Negotiate hard with your phone carrier and get the best rates for your business. Check your charges carefully and make sure they are correct. Todays complex telephone company billing and customer service may force you to watch your back often. The market today is very competitive and fast moving and you have to be on guard.

Your best protection against telco pick-pocketers is to ensure you have a written signed coy of the contract that they have signed with you. Ensure that no extra charges are slipped in and that the carrier complies to the terms of the contract without any extras.

A common error that occurs with long distance carriers is that you might be paying for calls made on one network provider which you have a contract with but being billed by a former carrier. Ensure all old plans are canceled when you move to a new long-distance carrier. The number portability ability with cellphones and changing carriers should allow you to keep your old number- but not your old rates.

Automatic processing of phone bills could be dangerous to your bottom line and one that should have manager overview. Many landline and cellular carriers simply explain to complaining customers-We made a billing error..we will reverse the charge. If you don't ask they won't tell.

It pays to be on guard for these errors. I audit one of my bills , which was around $18,000.00 a month and found lines that were never ordered, installed and billed, and never used.

For more tips and tactics on business telecommunication management go to 2BigTelecomGuys. Jeff Brodie and I do our best to keep you up to date on the latest trends and help you optimize your business communications costs for telephone,internet and other technology.