Bill Auditing Management Overview
If your organization is like most, you are purchasing an increasing variety of telecommunications services, each with a unique pricing schedule based upon a combination of complex tariffs and contractual agreements. The validity of the charges on the resulting bills cannot be easily verified. No matter how competent your in-house staff, it is unlikely that they have the knowledge, experience, resources and time to ensure that you are being billed correctly. Each year millions of dollars are refunded to organizations for billing errors uncovered by professional auditors who know where to look.The Telecommunications Bill Audit by DIgby 4 Group, Inc. examines each of your bills from a variety of perspectives including:Contract Compliance
Telecommunications Services are purchased from contracts with ambiguous language, often in need of interpretation. During the Audit, our contract specialists undertake a detailed review of the contract language to ensure that you are receiving the pricing to which the contract commits. Promises such as the waiver of specific charges or additional discounts for increased spending are often made in the heat of the sales process, but overlooked when the actual billing takes place. As telecommunications service providers offer many different sets of rates and levels of discounts, they are admittedly unable to produce clear and accurate bills.
Tariff Review
Contracts for telecommunications services often refer to rates that appear in a published tariff on file with a state or federal regulatory agency, but are not specified in the contract. Also, for services with no contract, rates based solely upon these tariffs apply. Our circuit-by-circuit tariff review is conducted using a proprietary software tool that we update monthly. We also subscribe to on-line tariff services enabling us access to the most up-to-the minute information that applies to your rates from each of the many telecommunications service providers.
Records Validation
Your fixed monthly telecommunications costs are made up of many different voice and data circuits (outside lines) each with multiple pricing components. The records validation ensures that these circuits for which you are billed are actually in place. We use a variety of approaches to records validation depending upon the services. In some instances, an on-site circuit inventory is conducted.
To proceed with a Telecommunications Bill Audit, you need only provide a single copy of each bill received on a monthly basis and any contracts you have signed for telecommunications services. You designate one person within your organization as our primary contact and we’ll take it from there.
Our initial assessment of your expenses will identify the most likely areas of opportunity for refunds, which is where we start the audit.
While the work can be started right away and preliminary results may be reported within a few months, the audit process can continue indefinitely. Discovery of one refund opportunity may lead to others. The telecommunications service providers have limited resources to address these billing issues, so there is often a long waiting time for a response to our questions. Our experience in working with them enables us to recognize when to apply pressure and when to wait. This improves the likelihood of your receiving the maximum possible refund.
DIgby 4 Group is paid a fee for this service based upon a percentage of any refund obtained. If we do not obtain a refund, there is no charge for the service. Monthly cost reduction resulting from the correction of errors belongs to you.
DIgby 4 Group, Inc. has been in business since 1979. Unlike most other telecommunications bill auditing firms, DIgby 4 provides consulting and other professional services to assist in managing your telecommunications resources. In the course of the audit we may identify other cost reduction or expense control opportunities that we will bring to your attention. Our clear, concise Management Status Reports provided throughout the audit ensure that you will always be aware of our progress and results.
We will be happy to provide you with additional information describing the telecommunications bill audit process in more detail.
