Two areas of concern with Telecom expense management

Two Areas of Concern with Telecom Expense Management by Peter Verhoeff

It is true. Telecom carriers make errors in their billing and for some reason these errors more often than not are in the carrier’s favor. So it is the enterprise’s interest to check and verify the carrier’s invoice, for which the telecom expense management (TEM) system is ideally suited.

However, the other side of the coin is the company itself, where often even greater savings can be realized. Many times a corporation has only a vague idea of its total telecom costs, or of the effectiveness of its telecommunications network. For example, an enterprise may be paying for employees’ cell phones. Can it be confident that all of these cell phone users are still in the company’s employ, that they are using the phones only for the intended purpose, or that the company is paying the best rates?

Slamming is another potentially costly problem. Slamming is the activity of a telecom carrier other than the contracted company taking over the client’s telecom service, usually at much less favorable rates than from the original carrier. Even minor rate changes can make a big difference in cost. Does the company have adequate safeguards in place to detect and prevent slamming from occurring? A TEM system can alert management to this and other unpredicted changes.

Even without unauthorized switching of carriers, service providers sometimes add un-asked-for features that can cause a steep increase in telecom costs. And unless the invoices are closely monitored, these extra charges can go unnoticed. Due diligence is needed to guard against being charged for unwanted, unneeded or undelivered services or not getting the best deal, optimizing telecom resources for most efficient use, these can bring about a huge reduction in telecom costs.

While many times companies are overcharged for telecom services and bill tracking can pay huge dividends, getting one’s house in order can produce even bigger savings. Some areas where a company can benefit are:

Avoiding late charges by paying all telecom bills on time

Knowing total telecom costs and being alert for sudden increases

Informing carriers of discontinued lines and ensuring that they are no longer charged for

Centralizing procurement of telecom services and resources to avoid waste

Negotiating the most favorable contracts

Taking advantage of bonuses and special money saving offers

While this sounds like a major undertaking, with the help of a good telecom expense management system telecom costs can rapidly be brought under control and major savings realized.