3 Ways a Telecom Management System Will Save You Money

March 5th, 2010

A telecom management system is first and foremost a money saver. If the telecom system cannot provide a clear reason for you to invest your time and money (but, you may not need to pay for the system, more on that later), then why would you pursue it as a strategy? The return on investment, both hard dollar costs and time and energy invested, needs to be clear before the investment is made.

So, where do telecom management systems generate their payback? Telecom systems certainly create efficiencies in terms of automating manual processes within the IT and finance organizations, but our focus is on the hard dollar savings telecom management systems are renown for delivering. These hard dollar savings are in the “indisputable” elements of the telecom program. The hard dollar savings create a solid business case that managers can take to their executives for concurrence to move forward. If the investment element of the telecom system is low or free, then the only expenses that need to be covered before generating a clear return to the company is the set-up effort.

Where do these returns come from? Hard dollar savings can only be generated buy lowering the telecom bills of the user. This lowering can occur one of 3 ways: 1) by reducing the rates that the existing carrier is bill, 2) by changing the services the user is paying for so service is maintain or even enhanced while costs go down, and 3) by introducing new carriers with superior value propositions. A comprehensive telecom management operation will accomplish these three things and more.

Reducing rates charged by an existing carrier can be challenging. After all, you are typically bound by a contract or tariff, reducing the flexibility that the carrier has in changing what is being charged. Getting rates changed is possible, but it requires work on your part and may also force a contract extension. If you are happy with your carrier, a contract extension may be tolerable. The telecom expense reductions seen in this scenario typically range less than 10%, Telecom carriers in a re-negotiation proceeding do not have a significant incentive to reduce rates, so some sort of loyalty discount is typically rolled out. The two remaining methods of reducing your telecom expenses, however, are preferred.

Changing carrier’s services is a very effective means of lowering current spending without interrupting or interfering with an existing telecommunications carrier contract. Evaluating the specific services at each of your locations, determining whether you can simply disconnect a service, consolidating service to more efficient facilities, or up-grading to a newer technology can yield savings of 10% to 20% if the network has not been optimized for quite some time.

The best savings are usually obtained by actually using new telecom service providers to replace existing services with much more competitively priced services. There are many quality service providers that supply similar quality to the larger carriers at rates in excess of 30% below what the larger telecom carriers charge. Strategies are available for every comfort level, so using an alternative carrier to lower your cost can be extremely beneficial.

Consider using a telecom management platform to tie these three strategies together. Platforms that detail telecom inventory, analyze billing trends, as well as provide flexible analytics are best suited to support cost containment and reduction initiatives.

To empower your telecom management initiatives, consider a telecom management tool that will automate many of these tasks. Using the right tool will help you achieve your telecommunications management goals while saving you time. Your new free time can then be invested in strategic initiatives that really move your business (and your career) forward.

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Telecom Management Systems Yield Impressive Returns

March 5th, 2010

Today, companies are seeking savings from their telecom management efforts like never before. While rates have declined over the last several decades, telecom expense has remained consistent or even grown at most companies. The proliferation of devices, home workers, and electronic communications methods has dramatically increased the complexity and overall expense of a typical telecom environment. Managing all these components can be a daunting task unless the telecom management team has the right free tools.

Maintaining control over a complex telecommunications environment is a significant effort for most businesses. Keeping inventory up to date, reviewing and coding bills and supporting end-users is an entire discipline within most IT organizations. There are free telecom management solutions available to ease the manual repetitive tasks. Some free providers also offer a “freeium” service. A freemium service is one where the basic service is available at no charge, but premium services are available for a fee.

Within the telecom management space, freemium services typically include building and maintaining the inventory elements, obtaining and loading the monthly bills, analyzing your data on a regular basis or preparing the data necessary to be uploaded to the accounting system. Some telecom management firms also provide bill pay services, will place carrier orders and even have help desk services for wireless phones.

