Many companies have tried to control their multi-million dollar telecommunications costs in a number of ways that, ultimately, have limited success:

Typical bill auditors: Often they are telephone bill auditors who use telecom audit software programs to locate billing errors or low hanging fruit. They will usually keep a portion of the amount recuperated (Refunds/Credits) for the client as a service fee. This short-term and limited approach could only be helpful in the case of carrier related errors that create a refund or credit which only constitutes approx. 15% of what may be available to the client.

Strategic Consultants: They offer the service of reviewing the business environment and design networking options, which may or may not bring reduction in costs. They write RFP’s/RFQ’s, they manage the implementation, then leave and eventually begin the process again at the next contract renewal, never really addressing the core problem.

Outsourced telecom department or function: The entire function of managing the telecom expenditures is outsourced to a specialized company. This represents a major shift in the company’s culture and requires strategic corporate planning and decision from the top level yet it may still never accomplish total telecom cost optimization.