COEUS REPORTS BUSINESSES CUT TELECOM BILLS
NEARLY 30 PERCENT WITH ITS SERVICE

Firm’s Telecom Asset Management Delivers Immediate and Long-Term Savings,
Provides Accurate Assessment of Cost and Potential Savings of New Technologies

St. Paul – March 8, 2004 -- St. Paul-based Coeus, Inc., reported today that businesses using its telecommunications asset management service cut their telecom expenses by an average of nearly 30 percent within just three to six months.
     In use by business customers since 2001, Coeus’s service is designed to cut telecom costs immediately, provide discipline and tools to contain costs over the long term and accurately assess the costs and potential savings of new technologies, such as IP telephony, which allows phone calls to be made over the Internet.
     Costs for phone, wireless, data, Web and other such services rank as a major expense for companies. IDC Research has ranked them the fourth highest business cost.
     “Companies are spending more than they have to on telecom services,” said Steve Lambros, chief executive officer of Coeus. “Most fail to maximize their telecommunications dollar.”
     Billing errors account for part of the overpayment. According to the Federal Communications Commission, some 80 percent of telecom invoices contain errors. “Most companies don’t have the resources to make sure monthly invoice charges are consistent with the terms of their telecom contracts. Nor do they have time to negotiate with carriers for corrections,” said Lambros. “Instead, they pay the bill, especially if it is roughly the same amount as the previous month.”
     Another contributor to overpayment is failure to continuously review telecom needs and contract only for the services required, according to Lambros. “Few companies have a process to make sure that voice and data lines and Internet and wireless services are continuously ‘right-sized’ to reflect changes in the organization. Companies end up paying for services not used.”

     As businesses increasingly migrate to Web-based phone service as a cost-saving alternative, an accurate, detailed inventory of their telecom equipment and services – and their corresponding costs – is essential if the business benefit and return on investment in IP telephony is to be realized, said Lambros.
     “Most companies rely on high-level assessments in making the decision to move to Web phone service,” he said. “Without detailed, specific information on the telecom assets already in place, it’s easy to over-configure networks, overlook services and even continue to be charged for services that are no longer needed. It’s alarming when companies believe the new technologies are saving them as much as they can, but, in fact, they continue to overpay without realizing it.”
     In addition to providing the detailed assessment needed to guide and maximize the value of new technology decisions, Coeus’s telcom asset management service can also validate the return on investment after a change is made in technology or vendor. “Companies rarely follow up after a change to see what really happened with costs and service,” said Lambros. “Through our services, they can track all costs after the change is implemented and accurately assess the project’s success.”
     To help customers initially gain control over telecom spending, Coeus conducts an inventory of telecom assets to identify any not in use, assesses past invoices for errors and reviews service contracts. It follows up to make sure unused services are disconnected and appropriate network changes are made. It also contacts vendors regarding billing errors and credit for overpayment.
     “Our initial assessment always finds savings, but for long-term cost control, companies need to apply disciplined processes to review and analyze invoices each month,” said Lambros. “Using what we learn in the assessment, Coeus recommends ongoing processes to better manage service changes and invoice approval and payment.”
     In addition, Coeus offers its Enterprise Class “Savvy” software, available via the Internet on a subscription basis. Savvy helps automate the telecom asset management process, according to Lambros. With the input of rate information from telecom vendor contracts as well as monthly billing information, Savvy can analyze invoices for rate errors, duplicate billings and other excess erroneous charges. It also maintains a comprehensive inventory of telecom assets and serves as a excellent tool for managing operational aspects of the enterprise.
     Reports generated by Savvy enable better management – both among operations managers who typically order telecom services and financial managers who typically pay telecom invoices. Information generated by Savvy is valuable in strategic planning and service assessments, Lambros said.
     The software program can be licensed separately or used as part of Coeus’s service package. As part of its service package, Coeus will handle entering data from invoices into Savvy and pursue issues with telecom vendors, allowing customers to save staff time.
     Companies that have multiple locations and vendors are likely to realize the greatest benefit from Coeus’s services, said Lambros.

     St. Paul-based Coeus, Ltd., helps companies dramatically cut their telecommunications costs. Going beyond the typical snapshot audit of a company’s telephone, wireless, data and Internet services, Coeus (www.coeusinc.com) provides the process improvement, tools and services that manage business telecommunications assets for long-term cost control.

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