Digging Deeper: A Case Study With Schnitzer Steel
Key Takeaways-
– Within large telecom networks, there are likely unnecessary charges.
– One small error by the provider can be corrected leading to over $50,000 in savings.
– Ruby+Solberg investigates all accounts to catch even the smallest errors.
About the Client
If there’s anything we know from 20+ years in telecom, it’s that carriers will find a way to charge you for services you don’t use. Whether it’s intentional or not is a discussion for another time. In the case of Schnitzer Steel, our focus was on identifying charges that simply did not need to be. Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. is a steel manufacturing and scrap metal recycling company with locations across North America and as you might expect, has a vast telecom infrastructure. You could assume that with a little digging, you’d uncover more than a few unnecessary charges… And you would be right.
Finding Hidden Costs
What kind of charges are telecom providers able to sneak into large telecom bills for companies like Schnitzer Steel?
In one example, we noticed that the T1 (a main line that carries large amounts of data or digitized voice channels, typically used for office buildings) was interfering with voice calls on a sub-account causing the charges to be extremely high. After notifying the provider working to remedy the wrongful charge, the provider issued a one time credit of $14,194.10 and the sub-account is now $1,500 less a month. That’s an estimated savings of $50,194.10 over the course of two years. Not a bad chunk of change considering it was based on a provider’s mistake. When you see an error like that, it’s likely that something similar is happening on other sub accounts. Further investigation found multiple instances of a T1 disrupting a sub account and causing extra charges which we were able to recoup and remedy. When you have as many lines and locations as Schnitzer Steel, these hidden charges can really add up.
Our Commitment
In short, it’s important to be skeptical of every telecom bill, big or small, a task that Schnitzer Steel has trusted Ruby+Solberg with for decades. Where most people don’t enjoy digging for those problems, we excel at it. After all, the carriers don’t seem to be getting any worse at finding ways to charge for services that you don’t use.
