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.

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-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.

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.

The link to the smartphone audit report itself is at the following link: http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22840-audit-of-dcfs-cell-phone-use.html

Isn’t it about time your company or agency looked at getting a wireless audit?  We have saved our clients millions in telecom cost savings with our unbeatable telecom audit services.  Contact the business cell phone bill audit professionals at:  mind-my-wireless

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ –September 23,  ”The U.S. House successfully passed the ‘Small Business Jobs Act,’ H.R. 5297, by a vote of 237-187.  Included in it was language from the overwhelmingly bipartisan ‘MOBILE Cell Phone Act of 2009,’ (Modernize Our Bookkeeping in the Law for Employees), or the House and Senate companion bills (S. 144 and H.R. 690).  The package now heads directly to the President’s desk for signature into law.”

“The measure would remove cellular telephones, smartphones and similar wireless communications devices from application of the Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.) “Listed Property” rules under section 280F, and alleviate a burdensome tax measure imposed on business and employees because of their employer-provided wireless devices.  Under the existing I.R.S. regulations, employees receiving a work-provided wireless device for day-to-day usage are required to keep a detailed phone call log on any personal use (calls, emails, texts, tweets, etc.) of that cell phone provided for under the work plan, and should pay income tax on that ‘benefit.’  The ‘MOBILE Cell Phone Act of 2009′ eliminates that archaic regulation, providing relief to American workers in companies of all sizes.”

Read more: http://www.bradenton.com/2010/09/23/2601672/mywirelessorg-applauds-us-house.html#ixzz10ZM33dWe

What does this mean for telecom audit clients?  Companies no longer have to distinguish between business use of wireless devices and personal use of those devices nor do they have to train their employees and mandate them to keep meticulous records of wireless usage.  Previously, company cell phone policies had to mandate that any personal use of business cell phones be documented by time and cost.  With the passage of the new legislation, that is no longer a mandate by the IRS.  This will make cell phone bill audit projects much easier.

The outdated requirement was put into effect in 1989 when cell phone devices were not commonly used and were considered a luxury, used mostly by upper management in some organizations.  Therefore, they were considered subject to a luxury tax when employed as a personal tool.  However, with the explosion of wireless devices by most consumers, the old law and mandate became outdated.  Many companies simply disregarded the requirement, however, many companies took it seriously and mandated that their employees strictly comply with the cell phone usage record keeping and rule as it was still a requirement by congress and the IRS.

Again, the legislation will make cell phone audits and cell phone policy much clearer and easier to administer.

Do you need a cell phone audit or cell phone policy for your company or organization?  Contact the cell phone bill audit professionals today.

Do you need smartphone policy consulting, a cell phone bill audit or a telecom audit project?  Contact the telecom audit experts at BottaBoom today.  You can call them at 1-888-487-5326 or visit this link at telecom audit contact page.

It is astounding to me how many companies do not have a comprehensive corporate wireless policy or centralized control over their wireless enterprises.  However, during a telecom audit, management quickly realizes how valuable a company-wide cell phone policy is when we implement one for them. A comprehensive corporate cell phone policy is an absolute must in today’s business environment for three main reasons:

• A wireless smart phone policy is needed to help companies maximize their telecom cost savings and prevent wasted expense.  Cost savings are most often immediate and significant.  For most large companies, on average, telecommunications expense is now one of their three largest expenses, and the smart phone and wireless portion of that telecom expense is often the majority of that huge expense. Many companies have no idea how to control their smart phones and other wireless device usage and costs.

• Management must assert control over the wireless enterprise in order to control telecommunications usage by employees, and to satisfy current strict IRS usage requirements.

• Companies need to limit corporate liability by prohibiting their workers utilizing wireless devices when they operate vehicles on the job; otherwise companies are leaving themselves exposed to potentially huge lawsuits.  Some lawsuits involving negligence by companies using cell phones on the job which results in accidents and injury are approaching millions of dollars in civil  judgments.

So now you know why you need a company cell phone policy, however, how are you going to develop a good wireless policy for your employees? As a telecommunications consultant who has written numerous cell-phone policies in the past, I recommend the following tips for writing a great company cell phone policy that will last for years into the future and will make your management take notice of your ability to control the out of control wireless monster wreaking havoc within your company.

