How can we renew our telecommunications contract at competitive rates and on time to avoid penalties?
Getting Competitive Rates:
While the cost of specific services has dropped dramatically over the last several years, overall corporate spending for telecommunications has increased. If you have not renegotiated your contracts with the service providers, you may be paying significantly more than you need to. Or, you may have recently negotiated at what appears to be competitive rates and are of the impression that no further cost reduction is possible.
DIgby 4 knows there many pitfalls involved in signing a contract and can prevent them from happening with your contract. Many of these issues are hidden in complex language or fine print in your contract. We know what can be negotiated and what each of the competing service providers will agree to deliver.
DIgby 4's Purchasing Support for Telecommunications Network Services is a tested process that we regularly adjust and refine as these telecommunications service and the way they are sold continue to evolve. In order to get you the best possible price for your telecommunications services, we:
- Develop a profile of your telecommunications network services (number and type of lines, call volumes, capacity of data circuits, etc.)
- Prepare procurement documents (Request for Proposal, Terms and Conditions, Service Level Agreements, etc.)
- Identify appropriate service providers
- Establish selection criteria
- Evaluate alternatives
- Select a service provider
- Negotiate a contract
- Validate bills reflecting new contract pricing
Renewing Contracts On Time:
Contracts for telecommunications services or equipment may roll-over or expire with missed opportunities for renegotiation and/or rate reduction.
DIgby 4 reviews your telecommunications contracts and sets up a schedule to ensure that you have time to evaluate and renegotiate each contract before it expires or rolls over. Contract expiration dates are tracked on monthly reports and submitted to client for review.
How can we get the "big picture" of our telecommunications spending to leverage our purchasing power?
Finding out what you're really spending allows you to determine whether the costs and size make sense for your organization and to develop the ability to plan for your telecommunications expenses.Many organizations lack the ability to plan or budget for their telecommunications expenses due to a lack of centralization for the purchase or management of equipment and services. Some items may be purchased by the Information Technology Department, others by those managing Voice Communications Systems (including the PBX and Voice Mail), and often specialized departments such as Customer Service Incoming Call Centers do their own purchasing as well. Then the invoices are submitted and reviewed by the Accounts Payable Department and when identifying expenses according to established categories, they are often not sure how to classify your invoices in a way that makes sense. Thus, you can never determine the true costs in each telecommunications expense category.
With DIgby 4's Corporate Telecommunications Budget Preparation (Annual or Project Budget), we assist with the preparation of a budget, collect all bills paid by each department and obtain a print out of your General Ledger to see how the two totals compare. If they don't match up, we identify where the discrepancies can be found. We also meet with management to identify plans for growth or changes requiring capital expenditures anticipated over the coming year. The final form of the budget is tailored to meet your specific objectives. We also prepare budgets detailing telecommunications costs for capital projects.
How can we verify the accuracy of our monthly telecommunications charges?
Organizations are receiving an increasing number of bills for a growing variety of telecommunications services each month. In most cases, there is limited time and expertise in-house to review these bills before passing them along to the accounting department for payment. Opportunities to catch potential errors and unauthorized use are lost. In addition, as certain areas of expense increase, opportunities to reduce these expenses are often overlooked and significant dollars may be spent before action is taken.
DIgby 4 reviews telecommunications bills received each month for the purposes of identifying (1) potential errors (2) unauthorized charges and (3) areas of increasing costs that require a closer look. This includes fixed and variable charges including local and long distance service for voice and data, calling cards, cellular and Internet access, equipment leases and maintenance and any other related charges to be tracked. This will give you a clear snapshot of where your telecommunications dollars are being spent.
DIgby 4 then identifies issues requiring action and will either resolve them for you or provide you with a list that can be handled by your in-house representative. DIgby 4 also e-mails you with a Monthly Telecommunications Bill & Contract Management report alongwith approval for each bill to pay and amounts in question to be withheld.
