FAQs

General Freight Auditing Questions

How much time is required for us to get started and what information is necessary?

Our process is very simple, quick, and straightforward. Very little time and effort is required on your behalf. All you need to do is sign and fill out a simple Non Disclosure Agreement and email/fax back to us. You will need to provide us with you online access to your online FedEx/UPS account as well. After that, you can sit back and relax and enjoy the savings!

How far back can you audit our bills?

Unfortunately FedEx and UPS only allow 15 days from the date of invoice to request credits. However we do our best to recover money as far back as 30 days from the date of invoice. Our main service is not so much retroactive but more for your future invoices.

What are some of the factors for receiving credits on our invoices?

The main factor that we take into account is the money back guarantee policy which states that if there was a service failure (shipment was late) then you are entitled to a full refund. Some other factors include weight discrepancy, incorrect service type, incorrect rate, etc. In total we take approximately 40 different factors for credit when we audit the bills.

How can I verify the credits?

Very simple. The invoice that we send you at the end of each month will state all the credits with the corresponding invoice and tracking numbers. You can simply log on to your online FedEx account to verify the credits.

Can you still audit our freight bills if we have a Money Back Guarantee Waiver in our contract?

Yes, but your savings will be reduced. We always discourage our clients in agreeing to a money back guarantee waiver in exchange for higher discounts with their carrier. This waiver basically states that any package that was late (service failure) doesn’t warrant a refund and that the money back guarantee policy has no affect. It is always worth it to keep the money back guarantee in place to maximize your savings. However if you do have the waiver, we can still reduce your costs because service failure are only one of forty other factors that we take into account.

Will my relationship with FedEx/UPS be jeopardized?

Absolutely not. On the contrary, as a result of our services, many of our clients actually receive a higher level of service from their carrier. Everything is stated in black and white in the shipping carrier’s policy guideline in terms of requesting credits. We aren’t doing anything discretely or “behind the back” when we audit these bills. If we knew from the beginning that this would have ANY negative impact on our client’s relationship, we would be out of business a long time ago.

Why can’t we just audit the bills ourselves?

You could, but using us will not only save you a lot of time but also more money. Since this is our specialty and our niche is with FedEx accounts, it makes sense that we would be more successful at recovering money. Your accountants are simply not qualified to perform a full analysis of freight bills and are likely to skip over many factors that warrant credit. In addition, you will free up your employees to perform other significant tasks for the company. Especially in these days of downsizing, they are most likely stretched thin and do not have the time and resources to spend on in-depth research. Why not turn this function over to the experts to ensure that you are not overpaying?

But we already get good discounts with our shipping carrier so why do I need you?

Great, except that we can save you even more money in addition to your current discounts. We typically save our clients 10-15% off their bills on top of their discounts. Since our goal is to maximize your savings, we can recover you hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month by simply auditing your invoices. Although we have a separate department that negotiates better discounts on your behalf, your current discount plan will remain unaffected by our freight auditing solution.

Why can’t I just have our FedEx Account Executive take care of this for us?

Simply put, it’s not your account executive’s job to let you know every single time that something was wrong with your shipment and if you deserve credit or not. We have a specialized staff that go through these bills all day to maximize the money recovered. We are you representatives for reducing your costs and their job is simply to be there for you if you have any general questions on your account.

Is it really worth it for you to audit our bills if there probably isn’t much money to be saved?

Yes. Time and time again we have saved our clients a significant amount of money even in just the 1^st month of auditing the bills. Since we are the experts at this, once we obtain access to your account we will determine if you qualify for the refunds and if it’s worthwhile for us to pursue. Since most companies are unaware of how much money they can really get back, they claim it’s not worth it for us to audit the bills. However, most often the opposite is true and we end up saving them a lot more than expected.

What if I don’t want to give you access to my online account?

Although our ideal method of auditing is gaining access to your online account, in the beginning you can send us at least 8-10 of your most recent invoices as a PDF file (within 15 days of the invoice date). Once our auditing department receives the files, you will get a call from one of our reps on our progress and how much we saved you so far. Keep in mind though, that we recover more money using our ideal method and it also saves you a lot of time from having to keep sending us invoices. This alternative is simply to prove to you the savings and is only temporary.

Is it safe providing you access to my online account?

