Free Telecom Audit Savings

Businesses in need of cost savings are hitting the jackpot as they submit their phone bills to BottaBoom for a free telecom audit review. The treasure hunt is on; it’s that time of year again when Boom’s telecom auditors help businesses find end-of-year expense reductions on their telecommunications services.  BottaBoom offers  companies a free preliminary audit, which allows them to determine if they need a full telecom audit for cost savings.  According to Mark Evans, the Principal and founder of BottaBoom, “Prospective clients fax, email or mail us some of their telephone bills and we give our them a very good idea of the amount of savings they can receive from the full blown telecom audit project.  There is no obligation to do business with us, although most companies that contact us see a 30 to 50 percent savings on their telecom expense right off the bat and that is huge for them.  I’m always amazed that so many businesses are still paying telephone companies like AT&T 70 to 80 cents per minute in default long distance charges  and don’t even think about it!”  Also, Evans continued, “during the month of September, we usually get a huge influx of telephone bills coming into our office for our free audit promotion (usually thereafter, most clients opt for a full blown audit because they want us to procure the telecom cost savings for them.”  The last financial quarter of the year for the telecom audit business is kind of like the busy tax season for Accountants, we see a lot of new clientele.   Moreover, we’re seeing   more blackberry audits and cell phone audits for business cost savings than we’ve ever experienced before, they are becoming quite popular and a very important part of our telecom expense management and telecom audit business.”

For example, the state of New Jersey recently realized 3.5 million dollars in telecommunications cost savings from their telecom audit.  The state of Virginia just realized over million dollars in six months’ recurring savings on their cell phone bills, just from unused cellphones.  We estimate based on data from research firms like Gartner Group and Aberdeen Research that U.S. companies can save close to 40 billion a year on telecom costs with a telecom audit.  These are telecom cost savings from telecommunication billing errors and inventory that continues to be wasted month after month, year after year.   This year, all we want is about 1 billion of that 40 billion dollar potential market from telecom audit savings.

In addition to free preliminary telecommunications audit specials, BottaBoom also offers telecom expense management (TEM) software and free presentations for companies interested in TEM software and services.  Contact the telecommunications audit experts today for your free introductory telecom audit.

Does your business need a telecommunications audit for telecom cost savings?  Contact the telecom cost savings professionals at 1-888-487-5326 or visit their website at telecom audit services

Last week, a distraught CEO from a small Manhattan company called us for help for just this problem. He reported that his company’s Cisco VOIP telephone system had been hacked and billed for long distance calls to Cuba to the tune of $45,000 in just three days.

Our telecom fraud investigation revealed that hackers had apparently gained access to their phone system due to insufficient security features. The criminals were able to dial in locally to the company’s number and obtain dial-tones on their trunk lines, allowing them to make numerous outbound calls to Cuba.

We actually found two problems that led to the huge losses. First, the company had received poor maintenance support from their VOIP system installer. Some features that were activated by default from the factory should have been restricted. Secondly, the company had very poor response from their long distance carrier who actually alerted the customer about unusual calls going from the customer’s network to Cuba.

Although the long distance provider initially warned the customer, the provider was then slow to cut off the traffic and botched being about to stop only the calls to Cuba. The carrier instead cut off all long distance service, which prevented the customer from doing business.

As a result of our investigation, we recommended that the client seek restitution from both the VOIP maintenance company and the long distance company for both the fraudulent charges and the lost business.

To get a better handle on avoiding this kind of problem in the first place, I spoke to an authority on the subject: Brian McDaniel, Principal of McDaniel Telecom Network Security Group. According to Brian, if companies practice the following guidelines, this kind of VOIP fraud could be eliminated:

• Ensure that all manufacturer default passwords for system administration are changed promptly, using lengthy and complex alphanumeric passwords.
• Lock out administrative access ports after three successive invalid access attempts.
• Configure the system to send an alert of the lock-out to system administrators.
• Ensure that all remote access to system administration portals is secured with encrypted challenge/response authentication.
• Ensure that all VOIP system administration ports are on a secure subnet, with Access Control Lists allowing only specific IP addresses necessary for maintenance and administration.
• Ensure that all multi-media and voice messaging interfaces to call managers or PBXs are appropriately restricted.
• Ensure that access to system speed dialing is controlled by business need and that no list entry dials trunk access codes or uses feature access codes to increase a caller’s permissions.
• Review and control all thru-dialing and out-calling from adjunct equipment. Do not allow default entries in restriction/permission lists.
• Set and enforce standards for complex passwords for voice message mailboxes. Require period password resets for these mailboxes. Regularly check for default passwords in end-user mailboxes.
• Check transfer restrictions in all integrated peripheral and adjunct equipment. Block access to ARS codes and trunk access codes.
• Check endpoint targets for keyed entry and time-out transfers in call processing mailboxes and auto attendants.
• Verify all off-net target endpoints in ACD vectors and VDNs.
• Protect often-abused features with forced account codes, authentication codes or barrier codes.

