I've been doing utility bill audits for three years here in San Antonio and have had great success with CPS Energy and SAWS bills. Several clients are now asking if I can review their AT&T and Time Warner telecom bills. I'm seeing some obvious overcharges but telecom feels like a whole different beast. Anyone made the jump from traditional utilities to telecom? What resources helped you get up to speed on telecom tariffs and billing practices?
Getting started with telecom audits - where to begin?
Angela, I made that transition about two years ago and it's been very profitable. Telecom has even more billing errors than electric utilities in my experience. Start with understanding PRI circuits, T1 lines, and basic voice services. The FCC tariffs are publicly available but carrier-specific contracts are where the real money is. I found $3,400 in overcharges on one client's Verizon bill just from incorrect mileage charges on their MPLS circuit.
Here in Missouri I've seen AT&T billing errors on almost every business account I've reviewed. The most common issues are billing for disconnected services, incorrect tax calculations, and phantom long distance charges. Focus on learning the difference between interstate and intrastate tariffs first. The billing is complex but that complexity is exactly why there are so many errors to find.
Don't overlook internet and data services either. I found a Corpus Christi manufacturing client being billed $850/month for a 10Mbps circuit that was upgraded to 50Mbps eighteen months earlier but never repriced. The contract clearly stated the higher bandwidth price should have dropped the monthly rate to $620. That's $4,140 in overcharges plus refund potential.
The key difference from electric utilities is that telecom contracts often override tariff rates. Always get copies of master service agreements and any amendments. I've built a solid telecom practice here in Vegas auditing casino phone systems. Last month found $12,000 in billing errors across three properties, mostly related to PBX trunk charges and international calling plan mistakes.
One thing to watch for is the monthly recurring charges versus usage charges breakdown. I've seen TVA territory businesses in East Tennessee getting billed monthly recurring fees for services that should be usage-based only. Comcast Business is particularly bad about this. Document everything with screenshots because telecom bills change format frequently and historical data can be hard to track.
Just wrapped up a telecom audit for a Boise healthcare system with Century Link services. Found they were being double-billed for directory assistance calls that were actually made through their PBX auto-attendant. $180/month for eight months equals $1,440 in refunds. The billing complexity in telecom definitely creates more audit opportunities than traditional utilities if you know what to look for.