Absolutely. The NDA that you sign and fill out explicitly states the confidentiality of any information you provide us and protects the security of the account. Only the right people have access to the information and we even have an entire department devoted to ensuring the security of the account. We obviously would have many lawsuits against us and wouldn’t be in business any longer if any of this information were to leave our offices.

What if we already use another 3^rd part to audit our bills?

Not a problem, at least you are aware of the savings. Just give us one month and do a simple savings comparison at the end of the month with our savings and your current freight auditor. We are very confident that our savings will be significantly higher because 1) FedEx is our niche and 2) We MANUALLY audit the bills in addition to using our specialized software

Why can’t we just do the contract negotiation ourselves?

You can, but since we are the experts at it, we are more likely to be successful at negotiating higher discounts. A part of our auditing department is specifically devoted to negotiating a contract that yields maximum savings for our client. Furthermore, Betachon employs a highly experienced staff who formerly worked for shipping carriers like FedEx and UPS.

How much does your auditing solution cost?

The best part about our service is that our billing is 100% contingency based. We only get paid based on what we save you. So if we don’t save you anything in a given month, you don’t pay a cent!

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General Telecommunications Auditing Questions

How much time is required for us to get started and what information is necessary?

Once we receive your last telecom invoice and your provider information, we take it from there. Similar to our Freight Audit Solution, we do all the work from that moment on. You will only need to dedicate up to 20 minutes for us to explain the proposed plan in a conference call with our agent.

Can you save us money from our past telecom bills?

Unfortunately we can’t. However, the main savings will come from your future invoices and we work tirelessly on your behalf in getting the best possible rates without compromising your current IT infrastructure.

Is there any downtime when we switch providers?

Typically there is little to no down town when switching providers; however, when dealing with technology and the human element, there is always a margin for error. We at Betachon completely understand the impact any down time has on business, and our years of experience has helped us to understand the importance of order accuracy and close management of the provisioning process. Our customers employ our services to improve their overall telecommunication and network service experiences by giving them piece of mind that the life blood of their business is being managed by an expert.

Why can’t we just find a better plan ourselves or get consultation from our IT staff?

You could, but similar to our freight auditing solution, using us will not only save you a lot of time but also more money. You most likely won’t be able to obtain the same low rates with quality service as we can due to our experience in the industry and our well established relationships with the providers. The main role of the IT department is to better manage your telecom infrastructure (along with other IT equipment) and not consult on it. In addition, you will free up the IT or finance department to perform other significant tasks for the company.

What is the benefit of using your service vs. going directly to the carrier and dealing with one of their sales representatives?

A direct representative is just that…A person who is paid by the carrier to represent their products and services. The key word here is “represent their services.” As a broker, we not only offer you the same services at the same rate, but we can also be objective in helping you pick the right carrier. We are not paid a salary, so you can be assured that we are providing the solution that is right for you, not the solution that is right for us!
Do you think a sales representative who is being paid to sell a particular company services would tell you if they were aware the competition has superior pricing or services to the product they are offering and risk not making their monthly quota? We don’t think so…
When you choice to do business through us, you get the same bills, the same customer service numbers, and typically better support than you would if you signed up directly with the carrier.
Why better support? We are also a customer of the carriers….Since they don’t pay us a salary to sell their services; they have a real incentive to keep us and our customers happy; we can also leverage our large customer base. Carriers don’t want to jeopardize our recommendation to move customers to a competitor due to the lack of their service!
We are looking to build long lasting business relationships. One of the many values we offer is our ability to move with you as your consultant to any future service provider of your choice.
We provide you a with a convenient and cost effective way to stay on top of competitive pricing and the most current telecommunication services available in the market.

Who bills us for your service?

Since we are not a reseller, you will be billed directly from your provider. Think of us as your personal telecom consultant; we are negotiating with the carriers directly on your behalf to get you the right product at the best price.

I have a problem or issue with our service, who do I call?

Betachon provides our clients with two options:
1) They can call the carrier toll free, and speak with a live customer care representative 24 X 7 X 365
2) Customers can call one of our telecom agents directly, and we will help manage your service solution for you. Contact information will be provided when the deal is finalized.

We like our current provider so why don’t we just renew our contract with them?

The statistics are that roughly 20% of telephone/internet bills have billing errors and overcharges associated with them. Before you automatically renew your contract with your provider, it doesn’t hurt to allow our professional telecom consultants review your bills and hopefully provide a better solution for your needs. We only provide solutions that are more cost effective AND the same, if not greater, quality service.