As with any crime of opportunity, hackers are lazy. If they attempt to break into your VOIP system and run into the safeguards listed above, there is a good chance that they’ll move on to an easier target.

Are you concerned that your VOIP phone system is vulnerable to telecommunications hacking? Contact the telecommunication audit experts at BottaBoom consulting at 1-888-487-5326 for a telecommunications security analysis to protect your company against VOIP fraud.

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.

If you haven’t checked the list of itemized services on your telephone bill lately, you might in for some surprises. There’s a good chance that you’re paying for bogus services.

Marilyn Goldeen of Belvedere found that charges from a company listed as ILD Teleservices had gone up—from $12.95 to $25.90. What was she paying for? “I have no idea,”she said. “I’d never heard of them.”

The Transaction Clearing Co.(TCC) was billing her, as well, and for the same sort of non-existent services. Goldeen called both companies and demanded her money back. “I told them that I hadn’t authorized those services,” Goldeen said, “and one of them told me that my son had authorized the service, which wasn’t true.”

Goldeen was the victim of what is known as cramming, in which items appear on your bill with names that seem to be—but are not—legitimate services. The Federal Trade Commission calls them mystery services, and they could be could be anything, from long distance charges, to internet services, to free 900 numbers.

A telecom auditor who’s fought the practice since it began around 1990, said the only thing you’ve purchased is a new name on your bill and an extra charge. Mark Evans, the principle of BottaBoom L.L.C. telecom audit, adds that you could have signed up for the service, without ever knowing it.

“These operations are very sneaky. Someone might call and say, ‘Hi there! are you enjoying the weather out there?’ Well, you’re being taped,” Evans explained, “and as soon as you say, ‘yes’ you’re signed up for some phantom service. And if you contest it, some actually play the edited tape back to you.”

Evans said the rip-off is usually quite small for households, because a five or ten dollar charge is easy to overlook and the customer will continue to pay it, but the big payoff comes with business accounts. An operator may call a temp receptionist with the company and ask if she wants to enter a contest to win a cell phone, or if she can verify that the company is on list subscribing to some service. It makes no difference that the receptionist lacks the authority to verify or add a service. It will show up on the next month’s bill along with a myriad of others, and remain there until someone catches their presence.

“I have saved clients thousands of dollars a year, just by going over their telephone accounts and pulling out these services,” Evans said. “Cramming is a billion dollar industry, and right now it’s perfectly legal.”

The mechanism that allows third party billing was put into place during the breakup of Ma Bell in 1984. It was intended to consolidate bills for local, long distance, and 900 numbers and minimize the number of phone bills in your mailbox. Today, everything from club memberships to free collect calls are funneled onto your bill through clearing houses like Enhanced Services Billing Inc.(ESBSI), IDL Services, and hundreds more. In the May & June 2010 issue of AARP, consumer reporter Ron Burley wrote, “Your telephone number has become a charge account—but absent the security of a password, PIN, or signature that you have with credit or debit card.”

The FTC collected $1.9 million in a settlement with ESBI’s parent company in 2008, but absent a class action suit, Evans isn’t optimistic about a short-term solution.

“There aren’t many homeowners willing to spend the time and money to sue over a $12.00 overcharge,” Evans said, “and once the customer discovers the charge, the company is usually quite willing to return the money.”

Goldeen said the companies who billed her refunded the full amount. “They said they’d reapply it to my AT&T bill, in a month or two. We’ll see,”she said.

According to Evans, if it’s your name on the bill, you have a right to the full refund. That can add up to a substantial amount of cash, because charges that have gone on for a few years can total hundreds of dollars. If you haven’t saved your bills your carrier can trace the charges for you, but don’t expect much more. AT&T is under no obligation to either verify third party transactions or address cramming complaints from customers.

