The Cottages contracted with Limitless Technology to audit telephone, cable television, and internet expenses, and to renegotiate and renew most of those contracts. Initially, I was hesitant and skeptical. I didn’t believe there was any money to be recovered, and I didn’t anticipate that there was much savings to be had. Limitless Technology finally convinced me that I had nothing to lose and that the time required from me was minimal so I finally caved and signed. My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner.

Once the contract was in place, Limitless Technology immediately started gathering information on our accounts. Even though I had been assured that very little time and “digging” would be required of me, I was honestly surprised at how little it actually turned out to be. Their promise was accurate!

A short time later, they started sending me reports about how much money they would be able to recover for us where we had been over-billed and overpaid cable television bills. The Cottages really pays attention to our contracts and invoices, so this certainly surprised me. But I was quickly credited over $14,000 from Comcast for just that one thing. And then they went to work on contract renewals.

The cell phone contract was quick and easy. I was unwilling to change providers and Limitless Technology was perfectly willing to work within that requirement from me. They dug into our services though, and our plan, and before my next billing cycle, they had cut that bill by almost $1,000 per month without losing any features in our calling plan. Once again, I was really surprised, but starting to realize that they were very realistic when they told me I had nothing to lose and so much to gain.

While the credit recovery and savings on the phone bills were so worthwhile, the best part for me came with the cable television contract renewals. We had contracts in place with three different cable television providers, and every one of them had terms in place that were basically holding us hostage to those companies. And while we do get good service from them, I want fair prices and fair terms too. Limitless Technology renegotiated every one of those, gaining us better prices, but more importantly, better terms. The best thing on those in my opinion was their ability to minimize their allowed increases. So far, we are realizing a savings of $800 a month on cable television, and will have even more monthly savings on that as soon as Charter Communications finalizes two more contracts.

All told, we have saved over $37,000 in a year since contracting with Limitless Technology, which is 17.21% of our annual spend on telephone, cable tv, and internet.

Limitless Technology has been truly great to work with. I went from being their biggest skeptic to their biggest fan. I greatly encourage everyone to give it a shot and I know you’ll be pleased. Don’t hesitate like I did – that was just a waste of money that I could have started saving much sooner.

– Cheryl Burgess Westlake, Director of Operations

Cottage Senior Living

If you have a smartphone with a data plan, you’ve likely gotten that dreaded text alert warning you about reaching your monthly gigabyte limit. When this happens, your data slows to a trickle unless you pay an overage fee.

Even with the best cell phone plan, many of us exceed our data limit. A 2015 Pew Research Center survey found that 37% of smartphone owners use their maximum amount of monthly data at least occasionally, while 15% do so frequently. Those who did go over during one month or more in a year collectively paid their carriers at least an additional $600 million, according to an analysis by NerdWallet and smartphone app My Data Manager, which helps users keep track of their data consumption.

Carriers making changes

Consumers don’t like paying for their data overages, and wireless carriers are listening. In 2014 and 2015, respectively, T-Mobile and Sprint began offering unlimited plans that cut overage fees in favor of slower 2G data once the caps are reached. Over the summer, Verizon and AT&T, the nation’s two top carriers by number of customers, also rolled out plans that trade overage fees for slower data speeds, known as throttling.

If you have a so-called legacy plan, meaning you haven’t switched to one of the new plans, it’s likely you’re still subject to overage fees at the two top carriers. But the study, using data from My Data Manager, found that for the majority of consumers, switching to the new, usually larger data plan isn’t worth it. You’ll typically pay more in higher monthly charges than you would have paid for the occasional overage fee.

To determine this, NerdWallet and My Data Manager looked at the cost of legacy family and individual plans through Verizon and AT&T, and compared them with the new plans. We assumed an average usage of 1.8GB per month for an individual plan and 4.3GB per month for a family plan with an average of 2.4 lines, based on data obtained from My Data Manager. The full methodology can be seen below. Here’s what we found.