1. Research, research, research. Benchmark with other companies. Join Telecom Audit Professionals International (TAPI) on Linked in and solicit advice from other telecom auditors and accountants. Ask peers for information and sample policies.

2. A good wireless policy should clearly outline who in the company is specifically responsible for wireless protocol, including ordering of devices, data and calling features, and administration of cost and all anything related to wireless activities.

3. The company cell phone policy should be a public relations device that provides the foundation for communicating your smart phone device to your employees on a regular basis. As your cell phone and blackberry plans change at least yearly, you should advise your employees regularly on guidelines and what limitations and features their plans contain for them.  How many peak and off peak minutes are employees allowed to use each month? They need to know this and clearly understand it.

4. Prohibit costly extra charges. Employees should not be allowed to use their carrier’s 411 directory assistance service. These costs are as high as $3.00 per lookup and can add up quickly. For directory assistance, encourage employees to program speed dial numbers on their smartphones for google411 or AT&T’s free directory assistance service. Prohibit picture sharing, texting (or place employees on the appropriate texting plan), and GPS downloads. The cell phone policy should state that the employee will be responsible for payment of these premium charges.

5. Equipment may only be ordered through the cell phone administrator. This will allow your company to maintain centralized control and ensure you are getting volume discounts across the enterprise though your wireless phone contract.

6. Make sure that company issued cell phones are used strictly for business use only. Employees should reimburse the company for personal calls or will need to specify a percentage of personal cell phone usage each month in order to meet current IRS taxation requirements.

7. Strictly forbid driving, operating any kind of hazardous machinery or equipment and using a cell phone while on company time. No exceptions. Again, this portion of the company cell phone policy needs to be reinforced with monthly emails or employee relations notifications, i.e.: company newsletters, noted on company blogs etc.
8. Lost, damaged or stolen equipment must be reported to the telecommunications wireless administrator immediately.

9. Separation of employment. The cell phone policy should clearly state that the wireless device and phone number belongs to the company, not the employee. Why? Losing a wireless device and phone number can mean a lot of lost sales and clients, as employees who take their wireless phones and numbers with them often take valuable information and client contacts with them, often to your competitors.

10. Have each employee sign the cell phone policy, agreeing that they have reviewed and understand the requirements within it. Also, the cell phone policy should be a main topic during new employee orientation and ongoing training classes.

In summary, the central part of best practice in managing wireless devices and telecommunications costs comes down to control. Without a clear, comprehensive and enforced cell phone policy, you have no control over wireless expense or use in your company. Again, you need to get control of your company wireless costs and maximize telecom cost savings and limit legal liability.

About the author: Mark Evans is Principal and founder of BottaBoom.com, a nationally recognized telecom audit company based in Tucson, Arizona, with additional offices in California and Virginia. Mark and his telecom audit staff has been saving companies large sums of money on their telecom bills for over 25 years.  If you need a professional telecom audit project or help with your cell phone bill contract or policy, mobile expenses, landline or data expense, or a cell phone bill audit, contact BottaBoom telecom audit Services at 1-888-487-5326 or go to their contact us page on the web.

As a professional telecommunications audit professional, I find some major blame with the telephone companies for much of this fiscal nightmare.  U.S. telecommunication companies are still over-billing U.S. businesses by well over 38 billion per year!  Within that number is a lot of peoples’ jobs that we could save if we could stop this injustice!  The sad thing is, with some focused attention, we can easily curb these telecommunications inefficiencies by the telecommunications companies.

Historically, nothing has changed in that U.S. businesses continually throw good telecommunications money down the toilet.  In 1997, over 80% of business telecommunications bills had some kind of error associated with them.  Today, the billing overcharges still remain close to 80%.  It’s been this way for years!  Don’t you think that with advent the most recent recession and all of the recurring cost efficiency talk in the past that company business managers would finally wake up and start trying to recoup the billions of dollars in lost expense they are paying unnecessarily to the phone companies every day?  Well, it’s just not happening and as I’ve said over the past 25 years, its time for bold action.

I am amazed that there are still thousands of companies who continue to overpay on their telecommunications costs and needlessly waste money.

