If Smoky the Bear was a Telecom Spokesperson: Only You Can Prevent Cramming Charges
A year ago this week, Xigo’s CEO Dave Spofford participated in a United States Senate Committee that focused on the $2 billion worth of unauthorized charges appearing on phone bills every year (otherwise known as cramming.) The release that followed this session highlights just how pervasive the issue is.
A lot has happened over the course of the year, especially in regards to the growth of BYOD and the rise of smartphone and tablet use in the enterprise. However, cramming is still a major problem and is even expected to worsen given the massive surge in employee data usage.
In support of the anniversary of the Senate hearing, we thought an educational post about cramming was in order, to help organizations know what to look out for and ultimately avoid these charges in the future.
We have included below a sample wireless bill with a few cramming charges included. Can you spot them all?
The biggest issue with cramming is that it’s so hard to differentiate real charges from illegitimate charges. You may be surprised to know that #’s 1, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 11 could all be considered cramming charges. Not to mention, this particular customer is getting hit up twice for the Pictavision charge. Hard to imagine how many organizations are overlooking these avoidable expenses each year, isn’t it?
With summer just getting started and people starting to take extended vacations, businesses need to be more wary of their employees’ mobile use, especially those in BYOD environments. Employees are more likely to download consumer apps while lounging on the beach, not even knowing that they are single-handedly increasing their company’s mobile spend—and potentially agreeing to have their company billed for recurring unauthorized fees.
The best way to guard against any of these issues is to gain visibility into your telecom spending so you can control it. Without that insight, your business could be crammed without you ever knowing it until its too late.
For those interested in taking a look at the full cramming report produced by the U.S. Senate, please visit: Unauthorized Charges on Telephone Bills Report.