Manufacturer

Client:
Small manufacturer with geographically dispersed locations.  

Client Requirements:
Reduce spending, without decreasing operational efficiency.  

Services to be reviewed:  

All services used by Customer, including local, long distance, dedicated, switched and Frame Relay.  

Situation:

The Customer was concerned that his monthly spending for communication services was continuing to escalate.  Each of the eight (8) offices, located across the US, performed similar functions. A master contract existed with a major service supplier.   

Scope of Project:
Complete telecommunications review across offices in eight (8) geographically dispersed locations.  Review included use of consulting services and standard invoice validation and recommendations.  

Discovery:

A complete review of the Customer’s telecommunication services was conducted.  Review of service locations, contracted/subscribed services and actual usage revealed that even though all offices were of similar size and had similar usage, some locations had telecom expenses that were multiples of other locations.  Further investigation found that some locations were over provisioned on services and others were charged for “non-existent services”.  

Following changes were implemented: consolidation of local accounts and invoicing, elimination of unused and under used voice and data lines, cancellation of calling card that were never ordered or used, changing carriers to obtain better rates, and obtaining refunds for the nonexistent lines and calling cards.  

Significant credits were also found and obtained from refund of contract underutilization penalties relating to frame relay usage.  

Outcome:

• $150,000 annual reduction in expenses across all locations

• 50 to 70 percent expense reductions in some locations