Starting with a free telecom management system may make a lot of sense. Without the investment hanging over your head, you can carefully evaluate where the system would be valuable in your operations. Telecom management is relatively modular, so you can focus on the areas that will help you the most first, leaving the less important aspects for later. This approach is much less intrusive and time consuming than implementing a purchased telecom management system, where everything has to be implemented at the same time under the provider’s statement of work.

A telecom management system can provide immediate cost reductions by identifying excess services, services that had been previously disconnected but are still billing, and underutilized telecom services. The efficiencies experienced by your staff further enhance savings. With a free telecom management platform, all these savings accrue your benefit – there is no return on investment, because you have invested nothing.

Most free telecom management platforms are not automated, or have some limited automation. This is a case where “you get what you pay for”. Automating telecom management systems to integrate with telecommunications carriers or the accounting and ERP systems is not provided on free platforms. That is why we suggest that you use the free platforms initially to evaluate your needs. Once you have played with a free telecom management system, you will be in a much better position to evaluate the systems that cost $100,000 and more.

If you are looking for a free telecom management tool to improve your telecom management capabilities or to evaluate a telecom management strategy before a purchase consider my-tem.com. my-tem.com provides a full featured free telecom management tool specifically designed for medium to large businesses.

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Exposing Telecom Management’s Dirty Little Secret

March 5th, 2010

If you are involved in telecom management, you know what I am talking about, right? Just admit it right now. A telecom manager’s job is to keep the network running – that’s pretty much it. If the network is not working, there is a big spot light shining right on you until it is fixed. Then, you have to explain what happened and the steps you have taken to ensure the telecom network does not experience the same issue. Am I right?

So, what about the cost of that telecom network? How much attention does cost get? Oh, sure, each year you have a budget you need to put together. That budget might be evaluated, but the costs are largely fixed, or the costs are allocated to various departments outside of your area of responsibility. Then, every 3 years, you march your carriers in and beat them up on price. Get a good discount off what you are paying today and feel good about having successfully reduced costs. Nice work! But what about the month to month cost management as part of your overall telecom management responsibilities? Do you have any time for that?

Most answer, “No.” It is not surprising that most telecom managers spend very little time analyzing their bills to ensure they are getting the best terms and rates available to them in their so carefully negotiated contracts. No one has time to audit a bill each month – as long as it is close to last month’s you probably just send it on to Accounts Payable with a handwritten cost center number on it (or Accounts Payable adds the cost center information).

But what if you could review your bill for reasonableness each month? What if you could proactively look for cost savings for your company on a regular basis? What if you could do these things and more without spending any more time than you spend today? Would that make your team look proactive rather than reactive? Would it help your career to look like a superstar? Doesn’t it make much more sense to manage telecom costs aggressively, rather than passively?

Sure it does. Now you just need to know how to accomplish these goals. Fortunately, there are a host of telecom management platforms that have come on the market in the last several years. These platforms give you visibility into your wireline and wireless spending. These telecom management platforms range from enterprise versions down to free versions on the web. Consider using a free version at first. You will not have to seek additional budget for a paid version, you will be able to evaluate your needs more precisely and determine if a paid system would really generate the return on investment that you would need to justify the expense.

If you are looking for a free telecom management tool to improve your telecom management capabilities or to evaluate a telecom management strategy before a purchase consider my-tem.com. my-tem.com provides a full featured free telecom management tool specifically designed for medium to large businesses.

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Telecom Management: Service Delivery and Cost Containment Get the Job Done

February 24th, 2010

Telecom management has many different aspects, but service delivery and cost containment have to be the two biggest factors. If you can master service deliver and cost containment, you can then start to look around at strategic opportunities to support the business. These strategic initiatives are what propel your career. Service delivery and cost containment are the foundation upon which you can stand to start adding true value to your organization.

Service delivery is all about making sure the service works and processes to deliver services to users are sound. Selecting reliable telecom service providers is paramount. There are many alternative service providers that deliver great service, so feel free to branch outside of the standard big telecom service providers (AT&T, Verizon, Qwest and Sprint for wireline service; and AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and TMobile for wireless).

