With the economic downturn, companies everywhere are looking to trim their costs.  Does your company use audio or web conferencing?  If you aren’t, you have an opportunity to reduce travel costs and improve communication.

For audio conferencing, the traditional approach has been to use a pay-per-minute bridging service or use an internal conference bridge.  If you are paying by the minute, the big question is what your rate is.  BCC can help you get a better rate that you have today, in almost every instance.  While you might think your rate is low, you will never know without an outside opinion.

A new technology that is booming is the use of web-based conferencing systems.  These allow you to view everyone with desktop video, while utilizing VoIP to eliminate the per minute phone charges.  Many provider charge a flat rate per month, which can control your costs while increasing your communications capabilities.

Finally, the more traditional video conferencing systems have come down in price and increased in quality.  High Definition video is now reasonably priced, with bandwidth requirements of just 384K to 512K with some vendors.

For more information on how to reduce these costs or for independent support in procuring these technologies, contact Better Cost Control at 617-332-7767 x150.

In looking at outsourcing contracts, if you like the company you are working with, you hope to develop a long term relationship.  Keep that in mind when you draft your contract.  You need to establish benchmarks.

To avoid paying too much, include a mechanism to measure market price benchmarks to allow your prices to go down, if the market dictates.  This will allow you to avoid being locked into a disadvantageous agreement.  Otherwise, years may go down without you realizing that you have been overpaying…and it will be too late.

Buying a phone system is typically a big expenditure for most companies; or shall I say, all companies.  The challenge for the buyer is that you are typically dependant on your trust in the sale representative pitching the product.  Take a step back and think about that.  Have you considered an independant third party consultant to guide you through this process?  You will actually save money, since a consultant understands where discounts can be obtained.  They also understand the pros and cons of all the options, while the sales rep will only share the positives.

Your options today include:

• VoIP premise based systems
• Hosted VoIP systems using the internet
• Hosted VoIP systems using MPLS networks
• Traditional PBX systems
• The second hand PBX market

First off, don’t knock the second hand market if you budget is tight.  There is a big market out there and you can save up to 75% if you are comfortable going this route.  For modern new VoIP systems, expect to budget roughly $800 to $1000 per phone, when you factor in network infrastructure upgrades.  For hosted VoIP systems, you can pay as little as $25/month plus the initial investment of $200/phone set; plus any required network upgrades.

Things to consider:

• Hosted VoIP reduces you initial cost dramatically.  But you pay a recurring fee on every phone, which may cost more over time.
• What is the total cost of ownership: include annual maintanence and moves, adds, changes?
• How scalable is the system?  What are expansion costs?
• What are disaster recovery options?
• What is the financial stability of the service provider: VITAL for hosted VoIP.
• What features do you really need versus what are being pitched by the sales people.

Better Cost Control helps companies navigate the phone system procurement process.  We make the process easy and provide the information you need to make the best decision and get the best prices.  Consider using a consultant.  You’ve make a better decision and save money in the process.

 you have an MPLS network today that uses dedicated T1 access loops, you may have the opportunity to reduce your network cost by 60%.  While this might not be for everyone, read on.

The qualifications are as follows:

• Most of your offices require more download speed than upload speed
• Upload speed of 384K is adequate
• A failed circuit recovery SLA of 18 hours versus the T1 SLA of 4 hours is acceptable

By using DSL local loops connected to the carrier DSLAM, your MPLS cost per location can be as low as $120 per location.  Those locations that require more than 384K of upload speed will continue with T1 access loops.  The savings are substantial and you will still have the Classes of Service and QoS that makes MPLS superior over VPN over Internet.  While you might frown on an 18 hour SLA, think about the cost savings and whether a backup internet VPN can fill the gap. 

For many companies, DSL loops are a practical solution to reduce your network costs while maintaining the quality of service.  Contact our sister company: MPLS-Experts to learn more.  Visit www.mpls-experts.com or call 617-332-7767 x150

Did you know that your telephone carrier can call someone at your office, offer them a “deal” of some sorts and bind your company to a three year contract?  Verizon does this regularly.  The only way you learn of this is from carefully reading your phone bill the next month.  Most people never learn about this until they want to cancel a few phone lines during a downturn.  They then learn that they need to pay cancellation charges.

Protect yourself!  Simply associate a password on all your telecom accounts to prevent people without the authority from making these kinds of decisions.

When you pay your telephone bill.  How do you verify that the taxes, fees and surcharges are correct?  Few people do.  But depending on the size of your bill, you could be paying more than you need to.

