With the current economic pressures on businesses today, everyone is looking to reduce costs and increase efficiencies wherever they can.  One area where you may find some hidden money is in your telecommunications expenses.  If you have an office you have probably been solicited by one of the thousands of direct sales reps from all of the communications providers in your area.  Often these reps are new to the industry and they are just following protocol by knocking on their required fifty doors a month.  They will often lead with saving you money but their solutions may be limited.  The best way to reduce your budget and find efficiencies is to do a full audit of your spending.  This means evaluating each and every line item on every bill that you receive.  For the layperson, that can be a very time-consuming and frustrating task.  I would encourage you to find a credible telecommunications agent to help in your process.  They will often do it for a share of the savings that you find or in exchange for writing business with them.  Either way, you get the services of someone who reviews invoices on a daily basis to help with your search.The first place to find savings is in the price points.  If you have services that have gone out of contract or are nearing the end of your contracts, it is a good idea to get a quote for renewing your existing services with your existing vendor.  You will also want to get one or two other competitive bids and evaluate whether or not it is beneficial to change providers.

The second most common area to find savings is in unnecessary lines or features.  As your business has changed over the years so have your needs.  You may be surprised to find that $4 and $5 per month per line feature charges add up when you extrapolate them across your entire business.  It can be a bit of a time-consuming process but it is recommended that you do it every two to three years.

The last area is what I call the miscellaneous charges.  These might be from unauthorized carriers that have slammed your long distance, sold you directory listing services, or web hosting services that appear on your bills and you don’t need.  Often the charges range from $9.99 to $49.99 so larger businesses may not notice them and continue to pay…sometimes for years.  Periodically you should review your bills to look for any of these charges and ask questions if there is something on there that seems out of place.  A good consultant or agent may also be able to help with this analysis.  Overall, the telecommunications landscape is an ever-changing place giving you lots of opportunities to reduce costs and gain efficiencies.  If you are afraid to dive in to the mess of bills then you should find someone who isn’t.  It’s a great opportunity to streamline your business and simplify your life.