Getting a comfort level with an alternative provider is important. We all know that networks have faults and service providers are not perfect. What you do not want to do is swing all of your services over to an alternative carrier, then have an issue early that invites second-guessing on your decision. To avoid the second-guessing start with pockets of opportunity with the alternative carrier. Use the alternative telecom carrier in a few offices, or for redundant internet access, or as a low cost alternative to your primary carrier at headquarters. Yes, this introduces another vendor to manage, but there will usually be significant cost savings to justify the expense. Further, you can begin to build a track record with the alternate telecom provider to determine if they are a good fit for even more of your network. Also, the alternative provider can be used as a lever when negotiating with your primary provider. Believe me, the big carriers sit up and take notice when you tell them that an alternative provider is installed and performing well in your network…it eliminates many of the selling points they use to justify their higher rates.

On the expense containment side, you need a platform that checks your expenses over time. It does not have to be sophisticated, but it should assist you in evaluating trends, identifying anomalies, and reporting your ever declining costs to upper management. Having an inventory component not only helps you ensure you are paying only for the services you are using, but it also saves a huge amount of time to have all of your inventory information available at a moment’s notice.

Reducing hard dollars from your network is usually accomplished in two ways: optimizing the services you are currently using and reducing the cost of those services. To optimize your services, I suggest engaging a telecom consultant to take an objective look at your network. There are many consultants who will assist you for free if there is a real opportunity to competitively bid your network and engage another carrier – this is how many consultants earn a living, rather than charging their clients a professional service fee. If there is no alternative carrier opportunity, then engaging a consultant on a one time basis might be valuable.

To empower your telecom management initiative, consider a telecom management tool that will automate many of these tasks. Using the right tool will help you achieve your telecommunications management goals while saving you time. Your new free time can then be invested in strategic initiatives that really move your business (and your career) forward.

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Telecom Management: 4 Tips for the Lowest Long Distance Rates

February 24th, 2010

Telecom management is primarily about reducing telecom costs and improving service to your users. If you are looking at new long distance rates, you might notice that long distance voice rates have been creeping up lately. Two years ago, carriers were doling out sub-two cent rates for relatively small commitments. Today, smaller users need to do some significant arm twisting to get a sub-two cent rate out of one of the big four telecom carriers (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint or Qwest).

Great rates are available, but you need to have a good telecom management approach with the carriers to get their best offer. Follow these four steps to ensure you are getting the best rate available.

1) Start your negotiation process early. The earlier you start the more leverage you have. Many carriers have quarterly promotions. If you start your renewal process in the quarter before your renewal date, you may have access to a promotional rate that will not be available closer to the expiration date. Don’t be tricked into signing early just to lock in the promotion – just get a commitment that the promotion will be extended for you as your consider your options.

2) Engage other carriers. Competitive bidding is the best way to establish the market price. Ask your competitors for their best rate up front. Even with the so-called “best rate” there is usually room for movement if you are seriously considering a competitor. Keep intralata rates in mind. Intralata can be more than twice your interstate rate, so while volumes are typically low, they can play a very important part in the overall cost.

Don’t waste time in a bidding war with three or four carriers. Ask for their best rate up front. Narrow your options down to the incumbent and one other competitor and then let them fight it out. Entertaining several carriers is a drain of your resources, and usually does not result in a lower rate than entertaining just two.

3) Look beyond the rates. Once you have two carriers with their lowest rates, consider other factors beyond price. Customer service and billing can require large investments from your staff. Consider which carrier is more full service and which is more self-service.

Give credit to the carrier with the lower minimum. Lower minimums create flexibility for telecom management down the road. Flexibility has a value that needs to be considered in the buying process.

Billing increments (the fraction of a minute that the rate is billed) can impact your bill by 5% or more if your company has many short duration calls.

4) Consider implementing more than one carrier. There is nothing written that says you have to give all of your business to a single carrier. The days of huge discounts by aggregating your spending with one telecom provider are gone. Building redundancy and rate optimization opportunities into your network will lower your costs and improve your service metrics to your users. my-tem.com can be extremely valuable here – we have deep experience in optimizing rate plans and showing customers how to take advantage of diverse networks.

