charges were authorized by customers and they often say they have audio recordings of the customer giving the OK, Madigan said.

However, when her office obtained audio recordings, the voices turned out not to belong to the consumers who were billed, she said. She called for federal and state laws banning the billing practice.

A Georgia woman who handles accounts for 32 quick-service restaurants told the committee about her personal experience involving cramming.

Susan Eppley said she found noticeable differences in the AT&T bills for the various restaurants and that she called AT&T. According to Eppley, an AT&T representative explained the charges were from third-party vendors and that “customers were responsible for blocking such third-party charges.”

Eppley said she called the third-party company and was told Eppley’s company had OK’d the charges and there was an audio recording to back that up. Eppley asked to hear it but the company never provided the audio recording.

Ultimately, the company refunded all the money it had charged the restaurants.

Eppley said she spent about 15 hours resolving the issues and also setting up blocks on accounts to prevent future cramming. She said she was particularly upset the bonuses of restaurant employees could be adversely affected if their stores did not meet their financial targets.

Rockefeller praised Eppley, calling her a bulldog for her determined efforts.

David Spofford, founder of a communications expense management company in Virginia called Xigo, also testified before the committee.

A review of three years’ worth of bills for about 200 clients showed 40,000 instances of cramming, Spofford said.

The average charge was $18 a month, he said. Many businesses would not expend the manpower necessary to find the unauthorized charges and stop them, he said.

His company has identified several major third-party billing consolidators, Spofford said, but they bill under about 600 names, which he theorized was a method to avoid detection.

According to Spofford, the descriptions for the services include voicemail, directory services and web hosting. He said in 99% of the cases the services had not been authorized and the customers were not receiving the services.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, expressed shock companies were able to bill to a phone number without proving they have authorization from the account holder.

McCaskill said phone companies should follow the example of credit card companies and add identifying PIN numbers to all customer accounts.

McCormick, the industry representative, said he would discuss the PIN idea with members of his association.

***************************************************************************************

All businesses should get a telco audit on their services to ensure that cramming and unauthorized third party billing does not occur.  In most cases, companies can save thousands of dollars on their telco services with a telecom cost audit.  The audit usually costs nothing out of pocket as fees are paid only from savings actually realized.  To talk with a telecommunications consultant about a telco audit, contact the telecom audit pros at http://www.bottaboom.com/contact-us/ or call 1-888-487-5326.  You may be surprised at how much telecom cost savings can be found because of fraudulent phone charges and telecommunication errors.

Because these enforcement actions suggest disturbing patterns of deceptive activity, the Commission today also released an Enforcement Advisory on cramming, emphasizing that all charges placed on phone bills must be authorized by the customer, and warning that the Commission will take aggressive enforcement action in this area. In part, this Advisory states that the FCC found the violations to be particularly egregious because of the number of consumers affected, and because the companies either knew or reasonably should have known that the consumers did not request, authorize, or use the services, based on the numerous consumer inquiries and complaints they received. Some of the companies were apparently billing thousands of consumers, the vast majority of whom had never heard of the companies, were unfamiliar with the services they offered, and never used the services for which they were billed. In addition, carriers should be mindful of the Commission’s Truth-in-Billing Rules, which require that the billing carrier use clear, non-misleading, plain language in describing services for which a consumer is charged. The descriptions of charges must be specific enough so that customers can assess whether they were billed correctly for services they requested and received. The carrier also must identify the service provider associated with each charge and must display on the bill a toll-free number that a consumer can call to ask about or dispute any charge on the bill.

News and other information about the FCC is available at www.fcc.gov

The best way to ensure that crammers have not invaded your business telephone bill is to commission a business telecommunications audit.  Contact Bottaboom for a telecommunication cost savings analysis at 1-888-487-5327.  Or by sending an email to telecommunication audit.

Maybe your story is the same as mine, over the years, my XP machine slowed down considerably. Was it old age?  I think not.  I tried XP revival tips from “experts” on the web to try to get that snappy PC performance back but nothing worked.  Software that was supposed to “rev up” my machine, double its speed did not work any better than basic functions I already knew about such as clean disk and disk defrag.

