Services and  rates:

SBC raises wholesale rates in Illinois.  This rate increase is most unusual since SBC made over $300 million in Illinois in 2002.  The rate increase doubled rates SBC charges to competitors for its leased lines.  In so doing, (Governor) Blagojevich and lawmakers took the rare step of usurping the decision-making power of the state's utility rate-making agency, the Illinois Commerce Commission.  This action will lead to higher phone bills for residential and business customers in Illinois.

Now SBC applies to Michigan for the same set of increases.  Ameritech claimed it had 15,000 employees when in fact it had only 10,735 and made over $200 million in Michigan alone.  Hopefully, Michigan will not be influenced in the wrong direction and cause rates to skyrocket out of control.

Even though competition has caused confusion and frustration it has generated so many new services that the average business cannot comprehend which service is best for which application.  The need for expertise outside the corporate environment is growing.  Make no mistake, this is a complex problem that is growing more complicated each day.

Which carrier is best and which program should I sign up for?  This is the dilemma that is frustrating all decision makers in the Telecommunication Industry.

Service and account teams have all but disappeared.

What do I do?

First, make sure that all agreements you execute are written in simple English and that all rates are defined in a manner that you fully understand and rates cannot be increased by the carrier without your knowledge and understanding.  You need an escape clause, if  rates are increased beyond your comfort level. 

Make sure there are no automatic renewal clauses.

Make sure that you have a complete inventory of all your services broken down into a simple format so that you can compare apples to apples.  The best trick of the carriers is to compare apples to airplanes which makes the comparison invalid.

Lastly, make sure that all agreements are reviewed by an expert that is familiar with the contract negotiation process.  Also, the expert must be experienced with working with numerous carriers and must not get commissions from any carrier involved in the process.

SPAM

Will Spam take down the Internet?  Highly unlikely since many legislative bodies are starting to write legislation that will help to save us from this overwhelming problem. 

I just installed SpamBayes which is a Spam filter and it seems to be working better than I had expected.  The Web site for this free software is starship.python.net/crew/mhammond/spambayes. 

Email

Our audits have produced proof that  email has reduced the amount of calls many of our clients were making.  Postage also is substantially reduced.

ATI

Please visit our updated Web site  ( www.auditbills.com ) ...new services available to serve you better including software to track, manage and automatically audit all of your telecommunication expenses.

OUR PROMISE TO YOU: "ATI is able to design solutions that will dramatically reduce your Telecommunication costs.  We work only for you and not for any carriers.  Backup systems and network design with routing  to alternate carriers is our specialty.  We analyze your voice and data network(s) and implement approved cost saving suggestions"  reducing your telecom expenses from 10% to 40%.  Just call (248) 307-0052...

We hope you will look forward to the Communicator and would appreciate any feedback that you would like to provide. 

Please email comments to dc@auditbills.com

Alliance Telecommunication Inc.

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