Every Penny Counts

As a communications service provider, you may know that pennies can be lost in various places throughout your usage. When converting companies to our software, we’ve found where a company was not billing for an entire trunk or not billing specific call codes. We’ve also found a lot of usage falling out where the service is disconnected but phone usage is still coming through. To help you recover all the pennies you have, here are some areas to watch:
 

During Usage Processing

Is there is a usage error from the switch that is not billed? Are you billing for an underlying carrier and the call errors out? Pay attention to the errors and their meaning becuase you are paying for the record from the underlying carrier and not charging the customer for the call. Ask your software provider for documentation of their usage error codes and the solutions to fix them. 
 

Incorrect Usage Rates

A best practice is to audit the rates to ensure they are properly set up with the correct rates and verify there are no calls rating at zero when they are not supposed to be. You should also audit call plans for incorrect ratings.
 

Not Charging for Services

Run the reports available to you to see if there are missing Monthly Recurring Charges (MRCs) and to verify the prices of MRCs. We recommend running these reports at least a quarterly or bi-yearly internal audits.
 

Allowing Usage/Services thru the Switch without Billing

Your software provider should have a way to audit your switch. Things to look for include:

• Is the phone service accurately active/inactive/suspended?
• Does the customer have all of the features they are paying for or do they have features they are not paying for?
• Are they PIC’d to the appropriate carrier?
• Is there line equipment or SIP domain correct?

Pennies add up to be dollars for your company! No matter what billing software you are running, there are tools available to you to find and fix as much as those lost pennies as you can.