Finally, last week, an associate of mine (Hal) who manages I.T. services for a large college client, serviced my work XP PC after I complained about slow XP speed and response.  Hal was actually able to produce noticeably better results by using what he described as a few simple tweaks to Windows XP.

I asked Hal to share his secrets with me so I could work the same magic on my home XP PC’s!  He agreed. I went home, implemented his tips and now my XP PC’s are running much better.  I hope that you too will notice better Windows XP performance once you implement Hals’ fixes.

These are the XP tuneup secrets I took from Hal (in easy laymens’ terms) as follows:

The first (and easiest) tuneup item in Windows XP was is to go to control panel and click on the Java applet icon in the menu.  Go to temporary Internet files, click on “settings,” then click on delete files, make sure to check off applications and applets, then click “OK.”  This will clean out all the junk collecting in your “Java tray” that has been collecting junk for years.  I don’t know what “Java tray” actually means but is sure sounds good! Most importantly, this fix seems to work.

The easiest and  next tuneup fix for speedier Windows XP takes us to the Internet explorer icon in control panel.  Go to the “general” tab, click on “delete browsing history.”  By default, according to Hal, all options are not selected by windows default except for “history.” Make sure that the first option, “preserve favorites website data” is not selected because it often is set up by windows and should not be. I could not find this on my XP machines, however, many XP machines have it.   Again, this selection box may be checked off, and if it is, uncheck it.  Then go on to hit the delete files button.  You should notice some performance improvement, particularly when you surf the web.

The final tuneup fix is to go to the run prompt from your start menu on Windows XP.  Type in chkdsk /F and hit enter. You’ll be prompted for a volume check on your next start up.  Select Y for yes and hit enter.  Your first start up thereafter may take  a few minutes while the application checks your volume.

In most cases your computer will benefit from these fixes.

Other causes of slow XP machines are of course malware and viruses.  I also recommend downloading AVG free anti-virus software and malwarebytes anti-malware software and spybot.  All are absolutely free, simply google them and download from the manufacturer or from CNET.  These free tools should be run weekly at a minimum and updated each week so that you can combat all of the new viruses coming out every day. Also, Malwarebytes and Spybot can be run simultaneously, especially now that you’ve cleaned up your XP machine and can actually run two applications simultaneously!  In most cases, you’ll be surprised what these preventative measures can likely do for your machine and how much malicious stuff you have on your machines just from innocently surfing the web.

Good luck and enjoy your faster Windows XP machine, I sure am! Please let us know how it went by using the comments section after you are done.

The Los Angeles city cell phone bill audit was conducted internally. What would the results have been had the audit been conducted by an independent professional telecom auditor?

The LA city controller comes up with some common sense recommendations that professional telecom auditors have known for years. Changes promotions often, consider giving employees a stipend to use their personal cell phones for business, limit features, and turn off unused cell phones and wireless devices when employees leave the company or government agency.

Isn’t it about time that you had a professional telecom audit or a cell phone bill audit for your company? Contact the telecommunications audit professionals at 1-888-487-5326.  Or click here: telecom audit pros.

Democratic Press Office – (202) 224-8374

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV today announced that the Senate Commerce Committee is conducting an investigation into “cramming,” a deceptive practice that involves placing unauthorized “mystery charges” on telephone bills.

In June, Chairman Rockefeller sent letters to three telephone companies—AT&T, Qwest, and Verizon—and requested information from them to better understand their awareness of the “cramming” problem and the steps they have taken to address it. As part of the investigation, Chairman Rockefeller asked for a list of the companies that are allowed to place third-party charges on their customers’ telephone bills. Although the investigation is ongoing, Chairman Rockefeller is making the investigation public because an initial review of the companies placing third-party charges on consumers’ telephone bills has raised serious concerns.

The Committee’s initial review has found that:

• A significant percentage of the companies placing third-party charges on consumers’ telephone bills have “cramming” complaints from consumers filed with the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and various consumer-oriented websites.

