When it comes to telecom costs, many companies in America are being ripped off right under their noses. The culprit? Employees.

"Company workers can knowingly and inadvertently cost a company a small fortune in unnecessary telecom spending", says Karen Thatcher, CEO of TelCon Associates, a telecom management and consulting firm. "Employee abuses can be as innocent as using pay-per-use features that can and should be blocked to outright and systematic fraud. The good news is that all companies can eliminate these abuses with routine diligence, strict company policies and common sense."

Here are some illustrative examples that show how innocent and blatant employee abuses can skyrocket your company's telecom bills...

Abuse #1 - Jerry is a conscientious and faithful employee, constantly on lookout for ways to save company money. At home, Jerry saves money when calling his out-of-state friends and relatives by dialing 10-10-XXX before he dials area code and number. 3 cents per minute is a much better rate than 7 cents per minute rate company gets, Jerry reasons. Sounds smart, until you consider a 25 - 99 cent minimum charge per call is incurred every time a call is completed using 10-10-XXX services. Since most calls from work result in Jerry leaving a short voicemail message, net rate Jerry is costing company is 25 cents to as high as 99 cents per minute!

Abuse #2 - Linda's dreams were shattered when her fiancé was arrested for drug possession and sentenced to 3-5 years in state penitentiary. On a tight budget, Linda cannot afford collect calls she receives from him to stay in touch. One day she nervously accepted his call during her lunch hour. To be on safe side, she then allowed two full months to pass to see if anyone would notice charges. Since no one routinely (every month!) audits company telecom bills, Linda now enjoys frequent conversations with her incarcerated fiancé from comfort her desk - compliments of company! Knowing she can get away with this abuse, Linda now routinely calls a local Date-Line 900 service to "keep her options open" on dating scene. The cost? $1.95 per minute.

Abuse #3 - Bill has always believed old saying, "time is money". In fact, efficiency is one trait Bill attributes to his sales success and company advancement. That's why he uses directory assistance and directory assistance call-completion whenever he needs it - from his desk and his cell phone when traveling. He saves valuable time not having to look up phone numbers himself and then manually dial number. Bill is unaware that to offset falling rates, telecom carriers have increased fees for these "pay-per-use" charges enormously since Telecom Act of 1996. Directory assistance can incur charges of $1.25 or more per use. Add call completion to mix and charges reach $1.60 or more per use. Imagine having a few hundred employees using these services just once per day - every working day of year!

Fail Your Way To The Top

Have you had a challenging day or week? Feel a little tired or discouraged with a current situation? Ready to throw in towel and quit something?

Don’t worry. It’s very normal to go through times of feeling that something in life stinks and all there is to see and feel is current mess.

Here is something neat to ponder during those times, though. When doing battle with discouraged feelings, take a look at this report and reflect on this man's record of failure. It is a testament to how humans can learn and grow and win despite losses and defeats.