Improving Financial Management of Telecom

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Improving financial management of telecom services within your organization is never easy, but managing the financial component of telecom can be a nightmare. Multiple carriers, multiple contracts, different locations; these factors can all lead to poor financial management and cost creep. Add mobility into the picture and you get a hodge-podge mess (I use hodge-podge because a customer used that very term the other day!).

It is easy to avoid looking at the financial costs of managing telecom (much like your personal finances… I can relate), but what are the risks of doing nothing? There are plenty of reports from some of the top research names in the industry, and here are some of the key findings:

  • Telecom costs rank in the top 5 expenses for most companies (Gartner)
  • 80% of carrier bills contain errors (Gartner)
  • Telecom analysts spend on average 20% of their time identifying errors (Gartner)
  • Enterprises forfeit 12%-17% of telecom expenses without a proactive approach to telecom cost management (Aberdeen Group)

The Benefits to Financial Management of Telecom

  • Peace of mind with a complete and accurate inventory (and knowing you can go to your board of directors or executive team with an optimized environment!)
  • Profitability & lower cost of ownership through tighter financial controls
  • Time: frees up your time and allows you to focus on your core business
  • Future proofing your environment and technology to align with your business both for today and in the future

What are the components of Financial Management in Telecom?

The first step in  determining the areas of focus would be to conduct an Inventory Audit and Assessment. The following items should be sections of analysis.

Wireline

  • Service validation
  • Optimization
  • Identify and dispute all billing inaccuracies and unauthorized third party billing

Wireless

  • Assess pooling minutes, voice and data plans and discounts
  • Identify compliance vs. approved policy
  • Identify text and data overages
  • Identify subscriptions and downloads

Financial / Invoice Management

  • Invoices & Optimization
  • Maintain accurate and current inventory
  • Monitor pricing, discounts, contracts, and invoices

Service optimization

  • A/P
  • GL coding
  • Cost allocation
  • Track credits and adjustments are applied and posted

Telecom Asset Repository

Metrics and ROI Measurement

  • Month over month spending
  • YTD spending vs previous year
  • Percent of cost savings
  • Percent of total telecom spending vs overall company spending
  • Budget allocation for next fiscal year

Mobility Program Management

Corporate Help Desk 

  • Establish a process to work with internal IT staff
  • Maintain and enforce approved policy for devices, plans, etc.
  • Streamline ordering process
  • Vendor management and Level 1 troubleshooting
  • Single POC for all inquiries and issues
  • Order new / replacement devices
  • Refresh, wipe, or upgrade of devices
  • Warranty replacement or repair of devices
  • Accessories acquisition if approved

Mobility Expense Management

  • Comprehensive inventory off all devices and associated plans
  • Ongoing optimization of plans to avoid unnecessary overages
  • Management reports
  • Device asset allocation and GL coding

The bottom line is, once you do a current state review and analysis of every aspect of your telecom environment, it becomes easier to determine where you can cut costs and lower the cost of managing these services, however, not doing anything leads to a continued state of chaos.

Contact us to learn more about our Telecom Assessment.

July 07, 2012 / Ryan Carter
Telecom Guide
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