To stop the practice the FTC website urges cramming victims to file a complaint even after a full refund. An online video is available to walk you through the process at ftc.gov. Or you can call 1-800-FTC HELP for more information.

BottaBoom Consulting LLC is a telecom audit firm out of Tucson, Arizona that has been investigating phone hacking, telecom fraud and cramming to victimized American businesses over the past 25 years, resulting in millions of dollars of refunded overcharges and savings to clients. If you are interested in a telecommunications fraud review or telecom fraud detection and telecom fraud prevention services for your company or a telecommunications audit project, please contact BottaBoom at: 1-888-487-5326.

Savvy Wireless telecom audit companies and their clients expect to reap huge savings because a new tiered usage plan that will enable them to more accurately match users with the most cost efficient data usage and thus significantly lower costs by millions of dollars each month.

A new AT&T plan called DataPlus will provide 200 megabytes of data for $15 per month. The potential cost savings for business is huge. As an example, for a typical fortune 500 company with 50,000 of their users who could qualify for the lower data rates, that would mean a savings of a cool $750,000 per month or 9,000,000 per year!. Smart companies are already flocking to professional telecom audit companies and cell phone audit consultants to analyze their wireless data usage and predict their telecommunication savings. In the last few days, the phones have been ringing off the hook, according to reports from two top U.S. telecom audit companies.

The lower priced plan should be more appropriate for most wireless business users. AT&T says the new $15 dollar plan will be adequate for people who merely surf the web, send e-mail, and use applications like Facebook. The data allowance is enough for more than 1,000 emails, hundreds of Web pages and several minutes of streaming video. Video usage is what really tends to tax a lot of bandwidth so users should minimize downloading videos if at all possible and stick to vital business applications if possible for maximized cost savings. A good company wireless policy and cell phone policy should address these user features and options and their potential costs to the company.

Another option is called DataPro which will provide two gigabytes of data per month (10 times more than DataPlus) for $25 per month. Average savings of users on this plan because of lower telecom taxes and surcharges on the new service is about $15 per month.

Overall this is great news for consumers and businesses because it gives them more of a choice in payment terms. More plan cost choices are always a great thing for lowering business telecom cost. According to telecom audit industry analysts, the potential for telecom cost savings is immense and could lead to millions of dollars in company cost savings. Businesses should move quickly to analyze their telecom invoices and adjust their wireless plans accordingly to save money. Telecommunications Expense Management software providers are likely scrambling to adjust their rates to take advantage of the new pricing.

Next week, we’ll report on how AT&T is handling our existing smartphone data clients and users as we report on the actual success or failure of switching of existing and new wireless data accounts to the new plans.

Although AT&T was forced to make this pricing change to better accommodate wireless network bandwidth service levels, a byproduct of this action by them is lower cost and more choice for consumers. Look for other wireless providers to adjust their plans accordingly.

If you need a cell phone bill audit or wireless data audit, contact the telecom audit professionals at 1-888-487-5326. A telecommunications audit can save your company millions of dollars. It is estimated that American businesses lose at least $38 billion dollars a year in because of telecom billing errors and unused telecommunications inventory.

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.

As a former mid-level manager for a large financial institution and a corporation, I was never comfortable with the word “audit.” Like many people, I was extremely apprehensive about my telecom department being subject to a telecommunications audit!  In fact, I even lost a few nights’ sleep over it, even though I had been in charge of the telecommunication department for less than a year and I had full management support for what I was trying to accomplish.

Managing worldwide telecommunications is stressful enough without having a full-blown audit thrown at you, too. However, after I saw the astounding results of telecom cost savings, the audit became more acceptable to me, and I was able to see the process as being positive for my company, my staff and myself.  I was able to buy more high-tech toys for my I.T. department, increase staff and gain more control over my telecommunications billing network as a result of the telecom audit.  In fact, I ended up enjoying the telecom audit project so much that I eventually became a telecom auditor myself!

Nevertheless, now that I am a professional telecommunications auditor serving many other companies, I still don’t really feel comfortable with the word “audit!”  My clients, peers and most I.T. employees I talk to don’t, either.  Others have even opined that the word “audit” produces a feeling of anxiety and they foresee visions of a witch hunt or a method that might be used to embarrass someone or exploit a management or system weakness.  Will the audit itself  be used as a way to get someone fired?  In the modern telecom audit world, those fears with some telecom audit projects are not totally out of line.

