TEM an overview by P. Verhoeff

Telecom Expense Management: An Overview by Peter Verhoeff

Telecom expense management (TEM) is also known as Telecom Cost Management (TCM). Telecom is short for Telecommunications, which means communication over a distance. This includes not only your PBX telephone network, but also wireless devices, such as cell phones, pagers, BlackBerrys, and iPhones, as well as the Internet communication channels for your company's computers.

Telecommunications are a major expense item in most corporations, especially those involved with high tech. Some of the ways in which you can reduce telecom costs are:

* Getting the best possible rates from telecom vendors

* Making sure you don't get charged for calls that weren't made

* Making sure you don't get charged for resources you no longer own

* Optimizing your existing resources for best utilization

* Using software to control expenses, thus freeing up personnel

* Reducing telecom misuse, abuse and fraud

* Centralizing bill payment and ordering

* Centralized control of equipment move, add, change or disconnect (MACD)

Telecom expense management is the technology that deals with controlling and reducing telecommunications expenses through effective use of technology, people, policy and procedures. The technology aspect includes software to keep track of calls, maintain inventory, record changes in network configuration and contracts, produce reports and issue alerts, to name a few.

TEM can also interface to other software modules, such as General Ledger and Accounts Payable, or to a Human Resources database to keep track of new personnel and people who have left. This last one is important, as there are many known instances where employees were given cell phones and the company inadvertently continued to pay their phone bills after they left.

One company, after implementing TEM software, found that it was still paying 3,500 cell phone bills every month for employees who no longer worked there. This cost them over a million dollars a year in unwarranted expenses.

Another advantage of having an effective TEM system is that all telecom vendor invoices are processed in the same place, which should make late payment penalties a thing of the past. Moreover, the tighter inventory control made possible by the centralized TEM system makes switching to new technologies much easier. In addition, telecom audits are easy to carry out, as all the telecom information is now in one place.

In short, TEM is the simple solution to keeping telecom costs in check, controlling telecom inventory and providing an accurate audit trail.

For more information on telecom expense management, visit Telsoft Solutions at http://www.telsoft-solutions.com.

Author, Peter Verhoeff, writes articles on the business benefits of call accounting and call detail record technology. More information can be found at http://www.telsoft-solutions.com.