The new Verizon and AT&T plans

Verizon and AT&T previously charged overage fees at an average rate of $15 per GB, regardless of the plan. Now, if you activate the “safety mode” in your account preferences for the Verizon Plan, you can avoid data overage fees. After you reach your monthly gigabyte limit, which varies depending on the version of the plan you choose, your data is throttled to 2G speeds instead of getting hit with an overage fee. It’s worth noting this plan allows you to carry over any unused data to the following month only.

AT&T has taken an approach that’s similar to T-Mobile and Sprint with its new Mobile Share Advantage plans. In the event of a data overage, AT&T throttles data to 2G speeds until the next billing cycle, regardless of your plan. It’s automatic, so you don’t have to do anything to avoid overage fees.

When does it pay to switch to the new plans?

If you’re on an average-sized plan and your data overages exceed 8GB per year, choosing one of the new plans will save you money, according to NerdWallet and My Data Manager’s analysis. The individual Verizon Plan will save you money if you have an average plan, even if you never go over your data limit. Otherwise, the new Verizon plans and AT&T’s Mobile Share Advantage plans won’t save you money. In fact, most consumers on legacy plans would be better off sticking to them and paying the occasional overage fee.

Here’s how it breaks down:

Verizon Individual plans

For Verizon individual plan holders who use an average of 1.8GB per month, the Verizon Plan is a better deal. Assuming you were on a legacy 3GB data plan before, you can step down to a 2GB plan, which saves $10 per month over the old pricing. Previously, Verizon only offered 1GB and 3GB options. Activate the safety mode, and presto, no more overage fees — though, if you do go over the data limit, the 2G mode is awfully slow. We’ll discuss that in a moment.

AT&T individual plan holders face a different set of options. For those who exceed their data limit four times or fewer during the year, it’s actually cheaper to pay the overage fees than it is to switch plans, based on the average usage figures we found. This is because consumers who use that average 1.8GB per month and were previously on a 2GB plan would now have to upgrade to a 3GB plan under Mobile Share Advantage — meaning they’d have to pay for an extra 1.2GB that they might not need. (AT&T’s new plans have only 1GB, 3GB or higher options.) And there’s automatic throttling once the data limits are exceeded.

Watch out for throttling

Keep in mind that, for consumers used to 4G LTE data, throttled 2G speed could be problematic, especially for the 10% of Americans for whom their smartphone is their only access to the internet. When you’re using your phone for everything from job applications to paying bills, 2G is very slow. By comparison, browsing 30 webpages would take 2.8 minutes at 2G speed, while doing the same at 4G LTE takes only one second, according to Verizon.

If you’re not sure how much data you’re using, you can analyze your usage with My Data Manager or one of the other apps available, and then evaluate your needs to make sure you have the best cell phone plan for you.

Resource: NERDWALLET: https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/utilities/what-no-overage-fee-cell-phone-plans-mean-for-you/

At LIMITLESS we are your trusted partner and understand how to best help our Clients reduce costs, while ensuring you stay highly effective and efficient with your services. We strive daily to help you become more financially sound, putting more money back in your wallet. The average savings we find our clients is between 17% – 36%.

We have saved companies tens of thousands and even in some cases millions on their telecom, utility and vendor expenses with our proven cost reduction process.

At LIMITLESS we use our Powerful Process to identify cost savings, improving and negotiating contracts, finding billing errors and recovering billing errors. Our Proven Results allow our Clients to reinvest the “savings” into growth initiatives or apply these “found profits” to their bottom line.

Our clients realize that they derive the most benefit by concentrating their efforts on their core service or product. Most business people simply do not have the time or in-house expertise to analyze technology, suppliers and pricing alternatives.

Contact LIMITLESS today for a FREE CONSULTATION to discover how to get control of your unmanaged spend and reduce expenditure on business services.

Other Ways to Connect with Us.

Request more info: http://limitlesstechnology.com/contact-us/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/limitlesstech
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/limitless-technology

Both Verizon and AT&T announced new conditions for their unlimited data plans this week, including a $5 per month increase for AT&T customers and a 200 gigabyte cap for Verizon customers. Unlike Sprint and T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon are not set on boosting their unlimited offerings; rather they are more focused on quality content services like DirecTV. In line with all of these alterations, The Wall Street Journal published a comprehensive guide to understanding offerings like overage protection plans and data rollover. The stories on our minds are below.

