What Is Telecom Expense Management, And How Can It Benefit Your Business?
Getting right to the point, Telecom Expense Management is the process in which a company's bottom line is increased by deeply examining its telecom usage to find wasteful spending, which is then recovered or eliminated.
Sounds Simple
It can be easy, if you have the correct skills, training and tools. Some large companies have their own in-house Telecom Expense Management (TEM) teams that are able to perform all the needed functions. Others, on the other hand, simply do not have the staff to do it themselves. To get a thumbnail picture of what is required, I'll list the basics here.
Asset Management. Every piece of equipment and every wireless device must be accounted for. Period. The inventory must be accurate and current, with the ability to be updated almost immediately. The inventory will also note where each wireline device is, and what phone number(s) are assigned to it. Each wireless device must have the name of the person responsible for it on the list.
Invoice Validation. Statistics indicate that 10-15% of all invoices have errors. Approximately 80% of the errors are in favor of the vendor. The TEM team scours each invoice to locate errors and discrepancies, and follows them to a quick resolution.
E-Procurement. This controls all leases/purchases of equipment and service plans. Since everything must go through this centralized portal, it prevents unneeded or unauthorized acquisition of equipment or services. Additionally, it ensures compatibility and throughout your system, and allows only certain products to be available to employees according to their needs.
Expense Optimization. A good TEM team will be vendor neutral. They won't have any incentive to use a particular service provider, other than to get the best product for the best price. Finding package deals, discounts and by simply arm wrestling a vendor into offering a lower price, they are able to lower costs without sacrificing service.
Help Desk Support. When your telecom users experience problems or have questions, or even if a device is lost or damaged, they have one place to go for all their answers. The TEM team knows how to handle most of them, and if they don't, they know exactly who to contact to get the issue taken care of.
As you might imagine, each of these five basic aspects of Telecom Expense Management are dependent upon the others. If one area is neglected, then the others cannot be relied upon to be accurate or effective. If you have the personnel with the expertise, then let them do it. Otherwise, contact a reliable Telecom Expense Management company and have them provide details on how they can help you and your company stay profitable.
Robert is currently working for Integrity Communications, a business specializing in Telecom Expense Management. A retired police dispatcher, he now resides in the country with his wife and 2 of his 3 sons. He is a freelance writer who has created articles on subjects such as police work and motorcycles.
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