Finding Hidden Telecom Savings on Customer Service Records (CSRs)

Written by Karen Thatcher


Every thorough telecom audit should include a careful study ofrepparttar customer service records (CSRs) available through your Local Exchange Carrier. Routine analysis of your CSRs will undoubtedly result in thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars per year in telecom savings.

Your CSR isrepparttar 144133 "blueprint" of allrepparttar 144134 lines, services and features included on your accounts. Each LEC has its own format and content, but in generalrepparttar 144135 CSR will containrepparttar 144136 service location ofrepparttar 144137 account,repparttar 144138 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 ofrepparttar 144139 CSR as a complete database "snapshot" of allrepparttar 144140 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 byrepparttar 144141 astute telecom auditor.

Requesting CSRs From Your LEC

The first step in finding savings onrepparttar 144142 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. Sometimesrepparttar 144143 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 onrepparttar 144144 size ofrepparttar 144145 CSRs andrepparttar 144146 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 getrepparttar 144147 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 byrepparttar 144148 Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs). Today each LEC has its own cryptic coding system with very little, if any, consistency from one torepparttar 144149 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.

To successfully decipher CSRs from other LECs, you will need to understandrepparttar 144150 codes and how they are used by your LEC. Most will be able to provide you with a translation ofrepparttar 144151 USOC codes, although don't expect all ofrepparttar 144152 carriers to have them available online. At TelCon Associates, we've developed a database of over 10,000 USOC codes. Feel free to contact us for information on this valuable auditing resource.

Outsourcing Is Picking Pace

Written by Mansi gupta


BPO or Business Process Outsourcing is a very common and mushrooming phenomenon these days. BPO can be defined asrepparttar accomplishment of a business task from some outside agency. For instance a company can ask or hire an external agency to maintain its old records and accounts. The phenomenon of outsourcing was not so well established before a decade. Initially some ofrepparttar 144096 relatively small and low grade jobs like old storage record ofrepparttar 144097 company were outsourced in United States. Gradually withrepparttar 144098 budding success and confidence, valuable and crucial jobs like payroll accounting, human resource tasks – recruitment, training and development of employees joinedrepparttar 144099 fray.

Outsourced jobs most often involverepparttar 144100 ones, which need to be performed on a regular or daily basis. The companies now no more perform such tasks which they used to perform themselves. Like hiring of a consultant company for training of new employees, getting advertisements made from an advertising firm acrossrepparttar 144101 seas.

Outsourcing has many benefits. It allows a company to identify and focus on its core competencies. The company can outsource every other task that can be taken up by outside agencies and that requires significant time and energy (like training of new employees, making recruitments, marketing and manufacturing of products etc.). This lendsrepparttar 144102 opportunity torepparttar 144103 company to fully concentrate on its core competency. Along with thisrepparttar 144104 low cost factor is equally important. The companies in US and Europe by outsourcing their jobs in countries like India, Japan and China accrue huge profits in terms of cost saving. Such savings in cost are inrepparttar 144105 form of cheap and skilled labor, manufacturing or production ofrepparttar 144106 goods etc. This in turn is a result of variation in salary structure acrossrepparttar 144107 globe.

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