The question was: "Why are we paying £14,200 per month for phone lines?"
Nobody had asked it in 6 years. The invoices went to accounts payable, got auto-approved, and auto-paid. Every month. For 72 months.
Here is what happened when someone finally looked.
The Discovery
James, newly promoted IT manager at a 180-person manufacturing company in the Midlands, was asked to reduce IT costs by 15%. He started with the biggest invoices.
The telecom stack:
| Vendor | Service | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| BT Business | 4 PRI circuits (92 channels) | £5,520 |
| Mitel | Maintenance contract | £2,800 |
| BT | Long distance + international | £1,400 |
| Various | Feature licenses (recording, voicemail, AA) | £1,680 |
| IT contractor | Phone admin (16 hrs/month) | £1,200 |
| Avaya | Conference bridge lease | £600 |
| Total | £13,200 |
James pulled the CDR data from the Mitel PBX. Peak concurrent calls across all 4 locations: 28. They were paying for 92 channels. 64 channels carried zero calls.
The Analysis
| What He Found | Monthly Waste |
|---|---|
| 64 ghost PRI channels | £3,840 |
| Maintenance contract (3x market rate) | £1,400 overpayment |
| Features that should be free | £1,680 |
| Long distance (should be unlimited) | £1,400 |
| Conference bridge (should be included) | £600 |
| Total identifiable waste | £8,920/month |
£8,920 per month × 72 months = £642,240 wasted over 6 years. Nobody asked.
The Migration
James got 3 quotes for cloud VoIP. Selected DialPhone at £24/user for 180 users.
| Item | New Cost |
|---|---|
| 180 users × £24 | £4,320/month |
| Everything included | £0 extra |
| 50 desk phones (reception + warehouse) | £7,500 one-time |
| 130 softphone users (headsets) | £7,800 one-time |
| Monthly total | £4,320 |
Monthly savings: £13,200 - £4,320 = £8,880
Annual savings: £106,560
Hardware payback: 1.7 months
3-year net savings: £304,380
James did not save £340,000 by finding a better vendor. He saved it by asking a question that nobody had asked in 6 years.
The Lesson
Your telecom invoice is probably the least-reviewed recurring expense in your company. The person who approved the original contract is likely gone. The person paying the invoice does not question it. And the cost compounds every month.
Ask the question. Send your invoices to DialPhone for a free analysis. It takes 5 minutes to email them. The answer might save your company six figures.
