Bell Telephone Phone
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Sportech PLC - Pre-close Trading Update
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 New Fridge Magnet Bell Telephone Vtg Adv WE 302 Phones  US $5.80
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 1983 BELL SYSTEM TRIMLINE ROTARY DIAL TELEPHONE ORANGE J Western Electric Phone US $22.00
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 1938 Bell telephone ad rotary dial desk phone US $6.99
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 1939 Bell telephone advert Western Electric rotary dial desk phone close up US $6.99
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 VINTAGE 332AT BAKELITE ROTARY DIAL TABLE DESK PHONE TELEPHONE BIG BELLS INSIDE US $45.80
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 Bell Red Gold Logo Phone Telephone Sign Paperweight US $22.00
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 Bell System Telephone Sign Phone Logo B G Paperweight US $20.00
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 Bell Logo Public Pay Phone Telephone Sign Paperweight g US $22.00
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 Bell Telephone Phone Logo Advertising Sign Paperweight US $20.00
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 Bell Logo Pay Phone ATT Telephone Ad Sign Paperweight US $20.00
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 Bell Logo Pay Station Phone Telephone Sign Paperweight US $20.00
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 Blue Bell System Logo Telephone Phone Paperweight 1 US $22.00
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 1940 Bell Telephone Manila Philippines market phone ad US $9.95
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 1945 BELL TELEPHONE APPEAL TO STAY OFF PHONES AT XMAS US $12.98
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 1950s Long Distance Telephone Extension Phone Plastic Dialers Bell System 3 US $9.95
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 Western Electric Bell System Telephone 1957 1973 Black 500 Desk Phone 4 Pin Plug US $29.99
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 Vintage Bell System Western Electric Pacific Telephone old Award Phone Plaque US $9.99
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 Vintage New England Telephone NYNEX Flange Phone Sign Bell US $50.00
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 Western Electric Crank Phone Telephone 2 1 2 inch Diameter Bell Gongs US $14.99
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 Bell System Telephone Phone Booklets 1947 Almanac Jersey Bell Blue Book US $9.99
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 Bell System Red 500 Series Desk Telephone Phone Works Nice US $44.99
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 Bell System Four Prong Plug for Phone Telephone Phone US $12.99
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 GPO Telephone Phone Ring Bells top Nuts Part US $12.64
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 Early Wooden Antique Telephone Ringer Bell Old Wood Phone Part US $10.00
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 1949 Bell telephone ad dial desk phone US $6.49
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 1957 Bell Telephone ad Rotary Dial desk phone US $5.99
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 Antique Bell TELEPHONE Wall CANDLESTICK Oak Crank PHONE LOT Vintage REPRINT AD US $8.75
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 1958 Western Electric Bell Telephone Phone Store Ad US $8.99
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 Vtg 197172 Medford AshlandOregonTelephone Directory Bell Phone Book Print Ads US $19.95
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 BELL SYSTEM 139 B 139B LINEMANS TEST SET Vintage Telephone Phone TRACER TONE US $14.95
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 French Rotary Phone Illinois Bell Telephone Brass Metal White Gold Vintage 1967 US $79.99
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 Northern Electric Crank Wall Telephone Phone Black Bells Oak Beauty Great Shape US $199.99
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 Northern Electric Wall Telephone Ringer Oak Phone Box With Bells US $79.99
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 Western Electric Box Phone Wooden Telephone Vintage Rotary Dial 2 Bells WORKS US $29.75
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 MINT VINTAGE RARE UP DOWN BELL TELEPHONE BOOTH GLASS PHONE SIGN 45 X 17 US $9.99
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 1960 Bell Telephone ad Princess rotary dial phone US $6.99
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 1962 Bell Telephone advertisement wall mount rectangle dial phone US $6.49
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 1962 Bell Telephone ad bedside phone lady in bed US $5.99
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 1963 Bell Telephone advertisement page Princess wall etc extension phones US $6.49
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 1961 Bell Telephone ad Princess rotary dial phone US $5.49
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 1961 Bell Telephone ad new phone numbers dial close up US $5.49
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 VINTAGE PRINCESS PHONE COLLECTION 6 ESTATE WESTERN ELECTRIC BELL TELEPHONE US $200.00
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 ANTIQUE BELL TELEPHONE SIGN PHONE PHILADELPHIA PORCELAIN GENERAL STORE STEEL OLD US $49.99
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 Vintage Western Electric Bell System Trimline Phone Telephone Beige in Color US $5.99
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 Vintage Bell System Western Electric black Princess telephone phone US $34.00
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 Pale Yellow Wall Rotary Phone Western Electric Bell System Telephone US $5.99
