Q:  What’s the most effective way to validate that telephone numbers for services on my bills are correct?

A:  A line validation is very effective.  This involves calling telephone numbers to determine whether the numbers ring to a designated company employee and whether they are in- or out-of-service.  Calls answered by unknown parties may indicate that services for another organization are billed on your account.  Calls that return a network intercept message or ring fast-busy may be an indication they are not in service.  Learning the disposition of each telephone number enables you to remove unneeded services or ones not belonging to your company, and you can identify those that may be billed but are disconnected.

Q:  I received a text message on my cellphone with an advertisement.  Can this be blocked?

A:  Yes.  If the message was sent by your wireless carrier you can opt-out with them directly.  Typically, messages from your carrier are sent free-of-charge and do not count towards your monthly text message allotment.  If you are receiving advertisements from other parties, you can block the sending number on your phone.  If you receive a volume of nuisance messages, contact your wireless carrier directly to request blocks and credits.

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