Sample mobile telephone bill

Sample mobile telephone bill
Figure 1 is an example of a typical wireless telephone bill. The fictional user has a Telephone Company D phone in the St. Louis market. Mobile phone bills have three sections: cover page with payment coupon, account summary, and the call detail. In this particular bill, the customer pays $50 per month for access and gets 500 minutes of free airtime. Additional airtime costs $0.10 per minute. The plan also includes “first incoming minutes free.” This customer is paying $3.25 for “handset replacement insurance.” If the customer damages the phone, Telephone Company D will replace it. The replacement plan may carry a deductible.


Figure 1(a): Sample mobile telephone bill: page 1.


Figure 1(b): Sample mobile telephone bill: page 2, account summary.


Figure 1(c): Sample mobile telephone bill: page 3, phone charges.

This customer has a couple of options to reduce this monthly bill. First, the customer is paying for the 500-minute plan but only used 291 minutes. If Telephone Company D has a 250-minute plan for $25, the bill could be reduced by about $20. Another way to reduce the bill is to cancel the $3.25 monthly fee for “insurance.” Mobile phones rarely need repairs; so as long as the customer is not tough on the phone, this plan is a waste of money. The customer also had 60 minutes of calling to an 800 number. This airtime could be eliminated altogether if the user would use a landline phone, such as a payphone. If the calls were made while driving, this option is not feasible.

Sample bill

Sample bill
Figure 1 is a sample bill for a fictional dedicated private line between two customer locations in Seattle, Washington, and Dallas, Texas. Data networking bills give little detail. Because the charges are fixed each month, the carriers must figure that the customers do not want much detail.

Figure 1(a), the first page of the bill, shows the customer has monthly charges of $2,557.55. Under the heading “Balance Brought Forward,” we see that last month’s charge was the same amount. A bill auditor notices these details because it confirms that this is a fixed monthly cost. The bill does not fluctuate because there is no charge for voice or data messages transmitted. This section of the bill also reveals that the customer still has not paid last month’s bill. Bill auditors take note of this because carriers are less amicable with their deadbeat customers.


Figure 1(a): Sample data circuit bill: page 1.

Figure 1(b), the bill’s second page, reveals that it is T-1 service. The bill does not indicate whether or not this is an access T-1, an Internet T-1, or a point-to-point T-1. A seasoned bill auditor knows the monthly pricing for access and Internet T-1s is about $500 to $1,000, so this must be a point-to-point T-1.



Figure 1(b): Sample data circuit bill: page 2.

The heading “Discount Plan Savings” indicates that the customer has signed a term contract and is getting a discount. An auditor would double-check the discount amount and find the customer receives a discount of 38.5%. The half-percent is suspicious; carriers usually give their discounts in whole numbers. It is possible that the customer is only receiving a partial discount.

To completely audit this bill, more information is needed. It is especially important to verify the addresses of the two ends of the circuit. Our hunch is that this is Acme Manufacturing’s point-to-point T-1 connecting the Dallas and Seattle offices. For more detail on this circuit, we should match this circuit to the company network diagram and we should contact Telephone Company B.

Sample CSR

The CSR has four different sections: header, list, bill, and service and equipment. The header section is repeated on each page of the CSR and contains information such as account number and bill date. The list section contains information about how the customer will be listed in the white pages, yellow pages, and directory assistance. The bill section contains the billing address, billed name, and tax jurisdiction. The final section, service and equipment, details all of the lines and services the carrier is providing for the customer.

Figure below is a sample CSR for a fictional customer in New York. The customer has two measured-rate business lines. Most of the RBOCs use a similar format for their CSRs. The following list offers a detailed explanation of the most relevant parts of this CSR. In the sample, many blocks are empty because there is no pertinent activity to document.



Account number This is the main telephone number followed by the three-digit customer code. Telephone companies use different customer codes to separate the records of this customer from the records of the previous customer who had this phone number. Some phone company CSRs use the code BTN, which stands for “billed telephone number,” for the main telephone number.

Class of service This is usually 1FB or 1MB, which stand for one flat-rate business line or one measured-rate business line, respectively.

Directory This block is used as a reference point, indicating which letter of the alphabet this business listing falls under in the directory.

Page The page number of the CSR.