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 OLD STYLE PUBLIC TELEPHONE TELEGRAPH BELL PHONE VINTAGE TYPE PORCELAIN SIGN US $59.00
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 JULY 1954 PITTSBURGH and SUBURBAN BELL TELEPHONE DIRECTORY PHONE ADVERTISING US $19.95
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 Vintage Ad 1963 Bell Telephone Picture you with a kitchen extension phone … US $5.50
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 Vtg phone Bell system by Western Electric telephone 500DM R82 4 Works Rings US $9.99
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 Ranch Phone 39R2 toy crank telephone by GONG BELL MFG COM EAST HAMPTON CONN US $18.00
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 WESTERN ELECTRIC INTER PHONE TELEPHONE HAND SET No1003 B BELL SYSTEM US $19.95
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 Antique 1900 Bell Telephone Company of Missouri Phone Contract Aufderheide US $18.00
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 1960s Pink Bell System Western Electric Vintage Phone Rotary Dial Telephone 554 US $10.50
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 Vintage BELL SYSTEM Telephone Linemans Rotary Test Phone WESTERN ELECTRIC US $9.95
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 Bell Phones White Trimline Push Button Desk or Wall Telephone Working US $6.99
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 1915 Ad American Telephone Telegraph Utilities Bell Antique Phones Communication US $19.95
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 VTG MID CENTURY MODERN BELL SYSTEM WESTERN ELECTRIC TELEPHONE ROTARY DIAL PHONE US $29.95
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 WESTERN ELECTRIC BELL SYSTEM LINEMANS TESTING TELEPHONE PHONE WORKS US $14.99
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 Ink Blotter Continental Phone Southern Bell Telephone Telegraph 1930s US $5.99
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 VTG 60S BELL WESTERN ELECTRIC PUSH BUTTON DESK TELEPHONE PHONE READY TO USE US $39.99
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 Vintage Ad 1957 Bell Telephone Dolly Phone Helps put more smiles in the day US $5.50
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 Vintage Ad 1957 Bell Telephone Dolly Phone Its Fun to Phone US $5.50
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 Vintage Ad 1958 Bell Telephone Betsy Bell Its fun to phone US $6.50
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 Vintage Ad 1958 Bell Telephone Its fun to phone US $6.50
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 Vintage Ad 1958 Bell Telephone Your handy phones away from home US $5.50
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 5 Vintage Telephone COMPANY PROPERTY PHONE SWITCH BOARD BAKELITE BELL SYSTEM US $14.99
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 1931 Ad American Telephone Telegraph Phone Logo Nursery Child Room Bell Sytem US $19.95
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 1957 Ad Dolly Phone Bell Telephone System Bil Baird ORIGINAL ADVERTISING US $19.95
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 1916 Ad American Telephone Telegraph Bell Phone Caveman ORIGINAL ADVERTISING US $19.95
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 Vintage Ad 1959 Bell Telephone An extension phone in your kitchen… US $5.50
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 Vintage Ad 1959 Bell Telephone Reach for your phone and have a happy time US $5.50
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 Vintage Ad 1959 Bell Telephone Why you need a kitchen extension phone US $5.50
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 Vintage Pacific Bell Pac Telephone Phone Company Mens Work Jacket Coat US $15.99
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 Vintage 1940s Bell System Telephone Western Electric Rotary Phone Bakelite US $36.01
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 Vintage Ad 1961 Bell Telephone Betsy Bell Ruffles Red Phone US $6.50
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 CIRCA 1960s 1970s BELL SYSTEM LINEMAN LINE MAN HANDSET DIAL TELEPHONE PHONE US $49.99
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 Vintage 60s Black Bell System Western Electric Rotary Dial Wall Telephone Phone US $50.00
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 1916 Ad American Telephone Telegraph Bell Phone System ORIGINAL ADVERTISING US $19.95
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 VINTAGE WESTERN ELECTRIC BELL SYSTEM 2500 IVORY TOUCH TELEPHONE PHONE DESK SET US $9.99
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 American Bell Telephone Company Candlestick Phone US $102.50
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 1964 world flags blue phone Bell Telephone print ad US $9.99
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 1962 Bell Telephone Call Director phone photo print ad US $9.99
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 1921 Ad American Telephone Telegraph Bell Phone System ORIGINAL ADVERTISING US $19.95
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 1953 Western Electric Bell Telephone X ray Camera Test Inspect Phone Print Ad US $12.99
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Telecommunication Billing - What the Phone Company Doesn't Want You to Know
Communication is the lifeblood of business, and telecommunications are at the heart of all business communication. Companies know that they need reliable, quality service of sufficient capacity to handle their needs and they are often intrigued by the latest service or technology; but the billing structure remains a mystery to most. Telephone service is taken for granted at the same time that it is grossly misunderstood. And, while businesses have historically been at the mercy of a monopoly regarding phone service, the phone company has done a pretty good job of connecting businesses to their customers. The problem with former monopolies is that they continue to think and act like monopolies.
