Telecom Expense Management can deflate ballooning corporate phone bill

Telecom spend of companies is increasing year by year. On top of that, more than 80 percent of the businesses overpay for their mobility services. Also, 65 percent of the telecom invoices contain errors while 85 percent of these invoice errors are in favor of the network carriers.
 

Can the phone bill issue be fixed?

Inappropriate contracts and plans, lack of proper policies for international roaming, underutilization of voice lines and mobile devices, premature device replacements and unnecessary data downloads are the main reasons for unbridled rise in telecom spend.

There is a way to fix this problem: Telecom Expense Management solutions can address the invoice errors and eliminate the problem of ever-rising phone bills. 
 

Benefits of Telecom Expense Management (TEM)

1. Visibility and Accountability: Scheduled reporting and integration with data analytic tools provides visibility and accountability of phone usage. TEM also has the capability to identify savings opportunities.

2. Informed decisions: In-depth data will empower companies to make informed decisions.

3. Cost Savings: By proactively capturing, disputing and eliminating incorrect invoice charges, and highlighting billing anomalies that help reduce abuse, organizations can drive down communications costs dramatically.

Challenges -- It ain’t a cakewalk

1. Local rules and regulations: Local rules and regulations play a crucial role when multinational companies implement TEM solutions. Each geography may have different requirements in terms of how personal data must be handled.

2. Managing multiple service providers: Large organizations deal with many different service providers across the globe, each with unique billing formats, contract terms and way of doing business. Managing these relationships can become a challenge.

3. Lack of Internal Resources or Expertise: Any TEM implementation must have the right set of people behind it to succeed. The entire process will be affected if a company does not have the right internal resources to manage the international telecom expenses. Another main challenge is the change management associated with the implementation.
 

Cost Reduction Opportunities

Though cost savings vary across vendors and deployments, on an average implementation of TEM can reduce the overall annual telecom spend by about 23 percent.

Cost saving opportunities from various TEM processes are given in the table below:

Method	Description	Estimated Cost Reduction
Inventory Management	This can be done through disconnecting unused devices and appropriate device replacements	2-7%
Contract Management	The TEM service provider will manage multiple contracts with various network carriers, and companies can avail the best contract options	3-8%
Ongoing Audit	Proper audits can save a lot of costs as more than 80% of the businesses still overpay for their mobility services, predominantly due to telecom invoice errors	1-15%
Usage Management	Implement proper rules and regulations across the organization for international roaming, downloads etc	8-12%

Key Vendors

Leading Global Vendors:

• Tangoe
• Calero
• Dimension Data
• MDSL

Leading Regional Vendors:

• Telesoft (North America)
• Asentinel (North America)
• Cimpl (North America)
• Ezwim (North America & European Union)
• Widepoint Solutions (North America &European Union)
   

Vendor Recommendation

Key spend region for Telecom Services	North America	Europe	Asia-Pacific	Latin America	Africa
Preferred Vendors	Tangoe Calero Dimension Data Cass Information Systems Telesoft Cimpl MDSL WidePoint Asentinel	Tangoe Dimension Data Cass Information Systems MDSL Asentinel	Tangoe Dimension Data Cass Information Systems MDSL	Tangoe Dimension Data Cass Information Systems TNX	Tangoe Dimension Data