In your ongoing effort to protect the interests of your organization and minimize any risk or exposure that could result in financial liability, Tangoe recommends specific items you should be on the look out for in a telecommunications agreement.
In your ongoing effort to protect the interests of your organization and minimize any risk or exposure that could result in financial liability, Tangoe recommends specific items you should be on the look out for in a telecommunications agreement.
One trend Tangoe is seeing lately is carriers (or providers) tweaking the language to their advantage in the business change provisions within a contract, areas that are supposed to protect you in the event of business downturn, restructuring, optimization, etc. The carriers are introducing language that significantly waters down those protections with phrases that stipulate the changes must be “beyond your control” and/or makes the provisions inapplicable if reductions in usage are due to “changes in architecture or expenditures”.
Furthermore, standard clauses state that no current business or “future growth” be given to another provider or the protection is voided. The language may also require you to stipulate that all available business has been transferred to the provider in an attempt to reduce or eliminate the shortfall.
Needless to say, Tangoe recommends that this and any other one-sided language be stripped from any agreements. Once it has been removed, best practice is to track commitment compliance on a monthly basis. If there is a trend toward a shortfall, begin talks with your provider right away to renegotiate your contract. The available options become much more limited once the penalty has been incurred.
Tangoe's Contract Negotiation services combine decades of collective consulting and billing analysis expertise with an extensive technology-driven knowledgebase of contract rates and terms to negotiate world class telecom contracts and terms and conditions that deliver market floor rates. Complete the form below to learn how Tangoe can assist you in best managing your existing and pending carrier contracts.
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