To empower your telecom management initiative, consider a telecom management tool that will automate many your contract management tasks and set you up for a smooth renewal process. my-tem.com has many business partners that provide competitive benchmarks for you, along with considerable guidance on how to manage the competition process.

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Telecom Manager’s Guide: 2 Options for Wireless Carrier Migration

January 22nd, 2010

A large part of being a telecom manager is migrating services from one carrier to another. A wireline migration can have many moving parts, but pales in comparison to changing wireless carriers. A wireless carrier migration requires specific coordination of device selection, service turn-up, possibly loading custom apps onto each device, delivering the device to the end-user, training the end-user on the new device and cutting over (porting) the wireless number from the former carrier to the current carrier. Each of these steps must be played out for each end-user. No wonder enterprise customers are reluctant to switch!

Fortunately, there are solutions to these migration issues. The solutions range in complexity, effort and cost, so choosing the best solution for the organization requires careful consideration. The speed at which the migration needs to take place can significantly increase the complexity and the effort (and, therefore, the cost) if an attempt of undertaking the effort with internal resources is made. If you chose to outsource the project, the complexity and effort constraints are largely lifted, but the cost must be factored in (read on how to get your outsourcing costs waived).

Using internal resources to migrate a base of wireless users requires considerable effort and planning. We have seen companies hire contractors just to support the roll out – resulting in cost that actually exceeded the outsourcing option. The device acquisition, staging and distribution tends to be the most straightforward portions of the effort. Most of the issues appear to occur in the device and phone number transition and training of users on the new platform. The post-delivery issues are difficult to plan for because they are almost always unanticipated – anticipated issues can be addressed and minimized pro-actively; it is the unanticipated or surprise issues that result in incremental effort.

In many (dare we say, most) cases, it is less expensive to retain a wireless telecom management firm to support large carrier migrations. These firms encounter few surprises since they roll out phones and wireless applications daily. When situations do arise, they typically have the personnel and expertise to understand the issue, take corrective action, and minimize its impact.

The cost of migration support typically runs from $20 to $50 per device depending upon the level of effort supplied by the wireless telecom management firm. Most of these firms can provide some flexibility on their costs, including a 100% waiver, if there is a commission opportunity from the wireless carrier. In other words, if the wireless carrier is willing to pay the wireless telecom management firm a sales commission for consummating the sale, the end-user may receive the migration services at a significant discount.

In order to determine whether you may be able to get free wireless migration support for your company, you must contact the wireless telecom management firm early in the carrier consideration process. The earlier the wireless management firm is engaged, the great your chances for a smooth and successful transition.

If you would like references for quality wireless telecom management firms, my-tem.com works with several and would be glad to provide you with the relevant contacts. my-tem.com specializes in the full spectrum of telecom management issues, including wireless, wireline and conferencing.

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Resolve to Consolidate Wireless Vendors in 2010

January 7th, 2010

Don’t waste your scarce telecom management resources by spreading them across too many wireless service providers. Using support resources efficiently has become increasingly important as departments across the enterprise are asked to do more with less. Consolidating your wireless service providers down to 1 or 2 providers can dramatically increase the efficiency of the organization.

Today’s businesses rely upon wireless communications. Cell phones and wireless access devices are table stakes for mobile or knowledge workers. In most cases, the IT department has at least initial responsibility in supporting the end-users, managing the vendor and auditing the bill. The IT organization must determine how to provide the highest level of service for the lowest cost.

Wireless, by its nature, is variable and subject to frequent change. Employees enter and exit the organization, resulting in new activations, suspensions or deactivations of existing devices. Features and plans are adjusted as usage warrants. These transactions must be tracked, creating complex inventory support issues. The billing from wireless service providers, while better than their wireline counterparts, remains complex and the nature of wireless charges requires individual review of each account to determine compliance to corporate policy. So, with all the complexities surrounding wireless service and support, why to companies maintain multiple accounts with different service providers? With the considerable incremental cost to support an incremental provider, there must be a valid reason, right?

