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| Consultant finds savings Stoffa, other officials learn how to reduce telecommunications costs by about one-third. Saturday, January 26, 2008 By DOUGLAS B. BRILL The Express-Times Telecommunications consultant David Baldwin was the far-away voice on a 25-minute, long-distance conference call with County Executive John Stoffa and other county officials. Baldwin, of Fortune Consulting, explained over the phone from West Long Branch, N.J., how and how much Northampton County can save on its phone bills. According to an 8-month audit, the county can save $320,200, which is about a third of its telecommunications costs, during the first 12 months under recommended changes. The county can save $267,000, or 28 percent, in following years. "It's a surprising amount of money we can save doing this audit," Stoffa said. It wasn't clear who paid for Baldwin's call. Baldwin said he called the county, which would put the bill on the consulting firm. But Stoffa's secretary was spotted dialing before Baldwin was reached. Even if taxpayers footed the bill, the cost was more than covered by the legwork Fortune Consulting put in to lower the big-ticket bill. The consultants discovered a handful of unneeded phone lines and disconnected them and found billing errors and corrected them. Those moves gained the county $53,200 in credits and $18,500 in annual savings. But the bulk of the savings will be realized when the county signs new local and long-distance service contracts. Each year, the county can save $191,700, or 67 percent, on its local plan and $56,900, or 65 percent, on its long-distance plan, according to the audit. Vic Mazziotti, the county's director of fiscal affairs, said the county has negotiated the new service plans and will sign them shortly. The county hired the consultants, Stoffa said, because making sense of telecommunications bills and contracts is too complicated and sporadic for a county employee. The audit worked so well, Stoffa said, that he planned audits for the county's utilities and elevator maintenance costs. Baldwin's work done, Stoffa noted the complexity of phone bills and asked Baldwin for a favor. "Do you want to come to my house?" he asked. Reporter Douglas B. Brill can be reached at 610-759-0508 or by e-mail at dbrill@express-times.com. © 2008 The Express-Times. Used with permission |
