Q: My invoices are wrong more often than they are right. Is there something I can do to change the odds in my favor?
A: As technology continues to evolve much more quickly than provider billing systems, the odds are stacked against your organization ever receiving completely accurate invoices. There are a few things that can be done, however, to mitigate the number of inaccuracies. The first step is to negotiate a complete first bill review in your next round of contracts. Billing errors often occur with the inception of a new service or contract, so this review will help to get things started off on the right foot. Most providers will agree to this provision in principle and some even mention a review as one of their differentiators. The key will be your insistence that the provider actually follow through. The second step is to also require a complete bill review two to four times a year after the contract has begun. This will ensure accuracy of the invoices as well as communicating the importance of that accuracy to the provider.
Q: My organization's telecom billing is horrendous. Is there anything I can do to hold providers accountable for their mistakes?
A: One approach that works for many organizations experiencing long-term billing issues is the development of a service level agreement (SLA). Although many believe these can only surround the technical portion of telecom services, SLAs can be negotiated for billing issues. The keys are creativity and specificity. Examples include paying nothing on an invoice until it is deemed correct by the organization, paying only the charges deemed correct while the incorrect ones go through a designated dispute process, and keeping record of the amount of time spent correcting billing errors and then invoicing the provider for this.
Billing SLAs should be addressed during the Request for Proposal process. This will indicate the importance of the issue to the provider and allow an opportunity to gauge the differences in response. The SLAs should then be negotiated and included as part of the contract. This will ensure both parties have reached consensus as to the handling of any future billing issues.
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