Unlimited plan changes — As previously stated, Verizon and AT&T both made changes to their unlimited plans this week, as reported by CNET. On the contrary, carriers like T-Mobile and Sprint continue to tout unlimited plans, as evidenced by John Legere’s speech at CES. While the plan changes from AT&T and Verizon are very minimal, these alterations show that the carriers are eager to direct their customers to other plan offerings, such as AT&T’s DirecTV and unlimited plan bundling. Since AT&T and Verizon have potential acquisitions pending with major content companies (Time Warner and Yahoo, respectively), developing enticing content services appears to be more of a priority than convenient data plans.

Understanding your data plan — It’s no secret that the carrier world is buzzing with plan deals and promotions. With T-Mobile’s announcement of its KickBack program last week and the changes that AT&T and Verizon made to their unlimited plans this week, it’s no wonder that The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern published a comprehensive guide on everything a carrier customer should know. To help consumers navigate these countless offerings she covers everything from overage protection offerings, rollover data and unlimited plans. Specifically, Stern highlights how unlimited data plans are useful for heavy data users, however most customers don’t end up needing that much. The fact that there is simply a need for guides like this is telling of how carrier deals are potentially confusing customers more than they are benefiting them.

At LIMITLESS we are your trusted partner and understand how to best help our Clients reduce costs, while ensuring you stay highly effective and efficient with your services. We strive daily to help you become more financially sound, putting more money back in your wallet. The average savings we find our clients is between 17% – 36%.

We have saved companies tens of thousands and even in some cases millions on their telecom, utility and vendor expenses with our proven cost reduction process.

At LIMITLESS we use our Powerful Process to identify cost savings, improving and negotiating contracts, finding billing errors and recovering billing errors. Our Proven Results allow our Clients to reinvest the “savings” into growth initiatives or apply these “found profits” to their bottom line.

Our clients realize that they derive the most benefit by concentrating their efforts on their core service or product. Most business people simply do not have the time or in-house expertise to analyze technology, suppliers and pricing alternatives.

Contact LIMITLESS today for a FREE CONSULTATION to discover how to get control of your unmanaged spend and reduce expenditure on business services.

Other Ways to Connect with Us.

Request more info: http://limitlesstechnology.com/contact-us/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/limitlesstech
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/limitless-technology

Source:

http://www.itsoninc.com/blog/got-any-plans-whats-in-store-for-unlimited-plans-and-how-to-navigate-your-carriers-offerings/?utm_source=LinkedIn&utm_campaign=weeklynewsrecap-september5&utm_content=LinkedIn-post

Telecom / I.T. contracts come in many forms. There are software licenses, hardware leases, subscriptions to online services, maintenance and service agreements, and warranties – just to name a few. Each of these I.T. contracts includes different terms and conditions, and may be acquired through various different sources (directly from a vendor, through a reseller, via an OEM partner, etc.). This makes accurate tracking and maintenance a complex challenge for any organization. Limitless Technology has experts with the experience to help you IMPROVE SERVICE and SAVE MONEY.

Ask yourself this question again…why would I pay too much?

Then call us to stop paying too much. 866-504-4050

What’s missing that can increase profit? And more importantly how does it have a financial impact on your P&L?

You will likely see a MRC (Monthly Recurring Charge) on most invoices, which is the base price for your services charged by that vendor. This base price usually includes a group of services that are provided to you. For example, your telecommunication provider (ATT, Verizon, Sprint and all other telecom providers) may be bundling several telecom services into a bulk or combined MRC.

Most MRC’s contain multiple hidden costs that are grouped together under the one charge. Here are some examples (not all):

• long distance services
• teleconferencing
• inbound or outbound calls
• toll free service
• international calls

It’s more than the missing letters that are missing in the MRC acronym. If you don’t know or understand the terminology that is used in billing you may be missing a potential huge savings every month in telecom billing alone. Here is an example as it may apply to businesses with single or multiple locations.

