TM Editorial

"Either you can wait, hoping that somehow the whole billing problem will be solved some day through some global solution, or you can solve your own problems, starting with whether the bill is accurate." That’s how Claude Lessard, telecom coordinator for McGill University Health Centre, sums up the choice facing business users regarding the telecom carriers’ notoriously inaccurate and incomprehensible bills. Several years after the telcos announced a new round of efforts to find a "global solution," there are few signs of progress. That was the message from the dozens of telecom managers across Canada that discussed the telco billing problem with Telemanagement last month (see story in this issue). More than three-quarters of respondents told Telemanagement that the situation was no better than two years ago, and many thought it was worse.Many cited billing as the main issue in their dealings with carriers—a huge drain on corporate cash and resources. What can bill-payers do? Physical InventoryAt McGill Health, when the local service contract expired, Claude Lessard insisted, as a condition of contract renewal, that Bell Canada carry out a physical inventory of all phone services. Bell agreed, and the inventory is under way as we go to press. The telco accepted a similar inventory of equipment as part of service contract renewal. "This check does not prevent new errors," Lessard comments. "Of course things will change. But at least when the contract comes up I can reset the counters." The possibility of zeroing out billing errors in this way is a fruit of telecom competition. Indeed, the threat to change service providers is the main power users have to convince the telcos to improve corporate billing. This power needs to be employed. The issue of billing accuracy is worth raising in new contract negotiations. McGill Health’s demand for an inventory is an effective way to bring pressure to bear. So too is a demand for a billing Service Level Agreement—say, a month’s refund if overbilling is found to be more than 10%. Telcos are reluctant to grant such a guarantee, but some of their larger customers have achieved it. Many customers are also demanding, and getting, more responsible customer service—a dedicated billing rep with real power to correct errors. Collective CloutUsers who feel they do not have the clout to budge the telcos often belong to user organizations that can bring collective pressure to bear. Telcos do not prioritize billing reform, despite their excellent intentions, fundamentally because corporate billing improvements do not appear likely to bring an increase in revenue. We need to convince the carriers that if they do not take action, they will lose revenue. When carriers realize that cleaning up their billing is essential to staying competitive, they will act.

TM Editorial

News | April 26, 2005

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