Face it, nobody really wants an outside consultant (stranger) coming in to their company and telling them they can do a job a lot better and more efficiently, and find telecom cost savings of up to millions of dollars.  There is the danger that any kind of an audit can produce the feeling that one is under close scrutiny, or that someone is looking for negative information with an audit.  Folks who have some pride in their work (most of us) know that having one’s department or work being thoroughly analyzed can be unsettling.

Upon presenting huge cost savings to upper management, “whose fault is that? Or who should have known about these problems?” are questions I have been asked many times.   My truthful response has most often been, “only a professional telecommunications auditor could have found these particular issues; they are beyond the scope and expertise of most I.T. employees and managers.”

As I think more about the word “audit” and its often negative perception in the corporate world, I wonder if that is why a great number of companies do not choose a telecom audit in order to reduce the billions of dollars of telecommunications overcharges stolen by the phone companies every year.  Think about it: if you save a million dollars for client CFO’s, does that put them in the hot seat or make them a company hero?  I’ve seen upper management and directors perceive huge telecom audit cost savings in both ways.

So there is some risk in the telecom audit outcome.  However, overwhelmingly, smart managers know that cost-cutting is great business and the right thing to do, and proprietary telecom staffs are simply not equipped to outsmart the telecommunications companies.  Nevertheless, I’ve seen CEOs and board members get testy when shown huge telecom audit savings results.  After all, its human to be upset at discovering a wasteful financial drain.

As telecom auditors, we must be aware of the real perceptions of corporate employees and managers as they view our profession and our huge cost savings and financial impact on their companies. Again, achieving significant cost savings can create a controversy within an organization.

That is why during the telecom audit process, it is so important to build bridges and display and genuinely stress positive teamwork with the client.  The client must understand that they are a vital part of the telecom audit project’s cost saving success and they should share in that success.  Moreover, that they should embrace getting a telecom audit, not fear it.  However, people will still have their own perceptions about what an audit does, but it depends on their situation within the organization and how we as professional telecom auditors mold the business community’s perception of what we do in a positive way.

In this environment of huge cost-cutting and cutbacks by American businesses, we telecommunications auditors and others related to the industry know that a telecom audit is a great way to gain telecom costs savings and cut expense items on one of the main three largest expense items in a large company’s capital budget.  Every business should have a contingency-fee based telecom audit. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain, but many still don’t choose to have one.  Why is that?

I have a couple of theories why the floodgates aren’t open and the hundreds of expert telecommunications auditors are not given the opportunity to attack the billions of dollars in potential telecommunications savings often enough at this particular time in our country’s history.  First, let’s go back to the “A” word.  Line employees fear losing their jobs; subjecting them to a telecom audit might push them over the edge or make them feel they may be next out the door.  Second, upper management is also in fear of losing their jobs, and exposing a huge amount of telecom cost savings under their watch might push them out the door.  Put simply, it’s called CYA.  Getting corporate wide acceptance of a comprehensive telecommunications audit is rare.

Merriam Webster’s definition of the word “audit” is actually pretty tame:  “A formal examination of an organization’s or individual’s accounts or financial situation or the final report of an audit-a methodical examination and review.”  Most of us could live with this definition.  However, as we look at other audit definitions on the world wide web, particularly as they relate to the term “financial audit,” I found some negative word descriptions such as “scrutinize”, “inspect,” “examine,” “verifying reliability” and “integrity of information.”  If these terms are what some people expect from a telecom audit, then we need a softer title and description for what we do that is more in line with Merriam Webster’s definition of “audit.”

A prospective telecommunications audit client should look at it this way: you are a CFO and in charge of lowering telecom costs.  You’ve been in charge of telecom finance for many years.  You are responsible for expense and checks and balances.  As a good manager who wants to ensure you’re getting what you pay for and cost controls, you hire a telecom auditor to perform a telecom audit.  The audit finds you’ve been overpaying by millions of dollars over the years, and your favorite employee, the I.T. manager, has cost the company a huge amount of money because his staff has not properly reviewed the telephone invoices.  Although he is short staffed and ill-equipped.  How is your CEO going to perceive the telecom cost savings situation?

Telecom audit companies must do a better job of getting the majority of companies out there engaged in a telecom audit.  My peers and I are anxious to recover the billions of dollars out there being wasted by potential clients and so should U.S. businesses.