• More than 250 of these companies have a “D” or “F” rating from the Better Business Bureau.

• Many of these companies are charging telephone customers for “services,” like e-mail, online photo storage, and voice mail that are either offered for free on the Internet or can be provided to customers through their preexisting telephone service.

• While hundreds of different companies place third-party charges on American consumers’ telephone bills, many of these companies appear to be controlled by just a few companies. For example, a Florida company called daData, Inc., appears to control and operate as many as 30 different companies that charge consumers’ phone bills.

The Committee is taking the following steps in response to these findings:

• Sending requests for information to three companies that appear to have relationships with multiple companies that have “cramming” complaints

• Continuing the ongoing investigation into AT&T, Qwest, and Verizon to understand the telephone companies’ role in “cramming”

“Protecting American consumers is one of my top priorities,” Chairman Rockefeller said. “My Committee will continue to investigate businesses that engage in unscrupulous practices that harm hardworking Americans and we will not stop until consumers are no longer subjected to them. Last year, we put an end to an online practice that cost Americans more than a billion dollars in unauthorized charges on their credit and debit cards.  I’m continuing this fight – if unauthorized charges are being placed on consumers’ telephone bills, I’m going to put a stop to it.”

Today, Chairman Rockefeller sent letters to three companies that apparently own or are partnered with companies that generated a significant number of consumer “cramming” complaints.

*****************************Note From BottaBoom.  It is great to see that a prominent member of the senate and his subcommittee are attempting to protect the American telecom consumer from this ripoff practice of cramming and 3rd party billing.  It is about time that someone with courage stepped forward to investigate and attempt to stop the unsuspecting from being preyed upon each and every month.  Bravo!

If you suspect that your business has been crammed or is experiencing unusually high phone bills because of illegal telephone billing practices or telecom errors, contact BottaBoom to get a telecommunications audit.  It won’t cost you a dime out of pocket, we are only paid a percentage of what we recover on the telecom audit.  1-888-487-5326.

10. Phone fraud and hacking-phone fraud still exists and criminals are finding ways to tap into business Voice over IP services. Cramming continues to be a huge telecommunications audit recovery item and concern.
9. Telecommuting-Working from home is still a great way to cut telecom expense, particularly in the call center environment.
8. Telecom expense management software (TEM)- management of telecommunications audit with software continues to grow, particularly for larger business consumers. Make sure you shop around for the right telecommunications audit software.
7. Carrier mergers-we see no reason for the carrier merger trend to stop in 2011, in fact, we see it growing.
6. Data migration, IP telephony post migration, inventories-many companies have migrated to data centric calling technologies for cost savings.
5. Cellular optimization-wireless technology continues to boom, however, managing users and plans can be a major headache for IT managers.  The cell phone bill audit and wireless audit and recovery process has proven to be a huge telecommunications audit savings item.

4. Telecommunications Taxes & Surcharges-continue to be mistakenly charged to U.S. businesses and many non profit educational institutions, credit unions and government agencies continue to erroneously pay taxes. There is no statute of limitations for reclaiming overpaid taxes.

Do you like what you’re reading?  How about a telecommunications audit for your business?

3. Local and long distance telecommunications auditing-continues to be a huge telecommunications audit cost recovery item.
2. Telecom Audit Inventory-companies continue to pay for circuits, phone lines and locations that they simply no longer use. When they migrate to newer networks and VOIP, they often continue to pay for their old copper telephone lines and centrex services!
1. Contract reconciliation-telecommunications contracts continue to auto-renew at higher rates, telecom carriers continue to make mistakes by entering incorrect contract rates into telecom billing systems and we keep getting huge refunds for telecommunications audit clients. We estimate this issue to result in billions of dollars in lost expense to American business in 2011, as was the case in previous years. This has been the first and foremost way of saving our clients large amounts of money during our telecommunications audit projects. A telco audit can help immensely by focusing on improperly administered telecommunications contracts.

Is your business ready for a telecommunications audit? We offer no-out-of-pocket cost gurantee. If we cannot save your business money, you owe us absolutely nothing. Contact the telecommunications audit pros today.