I.J. Hudson, Tech Reporter

March 5, 2002

Video presentation of the story

We visited TeleBright a year ago when it was offering web comparisons of cellphone plans its website and through Consumer Reports. It has survived the dot-com problems and general slump of the telecommunications industry.

Chet Thaker is TeleBright's CEO, and says the company has been squeezing nickels for the last year. "We have been frugal and watch our money. We have not wasted money on things that don't have immediate returns."

And the company has added a partnership with Consumer Reports online to provide the software that compares long distance phone plans. It works like this. Plug in your area code and prefix. TeleBright brings up all the long distance companies and re-sellers in your area.

What's this get you? Marcie Sullivan is TeleBright's Marketing Director: "You can look at an apples-to-apples basis and see what your bill would be with other providers. So you're not just looking at rates and fees, but you're looking at useful information."

Making the comparison is fairly simple. Check last month's phone bill, plug in the number of State-to-State minutes you used, and how many intra state minutes. TeleBright tells you how much that would cost on all the plans listed. You can also use it as a calculator to see what bills would be under various plans if you make some changes. "What if I were to call out of state more often. Would I find a better plan? What if I were to call internationally more often, what would happen to my plan?" says Sullivan.

TeleBright receives a commission from all of the phone companies, so it doesn't care which plan you choose.

In addition to comparison software for consumer services, its comparison software has expanded to include auditing phone bills for large companies that have negotiated reduced rates and other discounts with their providers.

"Essentially, we go to the companies and re-rate all of their call records to ensure they got their rates and the discounts that were promised them," says Chet Thaker. If the proper rate and discounts weren't applied to the call, TeleBright provides detailed documentation so the company can collect from its vendor. TeleBright charges either a fee to check each call or receives a percentage of money recovered from the phone company.

TeleBright is now on the GSA schedule.