County approves SpyGlass telecom audit to hunt recurring telecom charges

The Elko County Board of Commissioners voted to authorize a professional services agreement with SpyGlass Group LLC to perform a limited audit of the county's primary telecommunications accounts and identify potential savings and improper tax charges.

IT Director Robert Pratt described prior consolidation of departmental lines and said the county had already disconnected 23 unused lines since taking responsibility for telecom services. Pratt said SpyGlass will work with Frontier to reconcile actual traffic and billing and check for inappropriate taxes; if the firm identifies refunds, the refund would be split 50/50. "We went through and we've started to remove services that were no longer in use," Pratt said, noting an example of a T‑1 line that had not been disconnected but was still billed.

Commissioners asked whether voice‑over‑Internet services such as Vonage would be included; Pratt confirmed VOIP is in scope. The contract is structured so the vendor is paid from realized savings for one year, and commissioners discussed limiting the set of bills submitted for review. After discussion the motion to approve the agreement carried on a unanimous voice vote.