Warning! Exercise Caution When Exiting the Relationship with Your Current Carrier!

[featured-text]When you think about switching telecom services, it’s not a small decision. It is imperative to read the fine print on all documents including the MSA, addenda and service orders that are all associated (or not) with your MSA. If you do not utilize a TEM provider with a contract management team this process will probably involve some research, the deciphering of the legalese in the contracts, and more than a little finesse in terms of timing.[/featured-text]

Due diligence means doing a very complete, detailed audit of all aspects of an organization. If you’ve started thinking about changing carriers, you may need to perform due diligence on your business relationship with that telecom service.

A couple of gotchas to be aware of when changing carriers:

Before you begin the process of researching new carriers you should pay close attention to these gotchas below that often get over looked.

1. What is your Eligibility?
   Knowing when you’re eligible to switch services is the most crucial step to exploring your options. If you don’t know when your current contract is up chances are you can not exit your relationship with your current carrier without penalties. You must have a good understanding of when your contract obligations have not expired, all of those penalty paragraphs in the contract kick will if you are not careful.
2. Understand Your Terms and Conditions 
   Believe it or not many people do not read the “Terms and Conditions” (T&Cs)  in their agreements. The Terms and Conditions tells what services you’re paying for, and they are the key to knowing how much time is left on your current service contract. Some T&Cs show you how you can explore other options and what areas of spend categories can be used to upgrade to newer technologies along with the percentile levels allowed to do so. Here are a few areas you should pay close attention to:
   • The Length of your Contract or Agreement: This ties to Understanding Your Eligibility in section 1— it will help you establish when you can begin looking for new services.
   • The Start and End of your Contract or Agreement: If this seems like the same as the first point, it’s not. You need to make sure you know when you’re starting and ending, so there are no discrepancies between you and your current telecom service. An example of this is where you sign up for new services and sign the agreement but they are not installed until six months later–that is typically your official start date.  Pay careful attention to all language with the four corners of your agreements. Each carrier is different. It will typically be called, “Service Commencement Day”, but it could be the day you sign the contract or the day of installation. again, it is always a good idea to have an expert in this arena review all your agreements to be safe.
   • Auto-Renewal and Notification Period: Search for any auto renew agreements or termination of service notification requirements that are part of your contract. There will be specific timers and fine print for each. Carriers typically require 30, 60 or 90 day notices to communicate you do not want to continue carrier services with them and you do not want to auto-renew your contract. Even if your contract is ended, they often still require advance notification to cancel services.  After your have notified the carrier ask for confirmation or written cancellation.
   • Termination Liability Penalty: If you somehow get in a situation where you must terminate your contract or agreement, it’s best you know what liability penalty or fee you’re facing. Some carriers charge anywhere from 50-100% of the remaining contract value. It is a good idea to have a matrix per service based on agreement and service guide to be your roadmap to follow.
   • Do an audit – You need to know what services have: Before you start your search for a telecom carrier, be sure to take note of what you currently have, based on your contract or agreement. You should know things such as:
     • Number of Phone Lines, SIP connections, Remote call Forwarding and feature sets
     • Type of Internet connections, Speed of Internet, Carriers
     • Usage, obtain carrier reports
     • Internet Consumption
     • Long-Distance, obtain carrier reports
     • Toll-Free, obtain carrier reports
     • Any special services – conferencing, Microsoft licensing, Amazon and Azure

Ask for help to assess the future of your business, your goals, growth, and where you’d like to go in the next three to four years. At this point most folks are a bit overwhelmed and unsure what services are necessary this is typically when it makes good sense to retain our audit your services.

Contact us further for more information around our auditing services.