With quality and reliability issues fairly well resolved, businesses are focusing their attention on the cost of service. However, many companies rely on the phone company to advise them on the most cost effective services available and to insure that they are being billed properly. Others rely on their internal telecommunications personnel who were trained to think like the phone company. It is important to understand that in the course of trying to improve its bottom line, the phone company may not be looking for ways to help you reduce your phone service costs. Is it coincidence that 80% of billing errors favor the phone company?
In 1934, the Federal Communications Commission was created to regulate the interstate aspects of telecommunications. However, local phone service and in-state long distance issues were left to the states to regulate.
In 1975, in response to public outrage about soaring utility bills and a telephone company scandal, the State of Texas established the Public Utilities Commission to represent and protect the public interest in regard to public utility rates, operations, and services. The Public Utilities Commission regulates the phone company (and other utilities) through tariffs that define the operations of the utility, the services it can provide and the rates it is allowed to charge.
Until 1984, telecommunications was the exclusive domain of monopolies, though it was regulated in the State of Texas by the PUC. The monopoly was so tightly held that companies had a phone room in their own buildings that was off limits to everyone but the phone company. Many businesses did not even own their own phones.
After the breakup of AT&T in 1984, businesses had to take on some of the responsibility of managing their telecommunications internally. Businesses now had to acquire their own phone systems and integrate them with the available service from the regional Bell operating companies, who still maintained a monopoly on service. With no internal expertise available, the obvious answer was to hire former phone company employees to manage internal telecommunications issues.
As complicated as the technology was, billing for phone service was even more complicated. Though these former phone company employees were, in fact, technicians, businesses increasingly (and unfairly) relied upon these technicians to manage not only their telecommunications technology issues, but phone service billing issues as well. Ironically, it is often a company's internal telecommunications experts that prevent a company from getting the best possible rates for the services they use.
Business phone service is subject to two distinct types of billing errors: 1) usage errors based on the volume and duration of calls, and 2) rate errors based on the costs and fees the phone company is authorized to charge for phone service. Companies can themselves detect usage errors, but because billing structures are so highly complex, companies need specialized help to detect rate errors.
Tariff regulations are particularly complicated and are subject to frequent change. The current tariff schedule for SBC alone is made up of over 8,000 pages, with some 250,000 pages of retired tariffs no longer in effect. These rules are first interpreted by the phone companies and summarized into billing, operational and service policies that are interpreted a second time by phone company employees implementing the policies. With two levels of interpretation, there is no surprise that the rates businesses pay for phone service varies greatly from the language of the tariffs.
Tariff regulations are well outside the knowledge and skill set of telecom, IT and MIS personnel; and individuals with experience in telecommunications billing (usually former phone company employees) are typically trained to think like the phone company and rely on the phone company billing policies to resolve billing issues. To summarize, telecommunications personnel are simply not qualified to handle tariff and rate issues. However, because most businesses rely on their telecommunications personnel to handle billing issues, some telecom managers may avoid bringing in outside help for fear that if long-standing large errors are found, they will get the blame.
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 introduced competition in the telecommunications marketplace. Various companies popped up to provide alternative local phone service. A few of these companies provided their own hardware and infrastructure, but the vast majority were simply resellers of Bell service.
While one would expect that competitive pressures would have caused the industry to operate more efficiently with fewer billing mistakes, a number of factors actually caused billing errors to increase. In fact, for the seven largest phone companies, excluding cell phone companies, consumer billing complaints rose 95% from 2002 to 2003. Many of the problems that existed with the Bells prior to deregulation remained in place after deregulation and may have even been exacerbated by budget cuts and high turnover. Most competitive local exchange carriers were merely resellers of Bell service, who simply passed through any billing errors on the underlying service while adding yet another layer of bureaucracy. Additionally, newer carriers were prone to internal billing errors because they were not yet familiar with their own billing systems.
Rather than improve operational efficiency in order to be more competitive, some telecom companies tried to trick consumers into giving them their business, according to an article by CBS News. Even some of the most reputable phone companies have been accused of "competing by cheating" including continuing to send bills after service is terminated, and billing for services never ordered.
In one published example from Direct Marketing News, AT&T was accused of incorrectly billing 200,000 to 300,000 non-customers as well as 800,000 of its customers purportedly in an effort to draw inbound calls so it could pitch them on phone services while getting around national and state do-not-call lists. Consumers who called to complain were allegedly told by AT&T agents that they would have to sign up for a calling plan in order to get the incorrect fees refunded.
