Audit (telecommunication)

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In telecommunications, an audit is one of:

The simplest audits consist of comparing current telecommunications billing and usage to the underlying rate structure whether that is dictated by contract, tariff, or price list. Complex audits utilize software applications, direct bargaining with service providers and activity reports that include detail down to an individual employee's usage.

Telecommunications billing is the group of processes of communications service providers that are responsible to collect consumption data, calculate charging and billing information, produce bills to customers, process their payments and manage debt collection.

Contents

Auditing methods and consultants

In business, companies with significant telecommunications costs or a telecommunications focus normally either conduct audits internally or hire a consultant. No matter the method, typical audits encompass one or more of the following:

Business organization involved in commercial, industrial, or professional activity

Business is the activity of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products. Simply put, it is "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit. It does not mean it is a company, a corporation, partnership, or have any such formal organization, but it can range from a street peddler to General Motors."

A consultant is a professional who provides expert advice in a particular area such as security, management, education, accountancy, law, human resources, marketing, finance, engineering, science or any of many other specialized fields.

Analytics discovery, interpretation, and communication of meaningful patterns in data

Analytics is the discovery, interpretation, and communication of meaningful patterns in data; and the process of applying those patterns towards effective decision making. In other words, analytics can be understood as the connective tissue between data and effective decision making, within an organization. Especially valuable in areas rich with recorded information, analytics relies on the simultaneous application of statistics, computer programming and operations research to quantify performance.

Software non-tangible executable component of a computer

Computer software, or simply software, is a collection of data or computer instructions that tell the computer how to work. This is in contrast to physical hardware, from which the system is built and actually performs the work. In computer science and software engineering, computer software is all information processed by computer systems, programs and data. Computer software includes computer programs, libraries and related non-executable data, such as online documentation or digital media. Computer hardware and software require each other and neither can be realistically used on its own.

Telecom audits can encompass every communications service that a business expends its budget on. Audits may focus on mobile phones and devices, Internet service or land line telephony, or they may encompass all three.

Budget balance sheet or statement of estimated receipts and expenditures

A budget is a financial plan for a defined period, often one year. It may also include planned sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities, costs and expenses, assets, liabilities and cash flows. Companies, governments, families and other organizations use it to express strategic plans of activities or events in measurable terms.

Internet Global system of connected computer networks

The Internet is the global system of interconnected computer networks that use the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to link devices worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of private, public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope, linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical networking technologies. The Internet carries a vast range of information resources and services, such as the inter-linked hypertext documents and applications of the World Wide Web (WWW), electronic mail, telephony, and file sharing.

Current methods

Internal Audit: A business accounting department will generally only conduct a telecom bill review in the months that trigger a red flag due to the sudden spike in the expense of a communications service. This is usually contained to the one telecom service provider who triggered the red flag and the rest of the invoices are left unexamined because they fall within the considered norm of a small monthly cost increase.

Contingency Fee Based Audit:

See also

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By definition an audit is,

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References

    General Services Administration United States government agency

    The General Services Administration (GSA), an independent agency of the United States government, was established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. government offices, provides transportation and office space to federal employees, and develops government-wide cost-minimizing policies and other management tasks.