Telecom Expense Management Improves Corporate Bottom Line
Submitted by: Meritus Media Inc
2007-12-26 14:50:18
Knowing the real costs of telecommunications and controlling them with the aid of telecom expense management software can lead to big savings and raised productivity.
Due to today's competitive climate companies have a strong need to minimize operating costs. One area of expense that is hard to measure and control, but capable of yielding considerable improvement over the bottom line is telecom expense management (TEM).With TEM, a substantial ten to thirty percent savings in telecommunications costs can be realized.
One source of difficulty in analyzing vendor billings is their volume and complexity. Billings depend on mutually agreed pricing schemes and when, where, how and how long the vendor-provided resources are used. Multiple telecom vendors may be involved, each with their own tariffs and billing systems. According to the Aberdeen group, up to 85% of corporations pay their telecom bills in full without verification, even though 7-12% of those bills are incorrect. For large companies this can result in millions of dollars a year in unnecessary expense.
The sources of wasted telecom funds include:
• Manual and/or decentralized processing of invoices. The high volume and complexity of telecom billing makes manual processing impractical and costly. All telecom invoices should be in electronic form and routed directly into the enterprise's TEM system, where they are compared against actual usage call detail records (CDR) and rate tables, validated and routed to Accounts Payable for payment. This provides a good indication of the total telecom costs. Billing errors can be corrected swiftly and late payment penalties avoided through timely processing of all invoices.
• Equipment and services that have been discontinued, but are still being billed. Having a complete inventory in the TEM system, along with usage records and vendor invoices, will quickly show up any such discrepancies. The TEM system can also indicate faulty lines or equipment, as well as unusual activity that might result from unauthorized or fraudulent use of telecom resources.
• Under-utilized services, such as employees using only a fraction of their allocated monthly cell phone minutes. Comparing actual usage against service agreements will show up under-utilized resources as well as areas of heavy traffic. This will help optimize resource utilization and assist in negotiating more favorable terms with vendors.
• Decentralized procurement, which tends to waste money through unnecessary purchases and not taking advantage of quantity discounts. Purchasing from a central location will help avoid waste and provide the opportunity to negotiate the best terms.
While the task of implementing a fully functional TEM system may seem daunting, there are ways to ease the transition. The three main areas of telecom expense management—bill auditing, inventory management, and usage optimization—can be outsourced to a TEM provider. In addition, the software can be run remotely via the Internet. This removes the need for extensive training of in-house personnel by leaving the specialized tasks to TEM specialists, yet corporate executives can obtain valuable reports at the click of a mouse.
For more information about telecom expense management, visit the Telsoft Solutions website at www.telsoft-solutions.com.
