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

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.

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-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.

How in the world does one get any results from the telephone company in the way of refunds, much less make a living at it?  It is often difficult enough just calling in on a simple service or repair order with the carrier to get action!  There is no easy answer to getting carrier results; however, the process of external telecommunications escalation is a powerful tool that often brings a more successful outcome to a client than simply being a nuisance or squeaky wheel to the carrier representative.  Having an effective escalation technique is often the key to the golden kingdom of telecom cost savings, the ability to get great refunds and savings from the telecom carriers.  Moreover, getting justice in the way of telecom refunds and monetary savings is attainable even when the carrier sales team is not cooperating with your efforts or is totally ineffective.  Gaining real refunds and savings for our clients through effective escalation is a necessity and doing it correctly allows us to have more confidence in getting results during the project.  Having confidence and a good plan fosters carrier respect and carrier respect accommodates monetary results.

In a perfect world, justice with the telephone companies would be served with a simple phone call and immediate acknowledgement that a mistake was made on the client’s telephone bill and a complete refund is quickly forthcoming.  Sometimes, to our utter shock and surprise, that kind of quick result actually can occur, particularly if your telecom audit client is a very large customer with a lot of monetary clout.  However, in the real world of telecom audit,  and in most cases, gaining quick credits for telecom overbilling and quickly solving billing errors just does not happen that easily.  In most cases, when we escalate a telecom billing issue to the carriers, we have to make countless calls, are given numerous delays and excuses as to why we cannot get a refund for a reasonable back credit.  We also have to be a telecom billing engineer and technical expert to enable us to translate the error on the phone bill to the telephone company representatives.  Then we must follow-up with seemingly hundreds of emails and phone calls to fix the issue (stop the bleeding) and get the refund, even when we are clearly in the right.  Next, we are taxed with digging up the history of the account, trying to dig up old email verifications or meeting notes and other documentation to prove our point to the carrier.  Moreover, even when we win and are assured that the refund or correction is in the works by the telecommunication carrier, it is often forgotten about or someone forgets to enter the case, which prompts us to have to again make even more calls months down the road.  Sometimes, we then have to open another case to enable us to again try to receive justice on something that was “already resolved.”  Most people (clients) aren’t persistent enough and get totally frustrated with the refund process and simply give up.  However, a good telecom auditor does not give up; he simply uses the tools in his escalation arsenal to gain carrier cooperation and results.

So what can we specifically do to escalate?  How can we make the process more effective?  There are a number of steps that a telecom audit specialist or business manager can take to get results.

In my search for information, I interviewed Bob Schwartz, one of the best in the cost recovery and TEM business, an expert in external telecom company escalations and a well renowned and highly effective 27 year telecom audit expert.  As the Vice President of Bill Correctors of California http://www.billcorrectors.com, Schwartz has accumulated a wealth of targeted experience in the telecom escalation process.  According to Schwartz, the public has various consumer protection agency tools at their disposal that they can use to gain better results from the carriers.

Schwartz emphasizes that first and foremost; one must understand the value of the Communications act of 1934, which sets the statute of limitations at 36 months for back telecom refunds from the carriers.  Also, every state has defining retro-active recovery points which must also be considered.  When considering refunds, you should also be aware of date of occurrence and date of discovery rules for each state.  The carrier may argue a particular state regulatory agencies’ position of date of discovery on a refund, which would only mandate that the carrier back date a refund to the date that you discovered it, not when the refund actually started.  This discovery ruling could dramatically reduce your refund so it is important and one that the carrier might try to use so be aware of it.

Schwartz says one of the most effective ways to file a consumer complaint and gain action against the carriers is to file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). There are three ways to file; an informal complaint, a formal complaint, and declaratory rulings.

The most commonly used action against carriers to gain telecom refunds is the informal complaint process with the FCC and it is very easy to do and is quite effective.  In fact, Schwartz has successfully filed numerous informal complaints on behalf of Bill Correctors’ clients over the years with the FCC, and has never lost an informal telecom escalation case with the FCC.   Schwartz explains that filing an informal complaint can be easily accomplished in two ways; it can be done by simply filling out a form online at the FCC website https://esupport.fcc.gov/ccmsforms/form2000.action?form_type=2000B or by copying the FCC on your escalation letter and refund request to the carriers.  Be sure that you have all of the facts and required documentation in your FCC complaint.  The FCC will then contact the telecom carrier, present them with your case and your argument to them for resolution, then follow back up with you at a later time to ensure you are satisfied with the outcome offered to you by the carrier.   The carrier (usually their legal department) is obligated to give you an answer within a reasonable amount of time of your filing the complaint, normally 30-45 days.   Informal complaints are somewhat monitored in bulk by the FCC and from time to time they can force action for correction by the carrier (s) if enough complaints are received.

Formal FCC complaints are rarely used by private companies unless there is a huge amount of monetary refund at stake (millions of dollars) but they can serve a purpose in that the process exists for those kinds of rare cases.  One must also have a specialized attorney that is well versed in the formal process to file the paperwork and work the case.  One should be prepared to spend a lot of time and money on the formal complaint process.  Also, according to Schwartz, most companies don’t want their legal issues aired to the public so they rarely file a formal complaint.

The final type of FCC billing escalation is called a declaratory ruling which has no formal format and are also rarely used.  Declaratory rulings are normally only used when one carrier makes a charge against another carrier, therefore, a telecom auditor or business owner would rarely use this action, if at all.

There are other agencies that can also be helpful, according to Schwartz, and one can also file escalations and complaints with then, depending upon the type of service.   For example, in most cases in California, for a local service billing problem escalation, consult the California Public Utility Commission because they regulate local service items.  In the case of a long distance billing issue, the FCC would be best suited to file your complaint because long distance service is regulated by the FCC.   Once again, you can copy the appropriate agency at the same time you file an escalation with the carrier as a way of keeping the carriers on their toes and gain a better chance of obtaining satisfaction for your escalation case.

Other agencies and organizations that can help in your telecom audit refund are the state attorney general, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and better business bureau.  I have found both the FCC and the FTC to be most helpful in combatting telephone bill cramming and gaining refunds from crammers.  FTC complaints can be easily filed online at this link: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en.

In summary, the effectiveness of the telecommunications escalation process depends on how well we use the proper regulatory rules and agencies.  If you know the rules of the escalation game, the process can be fairly easy.  There continue to be billions of dollars waiting to be recovered by U.S. businesses because of errors by the telecommunication carriers on their invoices, let’s get started. Contact a telecommunication audit specialist today.

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.