What Is a Customer Service Record (CSR) In Telecom?

If you’ve ever wondered if you’re paying fair rates for your telecom services, you’re not alone. Depending on the size of your organization, your telecom services could be quite complex and it can be difficult to understand where you could cut costs.

Luckily, the information you need to make cost-cutting decisions can be found in your telecom Customer Service Record (CSR). Though CSRs can be hard to understand for the average customer, you can request one, and work with a team of experts to analyze the detailed records.

In this article, we will explore what a CSR is, how to obtain one, the reasons for obtaining one, and how you can use a CSR to find telecom cost savings.

What Is a Customer Service Record?

A customer service record (CSR) is a report that highlights the details of a customer’s telecom activities and billing, including what services they use, where lines are going, what rates their lines are on, and how rates are calculated. Additionally, a CSR contains customer details such as an address, account number, and activity history.

CSRs are written in a complex computer-generated code and these documents can be thousands of pages long depending on the size of your organization. Here’s a screenshot of a small section of a telecom CSR:

Any customer can request a CSR, but many don’t realize they exist or wouldn’t be able to read and understand one. Due to the complex nature of these documents, it takes a trained industry expert to truly understand how to make sense of a CSR. In fact, it would even be difficult for a finance director or CFO to fully grasp the details outlined in a CSR.

How to Obtain a CSR

Though customer service records are difficult to dissect, they are quite simple to obtain. To get your CSR, you’ll need to contact the customer service department of your telecom carrier and communicate that you’d like to obtain a copy of your CSR.

Upon request, your carrier should have no problem sending you your CSR. It’s best to have your carrier email a copy of your CSR so you receive the full record. You’ll also want to specify that you want your official CSR and not just your billing records.

Reasons for Requesting a CSR

To get the full picture of your telecom services and spending, you’ll need to get a copy of your CSR. This is because the monthly invoice you receive doesn’t give you enough detailed information about your account to make cost-saving decisions.

Investigating your telecom services and spending is known as a telecom audit. As mentioned above, CSRs are complex and you’ll need to work with a team of professionals such as P3 Cost Analysts in order to conduct a full telecom audit.

1. Conducting a Telecom Audit

During a telecom audit, a team of auditing experts will look for things such as:

• Unused lines. In many cases, customers have lines they are paying for but aren’t using. Your team of experts will conduct a line verification process to find which lines are active and which are not.
• Extra telecom service features. It’s common for customers to pay for features that they don’t actually need. These can include call forwarding, call waiting, and automatic redial.
• Bill padding: Vendors are notorious for applying fees for services for unused tech support or wire maintenance.
• Above-average rates on long-distance calls. In most cases, customers won’t be able to understand if they are getting a fair deal on their long-distance calls. However, an expert can compare a customer’s rates to industry benchmarks in order to verify the quality of the customer’s rates.
• Misapplied surcharges, taxes, tariffs, and other fees.

2. Porting a Phone Number

Another reason people may request a CSR is to port their phone number. Porting a phone number simply means switching telecom carriers while keeping the same number.

For your new carrier to port the number, they’ll need certain details from your CSR such as the account number, address, and customer name to complete the porting process.

How We Can Help You Save on Telecom Costs

As mentioned previously, obtaining a CSR is easy, but actually understanding one is best left to industry professionals.

At P3 Cost Analysts, we have decades of telecom expertise. We use this to work through your CSRs looking for overcharges, errors, and other issues highlighted above. During a full audit we’re also able to analyze a customer’s contracts and tariffs looking for other service or billing discrepancies. We can compare a customer’s expenses against our database of nationwide industry benchmarks to ensure our clients receive the best pricing possible.

Furthermore, after we conduct an audit, we continually monitor your invoices to make sure your vendor is following their agreements and that your savings are upheld. It’s common for vendors to violate their agreements and we are there to support you and combat unnecessary price hikes and other fees. We also keep an eye on changing market conditions in order to help you find even more ways to keep your telecom costs down.

Customer Service Record Summary

As we’ve seen, the details within your customer service record can highlight potential areas of savings for your organization. You can request one at any time, but you’ll need to work with a team of experts in order to gain any real insight from these detailed reports.

If working through a telecom audit sounds appealing to you, P3 Cost Analysts is here to help. With decades of industry experience, we can conduct a full telecom audit to bring a number of savings to your organization. To schedule your free expense audit, reach out to us today!