Bill period This shows the most recent bill cycle.

Record statement Depending on the carrier and customer’s specific services, the CSR may have up to seven sections (or segments): Account, Line & Station, Key System, Special Service, Extra Listings, Account Summary, and S&E Cross Reference.

Print date This is the actual date this paper record was printed.

Print REA This block explains the reason for printing. BD indicates the record was printed because of the bill date.

Quantity This column shows the quantity of items listed in the next two columns: service and description.

Service This shows the USOCs that correspond to the customer’s services.

Description This column is as close as we can get to an actual plain-English description of customer services.

L This stands for the last service order action that was performed for the item listed in the description column. The possible codes are E, I, and T, which stand for enter, in, and to, respectively.

Activity date This is the date of the last action for the item.

Total This column shows the charges for each item. Where no charge appears, as in the case of HTG (or hunting), it is a free service.

T This column uses numeric codes to show the tax status of each item. The following codes determine which taxes apply to each service:

Federal, state, and local;

No taxes;

Federal;

State and local;

Federal and state;

State.

A The activity column contains an asterisk when an item has been changed since the printing of the last CSR.

LN Listed name. This column shows exactly how the business will be listed in the white pages and directory assistance.

LA Listed address. This column shows how the address is listed in the white pages and directory assistance.

SA Service address. This is the physical location of the phone lines.

LOC Location. This column indicates the floor or building number where the service is located. This field helps telephone company technicians locate the physical location of the service.

YPH Yellow pages heading.

BILL This shows the start of the CSR’s bill section.

BN Bill name. The name of the business as it appears on the phone bill. This may differ from the listed name.

BA Bill address. The actual address where the phone bill is sent. In this fictional example, the bill is sent to Acme Manufacturing’s home office in Dallas.

PO This shows the city, state, and zip code of the bill address.

CCH This field indicates the number of calling card holders.

TAR This indicates the tax area of the customer’s physical location and determines which taxes are in effect.

S&E This shows the start of the CSR’s service and equipment section.

BSX This shows that the customer has two active calling cards.

LUD This is the USOC for a telephone company’s Local Usage Discount Plan.

1MB One measured-rate business line. In the description column, “/PIC TCE” shows that Telephone Company E is the PIC. “/LPIC TCE” shows that Telephone Company E is the carrier for intralata calls. Further down in the CSR, notice that the second line has Telephone Company B as the LATA PIC (LPIC). The intralata calls will be carried by Telephone Company B, not Telephone Company E.

RJ21X This is the USOC for a common type of wall jack used by local carriers. The RJ21X jack serves as the demarcation point where the phone company’s network connects to the customer’s inside wiring. Note there is no charge for the RJ21X.

TTB Touch-tone business. With many carriers, this is not a free service, but this telephone company does not charge for touch-tone.

ALN Additional line or auxiliary line. The main number on a telephone account is often called the BTN (billed telephone number) and additional lines are called WTNs (working telephone numbers). A simple technique for CSR auditing is to verify that each ALN shows up as an exact repeat of the others. If they are not exactly the same, you may have found an incorrect PIC or LPIC, or you may have found hidden charges such as wire maintenance.

MNTPB Wire maintenance plan. The actual phone bill may not itemize this service. Note that MNTPB only appears on one of the two lines. This indicates that the customer is probably unaware of this charge, and it should be canceled.

HTG Hunting. In this example, if the calls are not answered on 555-1000, the call is forwarded to 555-1001.

CHN Card holder name. This shows the name of the employee who has been assigned a calling card. If you recognize the name of an ex-employee, cancel the card to avoid fraudulent charges. Most CSRs do not show names.

9ZR This shows the number of FCC line charges. In this example, the customer is being charged three 9ZRs but only has two lines. This error should be corrected, and Telephone Company C should issue a refund.

Sample local telephone bill

These are typical local bill for a fictional business in Florida. Like other local bills, this one follows an outline: summary page, monthly service, local calling, intralata calling, and charges from other carriers.

Summary page
The bill’s first page usually has two sections: the summary of charges and the bill remittance page. The summary of charges outlines the current charges, any past-due charges, charges from companies other than the local carrier, and the total amount due. The perforated bill remittance page is to be included with the check when the customer sends in the payment.