As a contingency fee-based audit company, it is our job to stop the bleeding and recoup that 38 billion in (easily) recoverable money.  Here is my action plan for your company to recoup your fair share of those billions in telecom cost savings:

1. Conduct a business inventory of your telecommunications services.  Quite simply, I’ll make sure that you have and use the telecommunications lines that you are paying for.  Believe me, it’s easier said than done, it takes hard work, but it will pay off for your business. You’d be shocked to learn about all of the telecommunications lines you pay for that don’t work anymore!
2. Let me call your telecommunications sales representative on your behalf, and tell them we are trying to save your company money.  I’ll tell the rep that they have an opportunity to be a hero and continue to get your future business. I’ll ask them to suggest cost saving ideas for us.  You’d be surprised at some of the value-added responses we’ll get and some of these cost savings suggestions will actually help you realize some significant cost efficiencies.  I’ll be more than happy to ask the question on your behalf and allow you to reap the majority of the benefits.
3. Allow me to compare that great service contract deal you recently signed with your actual telephone bill.  Please don’t be shocked to find that the telephone company is not living up to their end of the deal.  Everyone thinks that once the ink dries, the deal is done and they close the books.  Well, the deal is not done; it’s just begun, so let’s analyze the results by scrutinizing the bill and compare it to the contract to see if the telephone company is true to their word.  I’m going into this exercise with some serious doubts about the validity of the telecommunications billing system; how about you?
4. Let’s stop cramming.  Allow me to check the 3^rd party billing charges on your phone bills.  I’ll bet you’re being crammed and I’ll be happy to get all of that money back for you.  I’ll check the last page of your local telephone bill, and then I’ll go back to the crammers and get you all of your money back.
5. Let’s check your PBX and VOIP service agreement pricing and contract terms and conditions.  I am pleased that you have a wonderful new VOIP system, and your bids produced the lowest price for your system.  However, you’re paying $150-$250 per hour to your vendor in telecom maintenance fees.  They’ve got to make up for the lost revenue on the sales deal so they’re sticking you with huge maintenance fees and hidden telecom maintenance coverage you don’t need for the next several years.  There are alternative, its time to put a stop to that.
6. Let’s do a thorough cell phone audit.  We’ll find all those employees racking up tons of charges for texting their relatives and loved ones on your company’s dime.  We’ll also find the download charges for all of those picture sharing privileges and extra shared minutes spent unproductively.  I’ll talk you into allowing me to write a telecommunications usage policy for your company, which will simply set guidelines for your employees, guidelines that they previously did not know existed because they did not exist.  This simple act will save you thousands of dollars in wasted telecommunications expense.   We’ll review smart-phone purchases and costs, and ensure that your wireless network and cell phone cost is under control.
7. Let’s do some traffic studies on all of those telephone lines and data lines you have.  In many instances, I’ll find that up to 50% of those lines are not being used.  Let’s do the traffic study analysis and cut the lines as needed.
8. Well check out those telecommunications taxes and surcharges.  Are you an educational institution?  A Credit Union? A healthcare facility?  A non- profit organization, an Native American owned entity?  Its time to do an analysis of all of your telephone taxes to see if each one is correct.
9. Let’s do a telecom fraud analysis.  Are calls being made at 3 am to strange countries from your headquarters?  Do employees report strange activity on their voice mail?  Are VOIP and PBX features monitored to ensure outside callers are not penetrating your system to conduct criminal activity on your dime?
10. Shop around for telecommunications services.  Its time to stop thinking that you have to stay married to a major carrier because even though they are the most expensive choice, they provide the best service.  That myth does not hold water anymore.  There are plenty of small competitive local carriers (CLEC) that can provide you the same service at lower cost.

In summary, these kinds of implementations take guts and the time has come for us get some managerial fortitude and make some cost efficiency changes to your organization.  Forget about how a telecom cost efficiency project might expose that your company has been wasting precious money on telecommunications costs for years.  Good managers, courageous managers, qualified managers know that it’s never too late to implement telecom cost savings techniques and gain business cost efficiencies. I’m not asking you to be a hero, I’m simply asking you to do your job.

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

A company spokesman at BottaBoom Consulting LLC, a business telephone bill audit industry market leader says, “cell phone audit requests from business clients have risen 32% over the past 24 months and our revenues have significantly increased from the issues we’ve resolved in the wireless area.” This also reflects the general populations’ move to more wireless services, thus an increased need for an audit.

