Telecom expense management with contract negotiation included.
Telecom is one of the most consistently under-managed cost categories in business. Bills come from multiple carriers, services span multiple locations, contracts auto-renew at higher pricing than the market supports, and circuits keep billing long after the offices they served closed. Unravyl's telecom expense management work audits the spend, identifies the waste, and renegotiates the contracts — all included in one engagement.
TEM, defined.
Telecom expense management (TEM) is the discipline of managing the recurring costs and contracts associated with business telecommunications services. The scope typically includes:
Managed services handle operational delivery — uptime, changes, support. TEM handles the financial and contractual side: what you’re paying, whether it’s right, and whether the contract terms reflect current market conditions.
Scope typically includes:
Wireline voice services — PRI, SIP trunks, POTS lines
Internet circuits — fiber, broadband, DIA, dedicated services
Network services — MPLS, SD-WAN
Conferencing and contact center services
Carrier contracts and renewal calendars
Vendor relationships across multiple providers
Telecom expense management work, end to end.
Bill audit & historical recovery
We audit 6–12 months of telecom bills to identify billing errors, unused services, location-based discrepancies, and credit recovery opportunities. Telecom billing is notoriously inaccurate — error rates of 5–10% are common across multi-location environments.
Service inventory and rationalization
We build a complete inventory of active services across every location, mapped to actual operational need. Services tied to closed locations, departed users, or projects that ended are flagged for cancellation.
Contract analysis and benchmarking
We map every active telecom contract to renewal date, pricing, and term length. We benchmark pricing against current market rates and identify the contracts with the most renegotiation leverage.
Carrier renegotiation
This is included in the scope, not a separate add-on. We negotiate directly with your carriers — including the major national carriers and regional providers — to reduce pricing, improve terms, and align contract lengths with your operational needs.
Renewal calendar and ongoing oversight
We build a centralized renewal calendar with negotiation priority flags. For retainer engagements, we provide ongoing renewal oversight so contracts don’t auto-renew without review.
What we typically uncover
Circuits billing at closed locations
Internet circuits and voice lines often continue billing for 12–24 months after a location closes because carrier billing systems don't automatically reflect operational changes. We find this in roughly 30% of multi-location engagements.
Pricing 15–35% above current market rates
Auto-renewed contracts default to current pricing, which is almost always above what renegotiation produces. The gap widens over time, especially on contracts that haven't been touched in 3+ years.
Duplicate services from different vendors.
Common in environments where IT and operations made independent vendor decisions. A single location may have services from two different ISPs, two different conferencing providers, or two different SIP providers.
Billing for services that were canceled but never removed
Cancellation requests that didn't fully process. Services that were "supposed to" be disconnected during a project but never actually got removed from billing.
Inactive trunk and circuit capacity
PRI trunks sized for peak call volume from 5 years ago. Internet circuits provisioned at bandwidth tiers that no longer match usage patterns.
Overpriced unique services
Conferencing minutes, contact center licenses, and specialty services where pricing has changed significantly since the contract was signed.
Circuits billing at closed locations
Internet circuits and voice lines often continue billing for 12–24 months after a location closes because carrier billing systems don't automatically reflect operational changes. We find this in roughly 30% of multi-location engagements.
Pricing 15–35% above current market rates
Auto-renewed contracts default to current pricing, which is almost always above what renegotiation produces. The gap widens over time, especially on contracts that haven't been touched in 3+ years.
Duplicate services from different vendors.
Common in environments where IT and operations made independent vendor decisions. A single location may have services from two different ISPs, two different conferencing providers, or two different SIP providers.
Billing for services that were canceled but never removed
Cancellation requests that didn't fully process. Services that were "supposed to" be disconnected during a project but never actually got removed from billing.
Inactive trunk and circuit capacity
PRI trunks sized for peak call volume from 5 years ago. Internet circuits provisioned at bandwidth tiers that no longer match usage patterns.
Overpriced unique services
Conferencing minutes, contact center licenses, and specialty services where pricing has changed significantly since the contract was signed.
Direct negotiation with the people who hold the pricing.
We engage directly with your carrier account teams as part of every TEM engagement. This is not a referral or a third-party process — our advisors handle the negotiation, with you in the approval loop on terms.
- We negotiate with all major US carriers, regional ILECs and CLECs, ISPs, conferencing providers, and contact center providers. Our experience spans:
- The major national carriers (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Lumen)
- Regional providers and CLECs
- Specialty providers (SIP, conferencing, contact center, SD-WAN)
- Internet service providers (cable, fiber, DIA)
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is telecom such a consistent source of waste?
Three reasons. First, telecom billing is genuinely complex — multi-location, multi-service, multi-carrier environments produce billing patterns that are hard to audit without specialized expertise. Second, contracts auto-renew at default pricing, which rarely reflects current market rates. Third, services tied to closed locations, departed employees, or completed projects often continue billing because cancellation processes are fragmented.
How does this compare to using a TEM platform like Tangoe or Calero?
TEM platforms are useful for ongoing billing management at enterprise scale, but they don't do the analytical and negotiation work that produces savings. Most clients who use a TEM platform alone find that it provides visibility without producing meaningful action. Many engage us alongside the platform — the platform manages ongoing data, and we drive the analysis, negotiation, and execution.
What does telecom contract negotiation typically produce?
Negotiated savings vary significantly based on the starting position, contract age, and vendor flexibility. Contracts that haven't been touched in 3+ years frequently produce 20–35% savings after renegotiation. Recently negotiated contracts may produce less. We benchmark expected outcomes during the analysis phase before committing to negotiation strategy.
Can you work with us if we have a contract that just renewed?
Yes, though the leverage is different. Recently renewed contracts have less flexibility for immediate renegotiation, but we can structure interim improvements (service consolidation, billing corrections, ancillary service reduction) and prepare a strong negotiation position for the next renewal.
Do you charge a percentage of savings?
We can structure engagements that way for specific scopes, but our default model is fixed-scope or project-based pricing. We've found that percentage-of-savings billing creates incentive distortions — it encourages firms to push for shortest-term savings rather than long-term value. Most clients prefer transparent fixed pricing.
How long does a telecom engagement typically take?
A fixed-scope telecom audit and Clarity Report typically runs 4–6 weeks. Negotiation work for major carrier contracts adds 2–4 months depending on complexity. Ongoing renewal oversight is structured as a retainer.
Will you sign carrier contracts on our behalf?
No. We negotiate the contracts and present the negotiated terms for your approval and signature. We don't sign contracts on your behalf or act as an agent of record. You retain the carrier relationship — we strengthen your position within it.