If your business has a monthly reoccurring telecom charge of $595.00 in one location, every month, but because of a calculation or service error you should only be charged $450 a month – you are overpaying $95 a month or $1,140 a year per location. For telecom expenses that average $150,000 or more a month (30+ locations) 17% savings (due to errors) could mean $25,500 a year!

So how can you avoid missing monthly reoccurring charges that keep adding up?
Routine analysis and auditing of telecom bills will help reduce overall telecom costs if you know what to look for, understand the telecom acronyms and how fees are grouped – and know what actions to take in the case of billing errors.

First, you want to be aware of what those acronyms, abbreviations, codes etc… stand for in order to understand what fees and charges are being assessed by your vendor.

Second, breakdown your MRC and discover each charge that is “bundled” under this category.
Now that you have them broken down determine what they mean, and the amount or fee associated for each of the services that are listed? Do the fees match the original agreement? Are the services in the MRC all of the services that you have requested or need for your organization? No one wants to pay for something they are not using. Are there services that you do not need or did not request?

Thirdly, contact your service provider and obtain clarification on services and charges that you feel are in error. Telecom vendors are known for adding charges that may not be accurate for the services that you need. If you feel that your costs are an error, contact your telecom vendor to get a clear explanation of these charges.

Understanding each charge of YOUR bill is the key to keeping a watchful eye for any errors that may reoccur every month. Ongoing errors have a huge impact on profitability! Correcting errors in your MRC can significantly improve your P&L. Careful analysis and management can mean a leaner P&L.

Many of these components, fees, costs (reoccurring and one time) are often overlooked and are not questioned. Busy businesses continue to pay for services and contracts that are incorrect and are continually overcharged. Errors and overage charges in telecom billing components allow companies to be taken advantage of, and these billing inconsistencies are costing your company money!

Keep an eye on your telecom invoices to ensure that your company is not falling victim to unnecessary expenses. The next time you see an acronym you’ll be able to actually understand what it stands for and how it affects your P&L.

1. Do you review your expenses for errors every month?
2. Do you check charges for overages?
3. Do you know what your contract charges are and do they match your bill?
4. Do you know what charges like “other services” refer to?
5. Do you feel like there might be errors but don’t have the time to review each line item on your telecom billing?

YOU ARE NOT ALONE! So many companies have fallen into the “I don’t understand what they are charging me for” or “they are a reputable provider so it must be right” or “I am busy so just get it paid”. Let’s look at one category – TELCOM. Most people think that telecom costs are fixed. In some ways while this may be true what if your telecom costs were OPTIMIZED and are they truly accurate to begin with. What if there were a few changes that you could make to your telecom bill that would save you hundreds, thousands a year. What does that additional income a year mean for you and your business? Whether the CEO, the administrator, the billing department, the IT department or whomever is responsible in your business for reviewing telecom charges for accuracy and submitting payment – this savings puts money back into the organization that provides for you.

Why pay more for something that you did not sign up for, a charge that your provider “snuck in” or an agreed upon contract that is not being followed? You are at the grocery store and grab the “deal of the day” – a loaf of bread for $1.19 and you go up to the register and you get charged $1.99. You look at the cashier and you just pay and say to yourself “well I am in a hurry and don’t have time to ask why I was charged more”. Then you look at your receipt and see charges like .20 for plastic bag, .20 for bag clip, .20 misc. other charges ??!

What? You would fight for that coupon or that tiny discount at the grocery store over a bag of bread – right? Yet thousands – no millions of dollars are paid in overages to telecom providers every year. Your money – out of your pocket – your business.

On average a company can save from 17% to 36% or more on their telecom bill once an audit is preformed to find unnecessary charges, overages, fees that don’t apply for texting, hosting, misc. service charges etc… Based on what the company has or has not done and if the contract amounts and expense reviews were poorly managed then optimizing telecom expenses in some cases can save a business up to 75%. Let’s say for example that your telecom bill is roughly $10,500 a month. That’s $21 per person for 500 employees. You are being charged $126,000 a year. A 25% yearly savings for you would mean $31,500. This is much larger that the pennies you’d fight over for the loaf of bread right? In the case of a smaller business with $6,600 a year in telecom expenses that would total a $1,650 savings. If you don’t mind paying providers for services that you didn’t ask for then continuing to pay telecom billing overages is the option you choose. But for a business that is willing to take the time to pull the telecom bill out and start to review and do a “self-audit” this is what LT~CRS as telecom reduction specialists recommend you do.