Well, not really. Comparing the service from today’s top 4 wireless service providers (Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and TMobile), there is very little coverage difference. They all provide nationwide and international coverage. Their phones and data cards will work in the same areas, save some discrete locations where line of sight or signal strength is compromised for a particular provider. The primary difference between the wireless service providers today are their rate plans and the devices they offer.

Rate plan differences among wireless service providers are narrowing each year. The differences that remain, however, do not warrant you to spread your services across many different providers to optimize rate plans. Two carriers can typically achieve an optimum structure.

The real reason we find for maintaining multiple carrier relationships is the device offered by the respective carriers. The IT department is frequently pressured to provide the latest wireless gadget as a standard option within their wireless framework. The requests for the latest toy frequently come from senior management, making resistance a losing proposition. Fortunately, the market has narrowed our choices in that area over the last 2 years. Most wireless experts agree that AT&T and Verizon Wireless will continue their device leadership into the future. Their market position makes them the first choice for exclusive distribution targets for device manufacturers. The applications being developed on the exclusive operating systems should prove to be very sticky and result in better customer retention.

Standardizing on AT&T and Verizon Wireless in the New Year will make your management efforts considerably more efficient. Narrowing your support infrastructure to two service providers and a limited number of devices and service plans will streamline your acquisition process, enable a consolidated review of billing information and provide for the easy repurposing of wireless devices as employees return used equipment. Our telecom management clients who have consolidated their wireless accounts report efficiency savings in the 20% range. Hard dollar service provider charge savings are also common through the process of realigning the service provider relationship.

Consider implementing a telecom management system to support the migration and track its conclusion. The management system will provide value after the migration by helping you unify and consolidate your reduced wireless accounts into a single view for easier reporting and analysis.

my-tem telecom management gives you the tools you need to bring off a consolidation with minimal effort and maximum results.

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Telecom Management – Give Your Team The Tools They Need

December 30th, 2009

Telecom management in mid-sized companies is not always a full time job. Stretched for resources, the IT team can usually only devote part of the telecom manager’s team to managing the telco environment. Reviewing the telecom carrier bills for accuracy and errors typically get pushed further and further down the priority list. Most of the time, companies will resort to just a face page comparison of the total bill. This approach, while expedient, can lead to costly errors.

Over time, the contents of the bill change. The change is typically slow, so noticeable differences do not appear immediately. New locations may open, or close. Rates may change or discounts expire. Your spending may increase and warrant a larger discount. Who is watching for these changes? The carrier certainly is not. The telecom carrier leaves the accuracy of the bill up to the customer. You typically have just a few months to dispute a charge, or it is deemed accepted. Small errors can grow over time and become compounded with other errors.

In fact, Gartner reports that an average enterprise customer pays 8-15% too much due to carrier billing mistakes. If your telecom management team is stretched too thin to properly review telecom bills and expenses, you may want to consider a telecom expense management (TEM) platform. A TEM solution does not have to be expensive (in fact there are free versions available) and usually generate a healthy savings opportunity. These savings come in both hard dollars (reduction in telecom costs) and soft dollars (improved productivity of the telecom team).

Without a telecom management system, your costs will likely grow. Explaining how you saved money to the CFO will be much easier than explaining why costs increased in these times when everyone is trying to cut back.

A good TEM program will cover both your wireline and wireless services and provide for monthly bill aggregation and testing, financial reports that allocate costs to appropriate cost centers and assign general ledger codes, and provide a platform to track and evaluate network inventory. Managed services are frequently available, but not necessary. The free versions of TEM software are, of course, self-service.

If you are looking to gain control over your wireline and wireless telecommunictions environment or looking for a free TEM application, go to http://www.my-tem.com. my-tem.com provides simple free telecommunications expense management solutions.

my-tem offers a leading mid-market telecom expense mangement (TEM) solution for free to business clients. my-tem supports all wireline and wireless/cellular services. Get organized and start finding areas to reduce your telecommunications expense quickly and easily with my-tem.com’s free TEM offer.