 Federal Taxes, Fees & Surcharges
At times, the local and long distance phone bill will contain surcharges or fees that are required by federal law, but are not a tax, which means the funds are not collected by the Federal government. On the other hand, the federal taxes applied to local and long distance telephone service are established by the U.S. Congress and are collected by the Internal Revenue Service as part of the general tax revenue for the U.S. Department of Treasury. Telephone companies do not keep the federal tax money that they collect, but forward the money to the Department of Treasury.

Number Portability Service Charge
Local Number Portability is required by federal law and, allows phone customers to keep their same phone number if they switch from one local telephone company to another. This charge covers the consolidation of the printed telephone directory, rather than having a directory for each local phone carrier, and directory information. Carriers recover the costs of providing this service through a fixed, monthly charge. Local telephone companies may continue to place this charge on their customers’ phone bills for five years from the date the companies first began itemizing this charge on their bills. This is not a tax or a charge by the government. For many providers, this fee costs 34¢ per month.

Charges for Network Access for Interstate Calling
Though this fee is regulated and capped by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), it is not a tax or a fee charged by the government. It maintains the network for connecting customers to local switching via wires, poles and conduits. This money goes to the phone company, not to the government, and covers costs that are not already recovered by the local phone service monthly charge. The FCC caps the maximum price that a company may bill you for this. To ensure that all Americans can afford at least a minimal level of basic telephone service, the FCC will not allow phone companies to charge more than $6.50 for a single line.

Other names for this charge: “FCC Charge of Network Access,” “FCC-Approved Customer Line Charge,” “Interstate Access Charge,” “Federal Access Charge,” “Federal Line Cost Charge,” “Customer Line Charge,” “Interstate/Single Line Charge” or “Subscriber Line Charge.”

Universal Service Fee
Our nation has had a policy to promote telephone service to all Americans at affordable and reasonably comparable rates since 1930. The Universal Service Fee helps to make basic telephone services available to all Americans, including those with low incomes or those living in rural areas where service is very costly to provide. Universal Service support also helps provide discounted telecommunications, Internet access, and internal connections to schools and libraries and makes telecommunications rates for rural health care providers comparable to those in urban areas. All telecommunications companies providing service between states must contribute to the Universal Service Fund. Some of these telephone companies decide to pass their costs of contribution on to you in the form of a line item on your bill. Typical names for this charge: “Universal Connectivity Fee” or “Federal Universal Service Fee.” This fee is found on the long distance bill and is based on a percentage of total long distance charges, which can vary from carrier to carrier.

Federal Excise Tax
Taxed under the Internal Revenue Code and applied as a percentage of local and toll telephone service and teletypewriter exchange services. This is a 3% tax mandated by Congress. It is imposed on all telecommunications services and appears on local and long distance bills.

State and Local Taxes
To obtain information about the state and local taxes listed on your telephone bill, you should contact your local and state tax offices. These offices may be listed in the government section of your telephone directory. Additionally, your local or state consumer offices should be able to provide the address and telephone numbers of these offices.

California High Cost Fund (CHCF) Surcharges A and B
Levied by the CPUC under Public Utilities Code Section 739.3, these surcharges subsidize the basic rates for local telephone companies servicing rural areas and compensates carriers for providing basic residential service in areas where the cost exceeds the CPUC determined statewide average.

CHCF-A and CHCF-B are levied on local phone charges. The CHCF-B surcharge is also applied on the long distance bill. They are charged as percentages of your total bill. These percentages are set by the CPUC, and they are set every 3 months – which means they can change frequently. Click here for the latest figures set by the CPUC.

California Teleconnect Fund Surcharge (CTF)
Established by the CPUC, this surcharge provides discounts on telecommunications services to qualifying schools, libraries, community-based organizations, and county-owned hospital and health clinics. This surcharge is calculated as a percentage of local phone charges. This percentage is set by the CPUC, and can change. Click here for the latest figure set by the CPUC.

Universal Lifeline Telephone Service (ULTS) Surcharge
CPUC levied under the Public Utilities Code Section 872, this surcharge reimburses intrastate service providers for lost revenues and operating expenses associated with providing ULTS, the low-income local phone program described in Tab 1. The ULTS fee on the phone bill subsidizes these users for their reduced monthly phone rates and is charges at 1.450% of the local phone and long distance charges of all end-users.

