Think about what you pay for your personal telecommunications usage — cell phone, Internet, television, land lines etc.
Now, consider business owners and managers doing that for hundreds of employees often working in multiple locations with multiple providers, contracts and ever-changing technology.
For many companies, keeping up with telecommunications is a daunting and confusing task.
But there’s help. The Energy Alliance Group of Michigan has partnered with CBI Telecommunications Consultants, a Michigan woman-owned company that has been helping companies with telecommunications management for more than 20 years.
CBI currently is working with EAG client Ground Effects LTD, a Canadian automotive supplier with six plants in the United States.
Leslie Schultz, Director of Sales and Marketing for CBI Telecommunications said “This is a really fun job. Our clients are very happy with the savings we’re able to find – usually a reduction of between 26 to 32 percent, depending on the size of the company and the type of controls they have in place.”
In addition to telecommunications, CBI analyzes utility and energy billing and services. According to Schultz, CBI typically starts by gathering information — three to six months of bills, copies of contracts, rate plan information and so on. They study and analyze it all.
“We often find companies have excellent IT departments with people who understand the technology and accounting departments that handle billing, but there’s no one to put the two together to make sure all the pieces fit,” Schultz said.
CBI looks for errors in billing, which are more common than you might think, and reviews contracts looking for ways to improve them. They seek out credits for companies, and often discover technology that’s not being used at all, but is still being paid for each month. They also look for better rate plans.
“I used to work for AT&T and the long-distance provider Qwest, and for me, it’s really nice to be on the other side. I’m able to help a client if they have a problem with a vendor. Sometimes people just want us to review what they’ve set up with their vendors, just be sure they’ve done a good job. It’s nice to be a trusted advisor,” Schultz added.
Recently, CBI worked with one client that had more than 3,000 wireless devices, six vendors and 42 billing accounts. CBI was able to reduce the number of accounts, optimize vendor billing, eliminate unused devices, add or remove features as needed and create a new wireless policy for the company.
The results? According to CBI, this company recovered more than $1 million and is saving $95,000 each month.
CBI Telecommunications Consultants offers telecom auditing, energy & utility auditing, phone system evaluations, technology policy writing and review, monthly bill payment and bill review service (offering ongoing scrutiny of service and billing), 24X7 MAC-D Helpdesk services for wireless and wireline assets (move, add, change or delete) as well as additional special project services and more. CBI also offers telecom management software program called Enlitin®.
The Energy Alliance Group (EAG) is an energy solutions and cost recovery company providing energy-saving products, technologies and services. EAG’s clients are assured the greatest energy savings and maximum return on investments by being guided through the complexity of technology and service choices, utility and tax incentives and project financing alternatives.
EAG partners with a variety of energy and cost recovery experts so it can provide comprehensive service to all its clients. To see a list of EAG partners and affiliates, please click here.
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