What is a T-1?

The technical definition for a T-1 is as follows:
A dedicated phone connection supporting data rates of 1.544Mbps per second. A T-1 actually consists of 24 individual channels, each of which supports 64Kbps. Each 64Kbps channel can be configured to carry voice or data traffic. Most telephone companies allow you to buy just some of these individual channels, known as a “Fractional T-1.
We found this definition a little difficult for most of our clients to understand. Typically our clients either do not want to understand the technicalities of a T-1, but are actually more concerned they will get dial tone when they lift up there handset and there High Speed Internet Access is both fast and reliable. Our explanation of a T-1 is elementary, but we wanted to explain a T-1 in a less technical manner.
Our explanation: Think of a T-1 as a freeway with 24 open lanes, or as we refer to it in the industry “channels.” You can drive whatever vehicle you want on your freeway…This vehicle may be a voice call or internet traffic (such as emails and web surfing). There are also freeways (T-1’s) where all of these vehicles (voice and internet) may be driving at the same time. Depending on the type of Freeway (T-1) we build, we can design your freeway to incorporate a variety of vehicles. There are pricing and performance economies of scale that our customers benefit from by converging all of their traffic, voice and data (Internet) on to one freeway (T-1).

What is the benefit of a T-1 over DSL or Cable Services?

To answer this question, you should first understand the differences between these technologies:
DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) is a distance sensitive product. The further away from the point of delivery, the slower your speed. In some cases, companies are just too far away from the point of delivery to even qualify for services. Most DSL services are asymmetrical, which means the download speed is faster than the upload speed.
Cable: uses a ring topology network to deliver their service typically via coaxial. This means that everyone in your area that signs up services will be on the same connection. Cable companies use an oversubscription method to selling their services. This means that cable companies determine how many users they think will be connected at any given time, and will only provide enough bandwidth to support this amount of uses. The problem lies when the number of users exceeds what was anticipated by the cable company. Example: If the cable companies sells 50 subscriptions in one area, and they assume that only 10 of the 50 will be connected at any given time, there are typically no problems with bandwidth; however, if 20 users get on the connection, then half of the bandwidth that they assumed would be available, will now be used by the additional users. In addition, like DSL, Cable services are typically asymmetrical.
T-1: This technology incorporates digital service, which takes the distance issue out of the equation. In addition, the service are not shared, therefore the carrier can guarantee the bandwidth. Also, T-1’s are considered the only business class of internet available. Why? T-1 come with Service Level Agreement (SLA’s), these agreements guarantee the customers uptime, latency, and bandwidth. Because T-1’s are not shared, users enjoy the bi-directional bandwidth (this means your download and upload speeds are the same)
To summarize the benefits of a T-1:
1. They are not Shared
2. They are not Distance Sensitive
3. They come with SLA’s that guarantee Latency, Uptime, and bandwidth
4. The bandwidth is bi-directional
5. They are scalable6. They are the only business class of internet available

Is there a minimum amount that we have to spend on telecom per month for you to review are plan?

We always accept new accounts to consult on, despite the size of the account. However, past experience has shown greater savings and better solutions with accounts that have an MRC (monthly recurring charge) of $700 and above. Nevertheless, we have still saved client’s who spend as low as $100/month. Since there are multiple factors to consider, a review of your past invoice with your provider is needed to provide an accurate assessment of your bills. Even if at the end of our consultation work there is no alternative superior solution than your current plan (which rarely happens), we will still be glad to offer free advice on your setup and any changes in the infrastructure that need to occur.

What is your success rate at finding a cheaper/better proposed plan?

Our success rate is currently at 90%. So 90% of the time we can either

1. find a cheaper plan for you
2. find a higher quality service or
3. both! We still provide free consultation on the remaining 10% of the accounts so at least you are guaranteed something positive in return.

What if we want to keep XO as our provider for our voice but only change our internet/data to someone else?

In most cases it is easier and more cost effective to have one provider for all your telecom needs, including voice and data. However there have been some cases where the client has chosen to have 2 or even more providers for their internet and voice. It all depends on your specific needs and set up to determine the best solution. Once our team views your invoice and initiates the research process, we’ll determine which option is more beneficial to your company.

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