Recent media reports also show positive results for organizations that take the time to audit their cell phone users and wireless devices. We dug up a few recent eye opening stories from twitter posts that show the huge problems some public organizations and users are having with their cell phone accounts as follows:

San Antonio City Employee Fired for Racking up $5,200 Cell Bill for personal calls: http://tiny.cc/pNDnV

Some abuses found in county cell phone audit in county near Tampa Fla: http://tinyurl.com/ylmds2h

Recent cell phone audit for the State of Oregon shows over 450K in wasted telecom expense: http://tiny.cc/jNv6G

A study shows the average Illinois cell phone consumer could save an average of $331 on their wireless phone bills!http://tiny.cc/SG6t5

New Jersey State Medical University cell phone audit shows thousands wasted: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/05/audit_finds_umdnj_spent_big_on.html

In summary, cell phone abuse and waste will continue to increase, as long as consumers continue to use more wireless devices. A great way to combat the problem and save huge expense for organizations is to commission a comprehensive cell phone audit.

We Can Help

Does your company need a business cell phone audit? Contact the phone bill audit experts today at http://www.bottaboom.com/contact-us/

You can read more telecom audit news on our twitter page at: http://twitter.com/bottaboom

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

According to Nancy Cooper, a columnist for Inc. Magazine, “Employers can be liable for road accidents caused by worker cell phone use. A strict cell phone safety policy can help.” And Sates have different laws that address cell phone use while driving. Since many companies have locations in multiple states, it is advisable for them to institute a company-wide policy that discourages cell phone use while driving – across all geographies – period.

As a telecommunications consultant, I often write corporate cell phone policies for my clients. And the distracted driving problem is yet another great reason to have one in place. However, there are several other reasons that companies should have a comprehensive corporate wireless policy.

The Importance Of Cell Phone Safety

A good cell phone policy not only covers this kind of newer liability issue, it also covers many other legal and financial challenges that might cause you problems.

For instance, there is an IRS guideline that requires company cell phones and wireless data devices to be used only for business purposes; otherwise, personal use of these devices must be claimed as a taxable benefit. Your company could be penalized and audited for non-compliance of this rule.

Make sure there are provisions in your wireless policy for business and personal use. Should your employees be allowed to use your company’s cell phones in an emergency? Probably so; however, you must make it clear as a matter of policy what is allowed and what is not. A good cell phone policy will clearly show your managers and employees the companywide rules for wireless usage to avoid some managers making their own decisions.

Another problem that cell phone bill auditors see today is that of ownership of company cell phone numbers. This is a particularly thorny issue for companies that have personnel in critical sales jobs or employees who have cellular contact with key customers or enterprise accounts who take company cell phone numbers with them when they leave. Your policy should state that your company exclusively owns the phone numbers, not the employee. Why? If the employee leaves your company, many of your key customers may still be contacting them on that phone number (possibly at a new competing job) for similar goods and services! Believe me, this happens all the time, and it is a real problem.

Many employers simply reimburse their employees for business usage of the employees’ personal cell phones, without thinking about the critical company vehicle that the cell phone represents. Its loss could negatively impact your business. Therefore, I most often recommend that your cell phone policy should state that the cell phone and the number belong exclusively to the company and that the employee must turn in the equipment upon termination of employment.

Employees Should Be Aware

Employees should understand that cell phones and wireless data devices are controlled not by them, but by a company-authorized employee who is the only person authorized to order devices, assign plans, manage devices and the like. This will preclude complete chaos in tracking and prohibit employees from ordering whatever services they want.

Another cell phone issue is liability for damage. A good wireless policy also stipulates responsibility for lost or intentionally or accidentally damaged phones and how to report problems. This will prevent confusion and help keep costs under control.

Once you have a company cell phone policy in place, make sure you read and discuss it thoroughly with all of your new and current employees. Have them sign the policy to ensure that they understand the information contained within. Be sure to provide employees with a copy of the cell phone policy and include a statement in the language of the signed policy that the employee has been given a copy. This will help minimize your company’s liability for any legal issues that may arise. The cell phone policy should be a required part of your company’s new employee orientation.

We Can Help

Do you need a cell phone policy written for you or a cell phone bill audit performed for your company? Contact the telecommunications audit experts today.