While this may seem the simplest of questions, because of the sheer number of companies offering “auditing” in this arena it will certainly be anything but simple to select a company that is both capable and will truly optimize your entire Telecom and Technology platform. If we start with who can perform the service we quickly see where the complexities arise. So let’s take a look at how to get the most bang for your buck. 

Insight Research Corp reported in May 2012 they estimate that all U.S. businesses will spend $154 billion for telecommunications services in 2012 and business spending on wired and wireless calling will grow to $184 billion by the close of 2016. If every company optimized now and saved just 20% the savings could amount to $100 billion over the next three years. 

Here are a few terms to look for when you decide it’s time to optimize your Telecom & Technology monthly recurring expenses and begin the search for the best resources. 

Totally independent = Takes no fees from any carrier or technology company 

100% contingency based = Assumes all the risk of finding savings and only makes money on your savings 

Risk Free = Okay free may subjective here but if you have no out of pocket expenses and they minimize your staffs time involvement then we will call it risk free. 

Employees

This is a great place to look until you recognize you hired your IT guy for his knowledge about things like security, exchange, networks, software compatibility, cabling, disaster recovery and the list goes on and on. IT may order phones but can they identify errors in your bill? Chances are if the carrier codes something wrong or misapplies a discount code your IT person may not be trained to catch it, and if they do, do they know your rights with regard to maximizing recovery? What about accounting? Same here they are not trained in the areas that a telecom billing expert is and thus may well leave money on the table. These resources should be assigned to work with your chosen partner to ensure the project runs smoothly. Your partner should work tirelessly to minimize the amount of time these in house resources spend on the project ensuring the best possible ROI. 

Carriers/Service Providers

Most carrier can certainly look at their own bills and those of competing providers to determine if there are rate plans, discounts, or even other services that might be better able to meet your current needs and this can save you money. But can or will a large landline provider look at your conferencing, cable, internet, 800 or any other of a multitude of services with an eye towards saving you money. Chances are no unless they offer a competing service and you may then only be getting an offer to switch to their particular version in order to save. What about credits from the past carrier will they actually spend time maximizing these? 

Third party providers

These guys are fantastic if you are shopping for service and want to get the best rate from all the providers. The question then becomes will they actually optimize your spend across the platform, apply for and obtain maximum credits or do they simply look for a better rate from one of their carrier partners and make you switch. While switching is not always bad it should not be a requirement to optimize your spend but rather part of an overall strategy and only done if your current carrier will not come to the bargaining table. Bottom line…if someone gets paid by the carrier for 10 – 20 – 50 – 100 accounts or more per year are they looking out for your interest or are they protecting their position with the very carriers that have been overcharging you? 

Big accounting/consultancy firms

Some of these big companies perform the services you need however you may want to look into their fees as most are not contingency based but rather charge for the engagement and often only recommend but do not actually implement the changes they present. This can leave your staff mired in months of work with the carriers trying to get the implementation and savings in place. If you have a multi million dollars a month spend this could be a good approach but even then why spend money to learn where you can save rather than engaging with someone willing to partner with you to uncover, implement and prove the savings before you see an invoice.  

Contingency Based, Billing Optimization companies.

Entering into a agreement with one of these companies can help ensure your interest are best served. After all if they only get paid for the savings they uncover, implement, and prove they are surely going to dig deeper and wider to maximize those savings. When selecting one of these you will of course want to check their references and rates. Assuming the references are to your satisfaction it’s time to look closely at the rates. 30% may seem better than 50% but if you pay 30% of $100,000 per year savings for three years your total is $90,000 vs. paying 50% of the first years savings and retaining the full savings in the 2nd and third year. Remember when working with a contingency fee less is not always LESS!!! 

So now you have some data on how to select the right company let’s look at who should have their monthly recurring Telecom & Technology bills optimized. This is an easy answer for everyone. Most Companies would rather put 20, 25 or even 30% of the “over-spend” to their bottom line rather than continuing to overpay… multi-billion dollar carriers.

What is that? JetLevR200 is its name. What does it do? It It gives you the ability to fly!

The JetLev200 is a type of jet pack that uses water hoses with 420 pounds of thrust to propel people 30 ft feet in the air. Who could not resist the opportunity to take one of these cool new pieces of technology on a joy ride?

Named one of Neiman Marcus’ 2012 Christmas Gifts for the One Percent, this item is priced for buying at $99,500. However, if your more of a rental person, you can rent one for about $250 per day.

This holiday, spend some bonding time with the family with a gift that will really make a splash!…Well actually hopefully not too big a splash.

www.limitlesstechnology.com

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LT~CRS likes to be on the cutting edge of technological innovations, but it’s a rare occasion where we can inform our reader’s that a memorable image in nature has changed. Scientific Innovations have invented a New Camera which takes 3D snap shots of snowflakes in midair! This camera has revealed that the 2D image of the snowflake we were introduced to as a child, is actually not what the average snowflake looks like.

Now some of you science buffs may be saying “I have seen pictures of real snowflakes in science books…are you telling me those books are wrong?” Usually in this case LT~CRS (like with your telecom billing) would say don’t believe everything you read, but in this case the books weren’t wrong. What science books usually show is images of snowflakes under a microscope. The only snowflakes that will show when flattened by the microscope slide will be those flat 2D snowflakes we emulate by cutting up pieces of paper into delicate snowflake depictions. However, this is a minority of snowflakes. Most snowflakes are clusters of crystal in an uneven ball shape.

The only way we would have discovered that we were wrong about such basic element in our lives would not have been made possible without this new technology. Just like innovations in technology reveal new issues in telecom expense that we can resolve.

All of us have seen advertisement for “The House of Tomorrow.” You imagine those old commercials with an automated house with every appliance being automated and animated.

Many might think “This is pure science fiction, or maybe something the extremely rich can afford to do.” That statement may have been true ten years ago, but it may not be true in 2013.

It depends on what your definition of “the home of the future “is. If your definition is a robot that serves you cool drinks by the pool, you could buy a fountain drink machine, but that’s the closest you’re going to get. Now, if you’re talking about your kitchen gadgets doing work for you? Well, then that is definitely a reality.

Smart appliances are becoming more common and affordable.  A smart fridge can help you budget and keep an inventory of what you have bought, saving you money and time at the grocery store.  Smart Tvs react to how long you watch TV and dim when it feels you are asleep. This makes your TV more energy efficient and reduces electricity costs. These changes make small to medium additions to the initial costs, but in the long run end up saving the user money.

Soon you’ll be telling Siri to turn the lights off, your fridge to figure out what you need to make dinner, and your closet to give you something comfortable to slip into for a night in with your smart TV and some popcorn you told your microwave to pop thirty minutes after the oven shut off.