Telecom Expense Management ROI Article

Tried and True TEM: Reliable ROI for Landline and Mobile

As wireless and wireline expenses have climbed to the top of the telecom expense budget, telecom expense management may be inevitable for companies, as mobile costs and pricing plans become more challenging to oversee internally.

Telecom Expense Management: Visibility and Cost Control

The current economic climate has forced businesses of all sizes to reevaluate priorities and more closely scrutinize their budgets on all lines. In fact, over the past 18 months, IT research firm Forrester has experienced a marked increase in end user client inquiries about how TEM can provide visibility and help control telecommunication expenses.

TEM Value: Centralized Management Approach

According to a Forrester report, in smaller companies, the value proposition of a TEM solution is based on labor cost savings and greater efficiency through automation. For larger enterprises, the value comes from a centralized management approach for telecom inventory control and procurement, contract compliance, budget and spending tracking and invoice processing.

TEM Case Study

An example of return-on-investment (ROI) using TEM comes in the form of a large utility corporation that provides power to customers in 10 states. It has a complex state-of-the-art telecom infrastructure for complete monitoring of utilities and internal communications throughout its service area with extensive use of cutting-edge technology.

The company has a history of solid customer service, and requires perfectly operating telecommunications between all offices at all times to maintain its record of customer satisfaction. Yet, the company needed an independent telecommunications management provider that could manage its complete communications order/procurement management, inventory management, and invoice processing with cost allocation and auditing among multiple states. After implementing Amtel's TIMS platform, the company realized a 'substantial reduction' in telecom expenses, according to company officials.

Problem areas were identified and cost reduction procedures were implemented with impressive results. Communication between office networks remained unaffected while TIMS implementation was performed.

Wireless Expense Management: On-Going Optimization for Savings

According to Deloitte's '2010 Telecommunications Predictions' report, there is a need for more rational pricing in the mobile market in particular, and wireless expense management plans can optimize a company's mobile usage every month.

Mobile Expense Management: Eliminate Waste and Choose Best Plans

Devices such as cell phones, PDAs, calling cards, and pagers are creating a complicated telecom expense management situation in most companies where there is waste due to a lack of control and visibility. However, there is significant potential for companies to save thousands - even millions - of dollars through a mobile telecom expense management plan.

Gaining visibility into and control over a company's wireless spend also provides the ability to select the best corporate wireless rate plans.

With remote workforces and more physically dispersed workforces in the enterprise both mounting, the need for wireless expense management, in turn, is on the rise.

Indeed, 80 percent of enterprises will overspend on their wireless service costs by an average of 15 percent through 2014, according to IT research firm Gartner, Inc. Gartner analysts said that as mobility has grown among enterprises, costs have also grown, and companies need to become better at managing their mobile voice and data costs.