5 Simple Steps for Optimizing Telecom Expenses:

1. Look at your initial contract. A good place to start to see what you initially contracted with the provider.
2. Look through the bill and check off those items that make sense and you feel are correct and should be paying.
3. Highlight any other charges that do not have an explanation (misc. charges, other services, 3rd party charges etc…)
4. Contact your provider and review those items over the phone and get an explanation for each item. If it can’t be explained asked for it to be removed.
5. If there are any 3rd party charges that you were not aware of have those removed.
6. REPEAT each month. Unfortunately, charges sometimes continue to reappear.

Just a few simple steps can make a big impact on your P&L, however, if you feel that you need more assistance in reviewing contract, billing and optimize go-forward contract rates – or if you have any questions please call LT~CRS for detailed analytical processes, efficient procedures and proven best practices for many clients – over many years.

407.330.4466

As discussed in the last blog, one of the biggest fears of the average business person is wasting time. Fear of wasting time is also the reason your tablet connects to your phone, which connects to your Linkedin account, which connects to your email….which connects to your calendar. And until the iPhone 6 directly connects to their cereberal cortex, Executives will not be satisfied!

Because Limitless Technology knows how fearful a Top Executive can be of wasting time (soft costs) and losing profits (hard costs) , it has developed a cure: easy money. Yes, Limitless Technology is now guaranteeing that if it cannot save your company money on your telecom spend and wastes your time, it will give you $1,000. All you have to do is go to http://limitlesstechnology.com/contact-us or call (866) 504-4050 answer a few additional qualifying questions and details, agree to the conditions of the audit, and provide Limitless Technology  your telecom bills.

“Businesses find it hard believe how much we can save them money on their telecom spend. So, it’s simply putting your money where your mouth is.” said Todd Larsen, CEO of Limitless Techmology, when this new promotion was released.

Yes, it is that easy.

So, who wants to fill their own stocking with coal? Unless you own a struggling coal company the answer is no one. Well, you are “filling your company’s stocking with coal” every time you pay more than you have to on the company’s telecom bills.

You may ask “when do I overpay?” The answer is, every time you write a check to the telecom company. Companies like yours spend thousands and even hundreds of thousands more than they need to on their phone lines. With the hundreds of telecom errors that occur, it would be easy to slip by almost any IT, Finance or Operations person alike.

We know you have professional IT personnel for the technical things in the business, but how often does your IT department get together with your financial branch to review the billing? Probably not often…Right? This is because both groups don’t prefer to get into each other’s domain. The IT department knows all about the technology, and work off the budget they are given based on their requests. The finance department knows all about reducing spending, but doesn’t know the technology well enough to know what to identify on the bills. That’s where we come in.

We are both fluent and skilled in the IT and Financial areas of a business. We will find the best telecom plan for your business that will save you the most money while not compromising the integrity of your IT department. Think of us as your holiday Past, Present, and Future. We look into your past, reduce your telecom spend in the present, and make your company even stronger in the future.

See The Holidays for your company in a New Light, Call (866) 504 4050 or go to www.limitlesstechnology.com

Do you remember when making a difference meant everything to you in your job, career, business? No…not just going through the motions because you are experienced and feel you can predict what would happen prior to it occurring. A time when you were concerned with every line item of profitability. Do you remember those days?

Were those days recent? Were they so long ago it’s hard to remember? Ever wish it was that way again? Did you ever feel back then, that you operated as if you had nothing to lose? Yet, every penny was precious no matter what the risk?Why does a “nothing to lose” state of mind work? Well, the answer is because it’s only when we’ve lost something that we can truly gain something better.

Excepting Complacency.

Have you ever said, “that just the way it is”, or “there’s nothing we can do about it”? Have you ever wondered why your people haven’t found the things you feel aren’t right about your operations or what could be improved?

