Despite all new and emerging business communications technologies of 21st century (VoIP, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Bluetooth, cell phones, blackberries, etc.) majority of companies in business today still write a check each and every month to a local exchange carrier for a 125 yr. old technology - local phone service - (sometimes referred to as POTS, or "plain old telephone service").

Although it may be same boring set of copper wires that connects to a standard telephone and rings when calls come in, local phone service portion of your company's telecommunications bills is perfect place to begin your telecom cost reduction efforts.

Here are 8 quick ways to begin cutting your local phone service bills. Check them off one by one when completed and you could reduce your local phone service bills by up to 10% or more.

1) Determine proper local service plan for your needs - then regrade if necessary.

Many Local Exchange Carriers (LECs) offer three basic types of local service plans. Flat-Rate Service allows for unlimited calling within a local area at no additional charge. With Measured Rate Service, charges are applied to local calls according to time and/or distance and/or time of day. Message Rate Service which applies charges to each local call without regard to duration or distance.

Analyze your company needs through observational and personal surveys, then determine most cost-effective local service plan. You will be amazed at savings by simply implementing appropriate plan for your company's calling patterns.

NOTE: When regrading from a flat-rate service plan to a measured or message rate plan, be sure that you are aware of extent to which employees are making personal calls. Also, consider any lines that may be connected to frequently used services such as apartment door answering systems.

2) Remove unnecessary or unused lines.

Historically telephone companies have recommended and provided quantities of access lines sufficient to provide a P.01 grade of service. This means that no more than 1% of all callers will receive a busy signal during busiest hour of day. P.01 is appropriate for some situations, but it does result in many customers having many more lines than are necessary.

Take inventory of all lines that are being billed, then track them down and determine their level of importance during day to day business activities. Eliminate lines with phone numbers that cannot be identified, lines that ring with no answer, and/or measured or message rate lines that show no usage.

For more advanced telephone traffic calculations, use , our online telephone traffic analysis program.

3) Remove unnecessary or unused line features and services.

More often than not, most companies have lines that contain features and/or services that are either not needed or are rarely used. The problem arises when features are added to serve a specific purpose or employee, then not removed when things change. Over time, many features may be included on lines and users have no idea they are even available.

Your previously conducted circuit inventory will help you determine specific features needed for each line. Wire maintenance charges should always be eliminated. These charges can be as high as $6.00 per month for each line!

Your CSR is "blueprint" of all lines, services and features included on your accounts. Each LEC has its own format and content, but in general CSR will contain service location of account, billing address, quantity and types of lines, PIC designations, hunting order, line features, service elements, directory listings, federal access charges, number portability charges, calling blocks on lines, 911 charges, and more.

Think of CSR as a complete database "snapshot" of all services your LEC is providing and billing your company. It contains much more information than your monthly phone bill ever will. CSRs almost always contain hidden savings waiting to be uncovered by astute telecom auditor.

Requesting CSRs From Your LEC

The first step in finding savings on CSR is to obtain a copy of them from your Local Exchange Carrier. Contact your LEC representative and ask for a recent copy of your customer service records. Sometimes CSR goes by other names such as "Service Features Report" or "Profile of Telecommunications Services Report". Unless your LEC offers consolidated billing, be prepared to receive a separate CSR for each billed number.

Should you pay to get a copy of your CSR? Not if you don't have to! Depending on size of CSRs and frequency of your requests, you might be able to get a copy of them at no charge. Persistence and patience pays, so stay after your LEC account representative until you get results you want.

Making Sense of USOC Codes

CSRs are structured using a confusing system of letters and numbers called Universal Service Order Codes (USOC). First developed by Bellcore Labs (now Telcordia), USOC codes were established to identify common service elements used by Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs). Today each LEC has its own cryptic coding system with very little, if any, consistency from one to next.

Pacific Bell CSRs are extremely user friendly however. PIC names are listed rather than their codes and they even translate each service order code into language that is easily understood.