DU QUOIN -- City officials Monday struck a one-year deal with an Ohio-based telecommunications consulting firm -- SpyGlass -- which will audit city-operated cellphones, internet and wireless bills in an attempt to locate a cost savings that will directly benefit the city. And there was absolutely no financial investment on the part of the city to make the deal happen.
According to the agency's website, "Telecom providers know that their customers don't have the time or resources to dedicate to auditing their phones, internet and wireless bills and expect that they won't catch costly mistakes and overcharges."
SpyGlass identifies mistakes and inefficiencies to prevent overpaying. It then splits the savings with the customer, which in this case is the City of Du Quoin.
Du Quoin City Clerk Andrew Croessman explained that the agreement with SpyGlass is a no-lose situation for the city.
"All our police officers have cellphones, our fire chief, our water department ... they (SpyGlass) will pit our accounts against 10,000 of their other clients and see what we're paying relative to our peers. And they'll go back to the telecommunications company and suggest that we are overpaying compared to what their other clients are paying."
The company claims that its audits find errors and inefficiencies in 90 percent of its contracts with customers.
In other city council news Monday, the city approved the hire of Verna Jeanne Hollis as a part-time dispatcher effective this week at $12.50 an hour.
The city also took steps to dissolve its Revolving Loan Fund. The city has $153,208.50 left over in the account and Mayor Guy Alongi said the money will probably be spent on the upgrading of city streets.