Bigger question is…” If you could do something about it….would you?” Would you seek outside assistance? Would you look for a better way?

And if you did…would you feel you are doing an disservice or stepping on the toes of those in your company who you feel did not meet their responsibility of seeking workplace improvements?  You think they “should be doing” , or that “you hope they are doing” something (like you did when you cared about every penny and every nickel of profitability).

Goodbye Illusion: Hello Truth

What about the truth? Can you…or do you want to “handle the truth”? And do you feel something or someone wiser than your team could assist you in working “behind-the-scenes” to unveil your illusions and therefore help you improve? It may seem jarring to you, but really, it is quite gentle (gentler than you can ever imagine). So are we fearing the truth?

Or do you feel the crumbling of the illusion of your company’s efficiency will cause you too much pain? At LT~CRS we believe the truth never hurts. The truth only heals. In human nature, we are prone to want to hold on to things, but once there is nothing to hold on to, we can’t help but realize that the only thing we can truly hold on to is the truth. That’s why we hope you believe that somewhere in the Losing, there is a much greater Gaining.

So the question is, would you rather face the pain of breaking illusions and in the long receive amazing gains, or stay in the illusions and in the long run suffer?

www.limitlesstechnology.com

Using a contingency based~no risk model,  we specialize in reducing companies

telecom and technology monthly recurring expenses by removing inaccuracies, 

obtaining credits and negotiating better go forward contract rates.

BOTTOM LINE…We Improve BOTTOM LINES.

I fixed one of my outside sprinklers this past weekend. It wasn’t completely broken; in fact, it performed its main function okay. The timer went off, the water came out and the plants got wet. But apparently the PVC had become brittle and a significant leak began to occur draining resource in some areas and over watering where the leak was occurring– nothing major, we were probably losing 50 gallons of water 3 x per week.

The bad part was this must have gone on for many weeks,  because it wasn’t noticed until there was a hole blown through the earth.  So, once I noticed the issue, I had the sprinkler repaired by an expert so I was sure it would be done right. I asked him if there was a way he could have detected them sooner, and he defined a process and procedure on how they detect leaks and repair them before the customer like me received a giant bill. My expert also said why not all customers have them, it was good to check on e a year for a fee, or monthly fora smaller but more regular checking to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

After the repair, and my conversation with the repair company, I thought about what that leak meant to me. It was only about a little water, so it didn’t seem like much of an issue. Then I started to do the math: I was losing near 150 gallons of water per week. That was 600 gallons of water each month, or 7200 gallons a year!  Every day that I didn’t repair it, another 20 gallons of water lost. What a waste. And…It hadn’t dawned on me that the water I was losing meant money out of my pocket. (I get my water bill only once a quarter, so out of sight, out of mind). Then my water bill came: The utility devised a new rate based on the amount of water used. I was now paying for that leak in two separate places, and paying big over an $800 jump in my bill!!!

My sprinkler dilemma reminded me of how many organizations handle their telecom billing. For instance, most companies don’t notice their bills have changed and wonder why their bills are higher. The difference starts small and goes on in multiple areas of their business.

These charges are…Hidden in landline services, misunderstood on Internet rates, never noticed at the setup of the original billing, in 3rd party slamming and cramming charges,and many other areas.  And even when a “leak” on a bill is noticed, trying to work with the provider to get it removed is cumbersome and frustrating at best. (Not as nice as working with my professional irrigation company).

Yet…medium and large companies sometimes lose hundreds of dollars a day, thousands a week, $10’s of thousands a month and yes even $100’s of thousands of dollars per year with these billing errors!!!

Hopefully you won’t let your Company suffer these expensive and wasteful  “leaks” , and you will make sure you get an expert to help you ensure it won’t continue to cost you money that you’re not even aware of losing.

By Todd Larsen CEO Limitless Technology~CRS  April, 24th, 2013

Limitless Technology~CRS

Delivering expert results on: telecom auditing, telecom contract management, telecom expense management, and telecom billing optimization services.

www.limitlesstechnology.com