When looking at this page of the bill, a seasoned bill auditor notices that the customer has measured local service. It is billed $12.54 for local calls. It may be cheaper to switch to a flat-rate service. The customer also has intralata calls. (On Telephone Company A’s bills, intralata calling is listed as “Itemized Calls.”) Any usage, whether it is local, intralata, or long distance, that appears on a local bill can almost always be reduced. In this case, the customer also has $31.04 listed under “Charges for Other Companies.” These charges can almost always be reduced or removed altogether.

Monthly service
Page 2 of the bill shows all of the monthly recurring charges billed by the local carrier. The first item is usually the charge for the lines, which is a fixed expense. Other charges appearing in this section are any optional services, such as call forwarding, wire maintenance, hunting/rollover, and directory advertising in the yellow or white pages. In the sample bill, the customer has two lines that cost $43.87 each. This is a high rate for measured service, so a bill auditor would research why the line rate is so high. A bill auditor would also check with the end user to make sure the three-way calling and call forwarding features are actively used. If not, they should be canceled.

Local calling
As previously stated, local lines can be billed one of three ways: flat-rate service, measured-rate service, or message-rate service. With flat-rate service, local calls are not charged, so this section of the bill may be missing. In some cases, the local carrier will still provide a summary of local calls even though it is not charging for the calls. With measured-rate or message-rate service, this section of the bill itemizes the local calling usage and the charges associated with that usage. If the customer switches to flat-rate local service, the $12.54 charge for local calls, listed on page 2 of the bill, will be eliminated.

Intralata calling
In this bill, intralata calls are listed under the heading “Itemized Calls” on page 3 of the bill. The customer is paying $0.24 per minute. The business saver service discount plan gives the customer a 15% discount. This lowers the effective rate to $0.20 per minute, which is still far too high for today’s marketplace. The customer should consider switching these calls to its long-distance carrier. Most long-distance carriers will carry intralata traffic for less than $0.10 per minute. Telephone Company A can implement this change in its central office. Before switching, the customer should first try to negotiate a lower rate with Telephone Company A.

The next heading on page 3, “Optional Calling Services,” simply shows the business saver service discount plan. The customer receives a 15% discount on intralata calling. If the customer had 800 service or calling cards through Telephone Company A and was using these services within the LATA, the 15% discount would also apply to these calls. However, most customers use their long-distance carrier for calling cards and 800 service.

Charges for other companies
After the local carrier has itemized its charges for monthly service, local calling, and LATA calling, the remainder of the bill is comprised of charges from other companies. The most common charges in this section, also listed on page 3 of the bill, are for legitimate services such as Internet access, interlata calling card charges, direct dial long distance, and collect calls. Fraudulent charges billed by other carriers such as United States Billing, Inc. (USBI) and Hold, Inc. usually appear in this section of the bill. Slamming, cramming, and 900 calls, if billed, will appear in this last section of the local bill.

In the sample bill, one of the two lines is showing long-distance calls carried by Telephone Company B at $0.25 per minute. The true cost-per-minute is actually higher, because the calls are billed in full-minute increments. Full-minute billing is about 8% more costly than billing the same calls in 6-second increments (see Table 7.1 for a further explanation).

This customer might have been slammed by Telephone Company B, but it is more likely that a customer error caused this problem. Assuming the customer has a separate Telephone Company B long-distance account, this line should have been billed on that account, not on the local bill. But if the customer failed to inform its Telephone Company B account team about this line when it was first ordered, the line will bill alone on the local bill. This situation is called “loose traffic” because the calls (traffic) on this line are billing apart (loose) from the main Telephone Company B account. To correct this problem, the customer should inform Telephone Company B and request a refund. Telephone Company B will request bill copies and then “rerate” the bill—it will recalculate the bill at the correct lower rates and refund the difference.

Now that we have examined the outline of the local bill in detail, the different local line charges that appear on the local bill. Customers have many choices when it comes to their local service.

Only through systematic review and diligent auditing of your local bills can you avoid being overcharged. If a customer blindly accepts the carrier’s service offerings and billing, without question, the company will be subject to overcharges and inefficiencies every month. The culture of the telecommunications industry is built on carriers providing customers whatever the customer is willing to accept. The fewer questions customers ask, the greater the revenues for the carriers.