The time is ripe for Telecom Expense management

The Time is Ripe for Telecom Expense Management by Peter Verhoeff

According to the Aberdeen Group, the average Fortune 500 Company receives 15,000 telecom invoices per year at an average processing cost of $12 per invoice. That adds up to $180,000 per year, just to process these invoices. Telecom expense management (TEM) is a set of tools designed to reduce telecom costs and improve control over existing resources.

The proliferation of telecom services has made it difficult to keep track of and control telecom costs. Executives are now asking themselves some hard questions, such as:

How much are we spending on telecom each year?

Are we getting the best rates?

Do we have and use the equipment and services we are being billed for?

Are the service providers charging us correctly?

Are we using our telecom equipment and services to best advantage?

If your company does not have ready answers to any of these questions, now may be the time to find out. A reputable TEM provider can provide invaluable advice on how to proceed and what solutions will work best for your company.

There are three basic approaches to implementing a TEM service:

Purchase the TEM software for in-house use

Lease the TEM Software as a Service (SaaS)

Outsource the whole TEM operation

Purchasing your own TEM software will of course provide you the greatest degree of control, but implementing it will require qualified personnel, that have to be trained on how to install and use the system.

These staff requirements also apply to SaaS, but with the added advantage that there is no major financial outlay up-front and you would not have to worry about periodic software upgrades, as these would be taken care of by the TEM provider. Authorized personnel would be able access the TEM service via the Internet.

The third option is to outsource the entire TEM operation to a qualified vendor, who will take care of the data collection, invoice verification and a great number of related actions. This option should be attractive to companies that so far have had minimal control over telecom costs.

In all cases, some up-front activities will need to be taken care of, such as establishing an inventory of current telecom services and equipment. Some policy may also need to be issued to centralize the telecom invoice processing and procurement of new resources.

In deciding what TEM vendor to select, there are some important factors to consider. To start with, the vendor should be able to offer all three of the above options and the TEM system should be capable of dealing with both wireline and wireless services.

Consider the TEM features being offered, such as Invoice Management, and whether the system will fill your current and future needs. Of course the same criteria apply with TEM vendors as with any vendor selection. Are they helpful, how long have they been in business, what is their reputation, can they present testimonials, what is their customer support like, do they provide good value for money? Talk to some of their customers and find out how satisfied they are.

For more information about telecom expense management visit the Telsoft Solutions website at http://www.telsoft-solutions.com/index.html.

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.