My recommendation is to rename the telecom audit project to be reflected as “telecom analysis project.”  We are no longer telecommunication auditors, we are telecommunication analysts.

Please share your thoughts and comments with us below.

Does your company need a contingency-fee based telecom cost savings audit?  Call the telecommunications audit professionals at 1-888-487-5326 or contact us at Telecom Audit.

The first question that you may be asking yourself is; what in the world are Femtocells?  Femtocells are small devices (about the size of a home router) called towers or base stations that can be easily installed in a home or office.  They utilize the wireless service customer’s broadband connections to improve their Smartphone or mobile device coverage and can assist in the convergence of public wireless and proprietary broadband applications.  Prices have recently come down into the affordable range for consumers at between $100 and $150 per device and are just recently being offered exclusively from the large wireless carriers (AT&T, Sprint and Verizon) in the U.S.  The current volume of units to be sold in 2010 is said to be as high as 1 million and the estimate is said to be between 40 million and 50 million units sold by 2014.  This hubbub reminds me of the early days of VOIP deployment, when VOIP technology was about to “take off.”  Am I excited about this technology?  Yes, although guardedly so, particularly as I read more about Femtocells.

The Femtocell offering has created a lot of skepticism in the press also about current limitations of the crowded wireless bandwidth spectrum and as a result there is some promise for the Femtocell and its ability to help frustrated home users of mobile and wireless smart phone services that were previously difficult to use, primarily because of poor reception.  Femtocell technology has some interesting potential, not only in improving bandwidth and reception at a user’s home base, but complementing the home Ethernet connection and better facilitating file sharing between traditional in-house Wi-Fi router technology and mobile bandwidth technology.  And the debate over its implementation and sale by the wireless carriers is muddied by angry wireless customers and web bloggers who ask, “why should I pay my mobile phone carrier and extra $150 to improve their network at my home?”  It is a good argument and by reading some of the blogs, many customers, particularly those of AT&T wireless are not happy about the prospect of having to boost AT&T’s network on their own dime.  In fact, they’re just plain pissed off about it.

Nevertheless, I think we should focus on the potential payoff for the end user of having the new Femtocell?  According to Tatara Systems, a leader in SIP-based Femtocell convergence, the major benefits and possible uses for Femtocell technology for end users are as follows:

• Reduced “in home” call charges
• Improved indoor coverage
• Continued use of current handset
• Reduced battery drain
• One consolidated bill
• Multiple users/lines
• Landline support

But there are other applications besides boosting cell signals at home that the Femtocell could help with and I found an informative video from Mobile World Live that features an impressive Femtocell demonstration from a leading manufacturer Airvana.  The vodeo shows how individual cell phones can be linked together with Femtocell technology to complete a 16 channel musical rendition of “Do Re Me.”  Another part of the demonstration that impressed me is the claim that a Femtocell application user could conceivably go out and take pictures at an event and walk into their residence and have those pictures automatically downloaded into their local LAN and broadband servers.  As I saw this,  I thought of all of the frustrations I have with manually downloading pictures and video to my desktop, the femtocell is being positioned not just for improving wireless signals, but offering users robust applications and links between their broadband and wireless service connections.  This software application would be pretty useful and welcome in my household.

Who are some of the major manufacturers of Femtocells? They are Ubiquisys , ip.access and Airvana.

I am researching Femtocell technology for two main reasons besides being a telecommunications network technology information glutton.  Reason number one are the possible reseller opportunities for entrepreneurs like me (down the road).  At this writing, there only appears to be availabity from the mobile carriers as it appears that the Femtocell manufacturers want to distribute their product primarily through the wireless carrier marketplace.  Reason two for my research is the possibility of huge ROI for smart tech investors who can see the future in these devices.  If the sales projection numbers are correct from market researchers like ISUPPLY are for real, this technology could take off, making early investors who choose the industry leading manufacturer or distributor of Femtocells extremely wealthy.

With all of the hoopla surrounding this Femtocell technology, you are bound to be hearing more about the personal wireless cell tower and perhaps experiencing it firsthand in the coming weeks and months.  Moreover, Femtocell technogy could help silence some of the nagging issues that Smartphone users are having with public wireless bandwidth capacity and some are even saying that with Femtocell, a good portion of your wireless coverage area troubles could be over.

What do you think about this technology and this topic?  Be sure to comment on this article on our blog response section below.  Thank your for visiting our telecommunications audit blog.

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