Resolve Telephone Billing Errors

How to Correct and Resolve Telephone Billing Errors
By Karen Thatcher

It has been estimated that over 90% of corporate telecom bills contain errors. Even with this tremendous amount of inaccurate telecom invoicing being processed each and every month, the majority of companies do not have systems in place for managing telecom errors as they occur. If they do, it is not uncommon to get caught up in "red tape" and bureaucracy trying to correct and resolve the errors with vendors and/or carriers.

Unfortunately, telecom billing errors rarely go away on their own. To combat them effectively, you should implement a step-by-step action plan for correcting and resolving errors at the time they occur. Doing so is the best defense against unnecessary telecom spending.

Telecom billing errors can be intermittent or recurring, usually taking the form of overbilling. The majority are uncovered after a complete and thorough telecom audit of voice and data services. Minimally, a routine check of the summary section of bills will reveal errors that could add up to huge amounts of unnecessary costs over a long period of time.

Correcting Telecom Billing Errors

Billing errors usually occur in three different ways:

1) When a user is charged for something other than what is or what was originally ordered;

2) When a charge is inadvertently omitted by a supplier; and

3) When charges for provided items are based on incorrect rates or calculations.