One important implication of this is that the institution must convey clearly to the consultant the exact scope of work, and the consultant must understand and agree. Negotiating a detailed contract with the consultant is advisable. Other means of computing compensation are less common. For example, the use of contingency fees, where payment is a percentage of the annual savings realized as a result of a consultant's recommendations, has declined in recent years. At this point, most of what has been removed in the cost saving effort must be replaced.
Some consultants charge a certain amount per line based on system size.
Obviously this can lead to over-building the system. Whenever possible, both the contingency fees should be avoided. Naturally, organizational size and cost should be two of the factors considered in selection of a consultant. A 10,000 line voice and data PBX installed on a 500 acre campus requires many skills not needed with a 400 line switch confined to one building. Most firms that do not have such experience find it difficult to understand that higher education institutions consist of loose federations of independent contractors, and fail to realize the highly complex political nature of colleges and universities.