Rate Surcharge
Customers receive a surcredit on their bill when Pacific Bell’s revenue exceeds CPUC-imposed price caps. This amount can vary from month to month.

State Regulatory Fee
This nominal fee is charged to all local phone customer to fund the CPUC in regulating utility companies such as local phone carriers.

California Relay Service (CRS) and Communications Devices Fund
In compliance with Public Utilities Code 2881 and Section 270, the Commission implemented three telecommunications programs for California residents who are deaf, hearing impaired and/or disabled. These three programs are collectively known as the Deaf and Disabled Telecommunications Program (DDTP), doing business as the California Telephone Access Program (CTAP). This fee is remitted to the Deaf & Disabled Program Trust Fund to reimburse intrastate service providers for lost revenues and operating expenses associated with providing relay services and communications devices (see Tab 1). This fee is charged as a percentage of local phone charges. This percentage is set by the CPUC, and can change. Click here for the latest figure set by the CPUC.

State 911 Tax
Provides funds to public agencies operating emergency 911 services. This charge helps pay for emergency services such as fire and rescue.

Local Tax
City-imposed utility users tax on telecommunications services. There is no such tax currently imposed by the City of San Diego (as of August 2003). Click here to see what taxes other cities may assess.

Emergency 911 Charge (E911)
Enhanced 911 – Wireless Services

This charge helps pay for emergency services such as fire and rescue. Local governments may impose this charge on the long distance bill.

The wireless Enhanced 911 (E911) rules seek to improve the effectiveness and reliability of wireless 911 service by providing 911 dispatchers with additional information on wireless 911 calls.

The wireless E911 program is divided into two parts – Phase I and Phase II. Phase I requires carriers, upon valid request by a local Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), to report the telephone number of a wireless 911 caller and the location of the antenna that received the call. Phase II requires wireless carriers to provide far more precise location information, within 50 to 300 meters in most cases.

The deployment of E911 requires the development of new technologies and upgrades to local 911 PSAPs, as well as coordination among public safety agencies, wireless carriers, technology vendors, equipment manufacturers, and local wireline carriers.

(Source: http://www.fcc.gov/911/enhanced/)

Your telephone and data connectivity services are the life blood of your business.  There is probably no other service (except electricity?) that is more mission critical.  That’s why utilizing the best telecom carrier is a requirement for every business.

As the prices for long distance and data services has decreased over the past several years, the major carriers such at AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and Qwest have been forced to reduce their staffing levels to remain profitable.  This is one of the reasons why you find a maze of auto-attendant selections when you call for customer service or billing.

It is expensive to run a direct sales force with feet-on-the-street.  Someone has to pay this cost, and that someone is your company.   All of these carriers also have what they call an Indirect Channel.  This channel includes companies like Better Cost Control and others, that are able to obtain better prices for their clients, by eliminating the need for the local sales channel.  The Indirect Channel handles all the sales related customer service and client relations, and is compensated for this service.  The result is lower pricing for the customer.  This also usually means better service, since the indirect channel experiences far lower employee turnover than the direct sales force.  Think of how many telecom carrier sales people you have worked with over the last five or six years!

Another option is to purchase your telecom connectivity from a wholesaler.  The indirect channels for the major carriers also typically offer wholesale services.  Wholesale services can save you as much as 40% over “retail” while actually offering better service, than you might find direct.

You might be surprised to learn that you can get better service through wholesale than the direct sales channel.  How is that possible?  From the carrier perspective, say AT&T, the wholesaler is considered on big customer.  If a customer that does $50 million a year calls AT&T with a problem, how do you think they’ll respond?  Now if a customer that does $50,000/year calls AT&T, what happens?  You see, the small customer calls the main AT&T service number and goes through the normal queue.  The big customer has direct access to a special support group that only supports three or four major customers.  So the treatment is very special.  You receive this same treatment when you do business with the right wholesaler.

But there are some important things to consider in making the correct decision:

• How long has the wholesaler been in business?
• How much annual business do they do with the desired carriers?
• What is their D&B rating? (Check this yourself!)
• Do they offer 24×7 support?
• How many people are on their support staff?
• What level of support do they offer internally?
• What communications capabilities do they have with the specific carriers of interest?
• Can they integrate your varied services on a single bill?

Speak to reference customers about the wholesaler.   A good sales agent or telecom consultant that has been in business for any length of time won’t be suggesting a wholesaler unless they have done their own due diligence, since their reputation depends on it.  But for those customers that really get it, using a respected wholesaler for their data connectivity and telephone services is a real no-brainer.