Telecom Expense Management: Five Feature Sets to Keep in Mind
By MAE KOWALKE
TMCnet Associate Editor for Channels
Telecom expense management is a key way for businesses, always concerned with minimizing expenses, to keep down their communications costs without sacrificing the ability to serve customers. Day-to-day communications tasks can carry on uninterrupted but in a more efficient manner once a telecom expense management solution is in place.
When choosing a telecom expense management solution, businesses should look for five broad features that, together, create a comprehensive, complete system for managing communications expenses. Any telecom expense management provider should offer these features as part of their standard solution packages.
The first telecom expense management feature to look for is a single, unified platform for managing both wireline and mobile services. This telecom expense management feature takes into the account the fact that businesses need to keep track of mobile phones and services in addition to a traditional or IP-based PBX. Business phone systems today require this type of telecom expense management because they include cell phones and other mobile devices.
The second telecom expense management feature to look for is the ability to handle workflow orders, inventory and invoices. One of the key components of any telecom expense management system is inventory. This telecom expense management function makes sure the company has visibility into all its telecom assets. Without keeping track of what assets the company has, telecom expense management can't function properly.
The third telecom expense management feature to look for is mobile policy implementation. This telecom expense management feature refers to keeping track of the businesses' usage policies for mobile devices, and ensuring compliance. For example, a telecom expense management system can track how many roaming minutes employees use each month. If employees exceed the allotted number of roaming minutes, the telecom expense system alerts management to this fact.
The fourth telecom expense management feature to look for is copyright algorithms for audit and optimization. Auditing and optimization are two key components of telecom expense management. Initiation and periodic audits of all assets are part and parcel of telecom expense management. Further, telecom expense management is used to optimize service contracts and asset allocation to minimize costs and maximize efficiency.
The fifth telecom expense management feature to look for is the ability to handle multiple currencies and multiple vendors. In today's global marketplace, a telecom expense management system must be able to track spend in different regions of the world where different currencies are used. A telecom expense management system also needs to be able to keep track of assets and services provisioned from many different vendors.
Today's telecom expense management systems are more robust and sophisticated than ever. After all, a telecom expense management solution isn't of much use to company unless it can handle the complexities of modern business communications. Companies that keep the five feature sets listed here in mind are well on their way to discovering the true benefits of telecom expense management.
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Mae Kowalke previously wrote for Cleveland Magazine in Ohio and The Burlington Free Press in Vermont. To see more of her articles, please visit Mae Kowalke’s columnist page.