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Telecom Expense Management (TEM) – CIOs List Their Top 3 Priorities

December 28th, 2009

Telecommunications expense management (TEM) remains one of the largest expense reduction targets of most enterprises. The proliferation of communications end-points, whether remote workers or mobile wireless devices, has kept aggregate telecom expenses high even while long distance rates and fixed wireline circuit pricing have tumbled. The proliferation of telecom end-points is also driving the complexity of managing the telecommunications environment.

Ten years ago, most IT organizations did not even manage telecom. Today, not only is the CIO responsible for the communications infrastructure and connectivity between sites, but they are also under increasing demands to reduce total telecom spending in a rapidly expanding telecom environment.

In a recent survey, Telesoft (www.telesoft.com), identified the top 3 telecommunications expense management priorities of enterprise CIOs. my-tem believes that these priorities apply to mid-market businesses as well.

Top CIO Telecommunications Expense Management Priorities:

 1. Improving Inventory

2. Managing Service Order Activity

3. Increasing Audit Capabilities

These priorities may not be intuitive TEM activities, so let’s explore each in detail and discuss how total telecommunications expenses can be reduced through its application.

1. Improving Inventory: An accurate telecommunications inventory is the foundation upon which any TEM effort is built. With an accurate inventory of telecommunications components that are being used and billed, a telecom manager can take decisive action on determining where excess inventory may exist.

2. Managing Service Order Activity: Service orders are actually where most telecom billing errors occur. Telecommunication carrier billing systems are fairly stable until a change occurs. Billing changes are usually the result of a service order activity. The ability to manage a service order through the billing life cycle can substantially reduce the number and magnitude of errors experienced over time.

3. Increasing Audit Capabilities: Telecom audits have been a core TEM practice for decades. Increasing the visibility of telecom audit components and the efficiency with which the information can be accessed allows for more effective audits. With the proper tools, these audits may be conducted by internal staff, rather than hiring a contingency-based auditor.

These three priorities represent considerable opportunity to reduce and control telecommunications expenses. A consistent limiting factor in a mid-market business attaining these objectives has been the availability of an affordable TEM system to use as an expense reduction framework.

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Wireless Expense Management (WEM) – Should You Care About Wireless Management?

December 23rd, 2009

Wireless expenses have been rising sharply across medium and large businesses in the last decade. It is not unusual for some companies to now pay more for wireless service than they do for traditional wireline services. Several industry studies suggest that wireless services will continue to increase in total dollars and as a disproportionate part of the IT budget. Can IT organizations manage the rising tide of wireless costs and how can they establish a management framework around wireless mobility to lead the company into the future?

1) Wireless services are indispensable. Just accept that as a fact of life. In fact, most top performers in an organization leverage wireless voice and data extensively to meet their goals. Attempting to reduce or somehow stem the tide of wireless usage is a no-win proposition. We must accept mobile access for what it is, embrace it for what it can do for the organization and become leaders inside the enterprise to find new leverage points for mobility solutions.

2) Wireless Expense Management (WEM) should be a cornerstone in the company’s mobile strategy. By demonstrating a cost control and containment system, your organization will be in a position to garner support for proactive wireless innovations. The WEM platform does not need to be elaborate, a basic wireless inventory, wireless bill review / management and wireless reporting platform is all you need to establish fundamental control over the wireless mobility environment. You can build your own database, or use an internet based WEM platform.

3) With a sound management foundation, your IT operation will be positioned to go out and survey your user community on the business needs, its future plans and current best practices using wireless devices. You can then codify these individual needs and tactics into a broad wireless strategy and begin managing wireless from a strategic perspective. Establishing a wireless mobility strategy will allow the Information Technology organization to lead, rather than follow and do so in an environment of control through an establish management platform.

If you are looking to gain control over your wireless mobility environment or looking for a free WEM application, go to http://www.my-tem.com. my-tem.com provides simple free telecommunications expense management solutions.

my-tem offers a leading mid-market telecom expense mangement (TEM) solution for free to business clients. my-tem supports all wireline and wireless/cellular services. Get organized and start finding areas to reduce your telecommunications expense quickly and easily with my-tem.com’s free TEM offer.

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