The $436,000 satellite communication bill. It’s real and it can happen to you.

You’re looking at the satellite bill that is usually about $1,800 -- and this month it is $436,000. You pick yourself off the floor and you have got to believe it’s a mistake. After all you had just put in a new satellite broadband system that was only supposed to do voice and e-mail, and at a lower rate. Your company is going to take a $436,000 hit on expenses and you ask “How in the world did this happen?”

Sound far-fetched? Not at all. It happened recently to a shipping company where controls they thought were in place weren’t there – giving their crew unlimited satellite access to the internet, with unregulated downloading of information. The vendor they employed to set this up failed to install key components for any broadband installation:

• the vendor forgot to remove internet access from the satellite communication package.
• after the incorrect satellite installation, they didn’t perform the type of testing to confirm that all the communication components were working as the customer expected.
• and they weren’t monitoring the communication usage, looking for unexpected spikes. In essence they let the meter run without notifying the customer.

So how do you make sure this doesn’t happen to you? First of all you work with a company that has expertise in optimizing your system to provide the most efficient flow of business information, while also applying controls tailored to your business needs – helping you avoid that shocking bill. Today’s satellite broadband terminals are more than just a terminal you buy off the shelf and plug in. If you go that route just plan on the day you will get the bill that will knock you out of your chair.

Skymira has been on top of this from the beginning. Our April, 2010, blog entry “Avoiding Excessive Satellite Charges” described this scenario, and the risks in deploying any satellite communication system without also establishing a method for controlling the more significant satellite communication cost. The entry goes on to discuss Skymira’s Intelligent IP Controls and how, by locking in customer-specified proper uses and locking out improper use, abuse and inexperience that typically results in expensive hits, carrier charges are more effectively managed. I encourage you to read it to understand how it all works.

Here’s the link to a very unfortunate and preventable situation. Make sure this doesn’t happen to you. “The cost of unrestrained access to the internet by the crew”