In another published example, a phone company in New Jersey, after paying out over $25,000,000 in refunds, decided it would only pay refunds for overcharges back for three months. Their argument was that by paying the overcharge, the customer was agreeing to the overcharge. While regulators repeatedly rejected that argument, it continued to be used. The phone company further complicated the issue by prematurely and illegally destroying customer service records that could be used to document how far back overcharges extend.
It is hard to imagine that the phone company could be capable of such tactics. If you wonder what gives them the audacity to treat their customers that way, consider how they have reportedly treated the regulators according to an article by Forbes:
For the first time, the FCC auditors... traveled the country and spot-checked telephone buildings to verify the existence of equipment carried on the books. [T]hey looked at only 25% of the Bells' gear... at central switching offices. They discovered $5 billion in assets was missing outright. At least another $5 billion was impossible to audit, although federal law explicitly requires otherwise. Assets carried at erroneously (or intentionally) inflated costs on the books naturally lead to higher regulated prices. FCC Auditors were intent on levying large fines and seeking billions in refunds. "When the audit team started getting huge numbers, the Commission started getting very, very nervous." "The dollars were so huge that there was no way the FCC would pursue them." [T]he FCC negotiated with the Bells and a few long-distance titans in a series of secret meetings ending in early 2000. The resulting deal was officially named Calls, for the Coalition of Affordable Local and Long-distance Service. [T]he Baby Bells... slash[ed] the access fees they charge long-distance carriers for routing calls to their local lines, [saying] it would save customers $3.2 billion a year. [T]hey also won the right to offset that reduction by boosting flat monthly fees... $5 billion a year. The little-noticed shift in fees... also was a way for the Bells to bury what could have become a multibillion-dollar accounting scandal.
Today, there are a variety of telecommunications options for businesses, but phone service has essentially become a commodity. Price of service has become a major factor in selection of service and service provider. And, while most businesses believe that they are taking steps to insure that they are receiving the best rates available for services, very little is actually being done to hold the phone companies to the regulated rates.
In a recent survey by Communications Convergence Magazine, 55% of businesses said that their phone bills are audited regularly for billing inaccuracies. Amazingly, 50% said that the phone company provided the audit, with only about 5% of respondents saying they used the services of a third party auditing firm. In no other area of a business would a company ever allow vendors to audit themselves.
In the same survey, 73% of businesses said they believe that there are few or no incorrect charges on their phone bill. However, the FCC and independent industry analysts have determined that more than 80% of all phone bills contain errors and that 30% of all telecommunications charges are incorrect .
The largest users of telecommunications service often justify the creation of a custom tariff that provides special pricing or they otherwise qualify for pricing on an individual case basis (ICB). These organizations are the most likely to believe that there are few or no inaccuracies on their bills. However, statistics show that due to the size and complexity of these accounts, they are actually more likely to have a billing error.
Businesses and consumers tend to give the phone company the benefit of the doubt, but overwhelming evidence shows that the phone company does not proactively recommend packages or services that would reduce costs.
Bilbiography:
"Connecticut AG Slams Telecom Companies", CBS News, December 18, 2001.
"History and Regulation of the Telephone Industry", Fundamentals of Telecommunications: History, The International Engineering Consortium.
Jill Andresky Fraser, "Cost Control: It Pays to Audit Phone Bills", Inc.com, Gruner Jahr USA Publishing, June 1995.
Jozef Hand-Boniakowski, PhD., "Business Report: Telephone Bill Auditing", Champlain Business Journal, August 2003.
Michelle Kessler, "Telecom Billing Complaints Increase", USA Today, September 1, 2003.
Scott Hovanyetz, "AT&T Bills, Upsell Draw Lawsuits and Suspicions", DM News, May 14, 2004.
Scott Woolley, "Shortchanged", Forbes.com, May 12, 2003.
"The AT&T Breakup - 20 Years of Confusion", ConsumerAffairs.com, http://consumeraffairs.com/news04/att20.html#top.
Tim Green, "Finding Cash in Bad Bills", Netflash!, Network World Fusion, May 20, 2000.
Tracy Anders Greenlee, "PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION", The Handbook of Texas Online.
"What Subscribers Want In Telecom Services", Communications Convergence Magazine, May 4, 2004.
Other Sources:
Federal Communications Commission
The Public Utilities Commission of Texas.
Teletruth
About the Author
Larry Pfeil has a BBA in Marketing and Doctor of Jurisprudence. He has 18 years of technology development and marketing experience, and has written and spoken on a variety of technology-related topics. Larry has traveled extensively and conducted business throughout the world.
Larry is Vice President of A Cooler Audio Technology, Inc. (ACAT). ACAT is a specialty marketing services company that provides Internet-based on hold messaging to large, multi-location businesses.
Larry is also Vice President of Southwestern Tariff Analyst, a telecommunications consulting firm that assists companies and institutions in identifying and correcting telecom billing errors.