Gartner reports telecom bills are riddle with errors

Gartner Reports Telecom Bills are Riddled with Errors by Lisa Santora

Gartner's report "North American MSBs Seek Cost-Saving Opportunities" states that "Telecom bills for voice and data are often riddled with errors, not discovered for many years." In today's cost-conscious environment enterprises cannot afford such telecom billing errors which eat into already strained telecom budgets. Deploying a telecom expense management tool provided by call accounting software systems can help enterprises identify cost savings and make invoice reconciliation easier through automating processes that when performed manually, rob companies of valuable time and money.

With enterprise offices located around the globe and wireless phone users complicating call detail records tracking, it isn't any wonder that companies find bill reconciliation difficult. Often each office location receives its own separate set of carrier invoices; with many of these numbering in the hundreds of pages and containing confusing line items for services that were disconnected. Manual telecom bill reconciliation often cannot catch the numerous errors contained in most invoices. Managers assigned to bill reconciliation can reclaim valuable time spent by deploying a call accounting and invoice management system that can automate these functions and indicate where cost savings can be made. This information can put a company in a good bargaining position when the time comes for carrier contract negotiation.
Couple cost savings with easy Web-based access via a browser from any desktop computer, and telecom expense management software offers compelling benefits to enterprises looking for ways to stretch their telecom budgets. Another key feature that can potentially pay for the cost of deploying a call accounting system is its ability to track suspicious call activity. Toll fraud is a global problem as evidenced by this m-net article "PABX hackers rack up $9000 phone bill."

The article reports on hackers breaking into an Australian company's network and running up an AU $9,000 bill within one week. Call accounting software systems can alert companies to attacks on the system. Users can set their own toll fraud alert parameters specific to their calling patterns and business environment. The combination of cost savings and security benefits makes a telecom expense management system a solid investment for today's enterprise.

Author, Lisa Santora, 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.

Eliminating Unused Resources with TEM

Eliminating Unused Resources with Telecom Expense Management by Peter Verhoeff

With the proliferation of mobile devices and new technologies like Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), the old ways of keeping track of equipment and services are no longer adequate. And even though communication costs have plummeted in recent years, demand has also increased, with new high tech devices being added almost daily. If anything, the need for Telecom Expense Management (TEM) software has increased, particularly in the area of inventory control.

Tracking inventory can be a troublesome task. A good starting point is to collect all telecom vendors invoices and establish what is being billed for. This may not give an accurate picture, as billing errors are common.

Some TEM systems incorporate a cable management module that provides a firm basis for establishing what the communications network consists of. This feature greatly simplifies managing the physical layer details for any network. It documents the circuits and physical connectivity for all cable connections between voice and data equipment in single or multi-building network cable plants.

The cable network data must be supplemented with an inventory of mobile devices that are not part of the physical network. These mobile devices should be recorded, along with the names of the persons using them and tied to personnel records. The necessity for this is illustrated by the case of one large company that, after implementing a TEM system, found that 3500 monthly cell phone bills were still being paid for ex-employees who had long since left, costing the company in excess of a million dollars per year.

Once the inventory is complete and accurate, it should be inspected for any non-optimum utilization of resources. For example, it is not uncommon for telecom vendors to continue billing for branch locations that have been closed, either because they were not notified or because they failed to adjust their records. Modern TEM systems can automatically detect and report these unused resources. Any equipment or service that is not associated with an employee, department, project or profit center is likely to be unused and can be discontinued.

The telecommunications network is not a static entity and configuration changes are common. Any moves, additions, changes and disconnections (MACD) of service or equipment should immediately be recorded online, so as to keep the inventory up-to-date.

For further information on telecom expense management visit the Telsoft Solutions website.

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.