A new firm aims to cut telecoms costs for businesses and individuals with an expert audit of usage.

Fluent — founded by telecoms professional Elizabeth Schaefer — was designed to analyse telecoms patterns and come up with the best and cheapest packages for those without the time or skills to do it themselves.

And she said that savings of up to 35 per cent could be achieved — with a guarantee of no bill if Fluent is unable to cut costs.

Ms Schaefer said: “Essentially, what we do is help people with their telecoms expenses because a lot of people aren’t entirely happy with their phone bills or internet bills.

“A lot of people don’t understand what services they are getting from their carriers — businesses in particular are often paying for too much for the services they are getting.”

Ms Schaefer — who spent 13 years with an Island telecoms firm, including a stint in charge of the billing system — said that cell phone usage had changed, with more people now using messaging services like Whatsapp than voice services.

She added: “Where people are possibly spending too much is in the way mobile has shifted from talking and texting a lot to talking a lot less and using data as the preferred method of communication.

“Sending a data message seems to be the preferred method of communication, so voice usage has gone down and data usage has very much gone up.”

And she added that watching videos on mobile devices and streaming audio had also increased — but that people might not realise they had gone over their allowance and incur extra charges.”

Ms Schaefer said: “It doesn’t matter how many ways you slice and dice it, a cell bill is complicated, even to the smartest individual.”

But she added: “If you’re looking at the bills on a day-to-day basis for the length of time I did, you understand exactly what’s happening on that bill.”

Ms Schaefer said that Fluent could also choose the best cell phone, internet and TV services for new and existing residents, saving them time and money on searching for the best deals.

She added: “So far, I’ve been able to save the clients I’ve had, most of them business clients, no less than 15 per cent but most in the range of 18 to 25 per cent.

“I could possibly save up to 35 per cent — that’s achievable if people haven’t analysed their cell phone bill in a long time.”

Ms Schaefer added that location on the Island, which could affect efficiency, was sometimes important in deciding whether an individual or business would be better off with services from one provider or another.

She explained: “Sometimes, one carrier could be better for a home base but terrible in the workplace and that’s tough to determine when you’re first activated.”

Ms Schaefer got the idea for her new venture when she left her previous job almost a year ago.

After trying for similar posts in the telecoms industry, she bit the bullet and set up Fluent in January.

Ms Schaefer said: “I said it was something I would regret if I didn’t do it — it wasn’t until I started that I realised that there were firms in the US and Canada who do this kind of thing.

“That helped to rev up my intention to try and get it going.”

She added: “It’s a unique thing and think it’s something Bermuda needs. As far as I know, nobody else is doing it and it seemed a really good opportunity.”

The service works by examining at least four previous bills, looking at usage patterns and even possible billing errors for mobile, landline, cable and internet, then providing clients with an easy-to-read one page report with money-saving suggestions.

More information on Fluent at fluentbda.com, e-mail info@fluentbda.com or call 777-1313.