Good control is good business. Total Control is great.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Problem Solved with Persistence

A carrier's faulty network caused intermittent outages of phone service for one of our clients.  

The carrier denied that it had any responsibility for the problem.  Repeatedly, the carrier’s testing and technicians stated that no problem existed.  Unfortunately, the denial of the problem did not solve it, and the problem continued.  The carrier’s standard trouble ticket resolution process failed to solve the problem of intermittent dropped calls.  We chose to solve the problem outside the carrier’s trouble ticket process. 

We invested hours of time, and solved the problem.  On behalf of our client, we pursued a credit.  The carrier initially refused.  After many calls and emails, and still denying there was a problem, the carrier issued a credit of $2,638.73. 

Please call us if you have problems with telecom or cellular.  (503) 972-9999  For a one page overview, click here.   

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Accounting Problem Scenario: The misapplied payment by a telecom carrier.

It's not your fault, but it's now your problem.  Another company's error costs you staff time to resolve.  Staff time is company money. 

Your accounting department correctly pays the carrier on time.  Problem: The carrier misapplies your payment to your other accounts.  This means that in the carrier's system, you haven't paid this particular invoice on this particular account.  The carrier, hopefully, issues a disconnect letter to you. 

Upon receipt of the non-payment letter, your staff must determine and reconcile what the problem is.  Time: 15 minutes to 1 hour.

You contact the carrier, and explain the problem.  Time: 15 minutes to 1 hour.

You must produce a copy of the check or proof of payment, and submit it to the carrier.  Time: 15 minutes to 1 hour.

You solved a problem that your carrier caused.  Your company spent 45 minutes best case, to 3 hours, worst case.  If you don't act fast enough, or are not diligent with the carrier, your service, and phone numbers associated with that account, may be disconnected.

Then, the re-establishment of service begins.  Time: 1 hour to 4 hours.

You don’t need to spend staff time on telecom and cellular problems.  We solve problems, and manage day-to-day administration of telecom and cellular. 

We will augment your staff, and guarantee to reduce your staff workload, while simultaneously reducing your monthly hard-dollar cost.  Email CMS.  Call 503-972-9999.  

Friday, June 29, 2012

Managing Telecom and Cellular, and Drinking Coffee

Based on experience with upper management in accounting and IT, we see the difficulty of broad responsibilities vs. limited staff time. A busy department means it's plausible that your telecom and cellular don’t get sufficient attention, which results in unnecessarily higher costs.

You and your staff can invest the time to solve the problems to lower monthly costs, but you may need to drink several cups of coffee.

There have been discrepant findings on the association between coffee consumption and risk of incident heart failure. Doctors of the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Unit at Harvard Medical School wrote an article that appeared in "Circulation: Heart Failure," which is published by the American Heart Association.

Doctors and researchers concluded that moderate coffee consumption is inversely associated with risk of heart failure, with the largest inverse association observed for consumption of 4 servings per day. Four servings per day is about two large cups of coffee at the popular coffee chains.

Find the published article at http://circheartfailure.ahajournals.org.

Go ahead and drink the coffee. Call your doctor to manage risk of heart failure.  Call CMS to manage your telecom and cellular. (503) 972-9999.  
Click here for one page overview.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

US Senator Underscores the Problem of Cramming

Bloomberg Businessweek reported that Verizon Communications agreed to stop unwanted charges from third parties on customers’ landline telephone bills. The practice is known as cramming.   

Third-party billing through landline telephone bills was a $2 billion industry in 2011.  U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the Commerce Committee, said that a large percentage appeared to be unauthorized.  

Senator Rockefeller identified the problem: “Telephone customers have been tricked into paying for third-party services they didn’t want, or use, or even know they were being billed for.” 

CMS solves the problem of cramming, and other telecom and cellular issues.  Senator Rockefeller is not a paid spokesman for CMS.  Click here for overview