Companies have realised that despite all the talk of telecom tariffs falling in the past two years, they haven't really been saving on their phone bills.

Then some smart firms realised that the problem lay in the fine print, or in the asterisks, attached to the main tariff reduction announcements. The hidden charges include "network charges".

Charges are different for routing a call through a land line, a wireless-in-local-loop network or through a global system for mobile network.

Hence, the demand for a system that can cut through this maze. Hence, were born the "least-cost routing" systems, which route calls through the network offering the greatest potential of savings.

At the heart of the system -- which is otherwise a normal phone switchboard -- is the global system for mobile SIM card. A call to a land line is routed straight to the local phone operator's network.

But if a company executive makes a call to a mobile phone -- which means additional access charges -- the switch tackles the call through the GSM chip. In that case, it becomes a mobile-to-mobile call, with tremendous cost saving.

Karel, a Turkey-based company and a supplier of telecom products, is offering the DS200 series systems for "potential savings in telecom bills" through its partner Intellicon in India.

Sameer Parekh, managing director of Intellicon Pvt Ltd, said, "We will soon be marketing the Karel product, which is designed to select the cheapest means to route your phone calls."

Marketing companies will get their returns in a year with outbound talktime of not less than 40,000 minutes, says Parekh.

The cost of the switch, the Karel GSM gateway, is in the range of Rs 25,000 to Rs 45,000.

While switches are one option, Bharti Tele-Ventures has also announced a slew of mobile M-business solutions aimed at corporate customers to improve productivity and help them reduce their telecom costs.

Mohit Bhatnagar, national head, corporate and enterprise, Bharti Tele-Ventures, said, "We offer tools that not only help reduce telecom expenses but also offer customised business solutions."

In his presentation in Mumbai on Wednesday, Bhatnagar said Wipro had saved up to 35 per cent on international calling costs by routing traffic through mobile phones since the rates were cheaper than making international calls through land lines.

Manoj Kohli, president, mobility, Bharti Tele-Ventures, said: "We are offering integrated services - broadband, international long-distance for voice and data, landline and cellular. Integrated solutions give more value to customers as a solution provider which will be customised. We want to be an aggressive player in this Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billionb) plus market."