Telecom Expense Management in the Bay Area
Telecom Expense Management (TEM) software and managed services coupled with procurement/ordering modules can save you on wireline and wireless investments while increasing productivity. You can achieve a highly efficient and cost-effective telecom structure by consolidating telecom management, validating cost center allocation, renegotiating your contracts, and optimizing your voice and data infrastructure.
Learn more about the best ways to optimize your telecom budget directly from our Top Speed Data Communications IT experts below.
Important tips to make the most of your telecom budget
Before you can start saving money, you must be aware of your cell phone inventory, circuits, and service assets throughout your enterprise. The first step is to create a single list of telecom assets by gathering data from internal inventory spreadsheets, databases, carrier Customer Service Representatives, contracts, and invoices. This centralized pool gives you instant visibility and control over wireline and wireless investments.
Another significant benefit of consolidation is the savings you will see on invoice processing. Streamlining the process of receiving, reviewing, and processing a single telecom carrier invoice, not to mention multiple carrier bills, can significantly reduce your expense. By getting these invoices out of the hands of individual office managers and into a centralized database, you can gain economies of scale. For example, you can send a single check to a vendor providing multiple services. You can also automate parts of the invoice review process, such as automatically approving invoices within acceptable parameters.
VALIDATE Your Telecom Spend
Once you have consolidated your telecom assets, it will be easier to see where your telecom dollars are being spent and verify that this is the appropriate use of your budget. One key to validation is to map the centralized asset inventory you've created to other data sources, such as carrier invoices, telecom contracts, and tariffs. Another key to validation is to map the usage of assets for things like long-distance and wireless usage against critical performance indicators (that is, what people or offices typically use) and corporate usage policies.
By mapping your inventory, you can also uncover services, hardware, and circuits that aren't being used. Discovering services that should have been disconnected or paying for assistance in an office closed is common. Cost savings can also be found by validating feature sets. Ensure you are not being charged for add-ons that employees do not need and aren't supposed to use. An example of such an add-on is texting. Suppose an employee is texting, and it is not part of your usage policy or service that you have contracted for with the carrier. In that case, you could be paying a high price for something you were unaware of.
NEGOTIATE Pricing
In a decentralized organization, it is hard to negotiate bottom-line pricing with service providers because you need more volume and inventory insight. However, with the business intelligence you gain from a consolidated expense-management database, you can see what types of services you use from across the organization and use that data to leverage better deals.
OPTIMIZE Telecom Expenses
Telecom expense management is an ongoing process, not just a "one-and-done" proposition. Even if you have streamlined invoices to the best possible pricing and are only paying for assets you have in use, you can save money by optimizing your voice and data infrastructure.
The most significant benefit of deploying TEM is the ability to move from reactive to proactive. With this shift in strategy, you can continuously save money and see positive impacts on your bottom line.
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