How to Prevent Communications Fraud

By Catherine Hensley
Updated: September 23, 2011

As telecommunications systems have advanced and usage has spread around the globe, issues regarding the security and safety of user-transmitted information have become of the utmost importance. Fraud prevention is another key topic that business owners should be concerned with. To protect your business from unwarranted charges or other such fraud, keep in mind the following tips and ideas.

First, make sure that company policies regarding voice service use are clear and understood by all employees operating such devices. If no guidelines are in place, take some time to develop a list of important policies, and disseminate this list to relevant personnel. Conducting routine monitoring of such policies, such as through a simple “open book” quiz, for example, is another way to make sure everyone is on the same page.

Next, restrict functionalities that may enable unintended operations. For instance, it’s recommended to avoid configuring a functionality that will allow outbound calls to the public network as well as inbound calls. Unrestricted call forwarding is just one functionality that can be enabled without control.

Awareness and continuous monitoring are some of the best ways to prevent communications fraud within your business. As budgets grow tighter, these are important tactics to implement in your company.
 

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