Slash Your Telecom Bill in Four Steps

It's mid-February, the perfect time to ax 35% off the office phone bill.

If this current fiscal mess has any sort of happy ending -- or happy middle, since we're nowhere near the end of this nonsense -- it's that there are at least some parts of our economy that still actually work. Internet, cable and phone-service providers like Verizon(VZ), AT&T(T), Cox Communications and Time Warner(TWC) don't seem to need government aid to work with small businesses.

Not only are networking companies eager to deal with us little people, they're downright aggressive right now. Little ol' me managed to get big ol' Verizon -- I use the excellent FIOS product in my business -- to slash a full third from my bill.

There's no reason you can't save too -- if you carry the right hammers.

Get the vendor on the phone and dicker: Sit down with your phone bills. Figure out the total minutes you use and your charges. (Yes, phone companies make what they charge disgracefully complex, but to be fair they also offer excellent paper and online billing information. So, with a bit of tinkering, even the most complex bills become clear.) Then, call the company, get a rep on the phone and start whining about what you pay. Carriers are facing unprecedented competition these days. And they're willing to give you a healthy discount to lock you in as a long-term customer. I killed my old land-lined package and got a 60% reduction. All I did was ask.