SUMMARY OF COMMON AREAS FOR ERROR IN TELEPHONE BILLING

• LOCAL AREA CALLS



• LONG DISTANCE TOLL CALLS



• MESSAGE WAIT BILLING - Hotel/Hospital wait lights; charge added to equipment charge



• MEASURED SERVICE - verify whether less expensive than flat rate per trunk



• EQUIPMENT CHARGES



• WATS LINES



• 800/900 LINES



• DIRECTORY ADVERTISING



• 411 DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE CHARGES - verify sufficient free calls allowed per line



• INSTALLATION CHARGES



• FX LINES - Foreign Exchange; physical line on premises for access directly to another area; billed separately with breakdown by mileage; verify mileage accuracy



• OFF PREMISE CHARGES - for off-premise phone, i.e., president has line at home; validity of call and watch for double billings



• TIE LINE CHARGES - verify mileage accuracy



• OTHER MILEAGE CHARGES - for special lines and rates



• MAINTENANCE CHARGES - validate need



• WIRE MAINTENANCE CHARGES - validate need; usually can be canceled



• SERVICE ORDER CHARGES - verify validity/accuracy



• EXTENSION STATIONS



• TOUCHTONE CHARGES



• DOUBLE BILLING IN ANY AREA



• TAXES - particularly for non-profit, charitable or religious organizations



• CARRIER MISPROGRAMMING - programmable auto-dialer of LD carrier to access LD; if change carriers it can be programmed incorrectly



• CENTRAL OFFICE LINES



• NON-EXISTENT (PHANTOM) LINES



• FCC/TARIFF CHARGES



• INCORRECT RATES IN ANY CATEGORY



• MISPLACED DECIMALS



• PROMOTIONAL DISCOUNTS - encourage/suggested client use before discount period ends



• LEASED EQUIPMENT CHARGES