A Telecom expense management (TEM) business process lets controllers, business unit executives, and IT/Telecom managers institute procedures and guidelines that ensure:
The last few years of corporate cost cutting has shaved telecom staffs to the bone. As a result, companies must focus on better utilization of their staff resources, focusing personnel on areas of core competency and on performing higher value tasks. This has led to two trends.
A VoIP readiness assessment can smooth the way for VoIP deployment and TEM can provide needed data for improved ROI on a VoIP deployment.
Much like managing the costs associated with phone bills, contracts, and services, managing your equipment, trunk lines, and cabling can be an integral part of a business’ overall telecom expense management.
Recent research from shows that enterprise purchase intent for mobile devices is on a steep incline. With the increased dependence on mobile communications technology new problems arise including call tracking requirements.
Enterprises face a number of telecom expense management and telephone network security issues, all demanding administrators’ attention. Today’s telecom expense management systems can address a variety of enterprise telephone network issues, including telecom billing, PBX billing, VoIP call accounting, and toll fraud security.
A recent article in NetworkWorld ("Toll fraud is alive and well" )highlighted the Toll fraud issues faced by enterprises and ways companies can reduce thier exposure. Its important to remember that Toll fraud poses problems not only in the corporate world but in university settings as well.
Government Agencies and Non-Profits also Suffer Toll Fraud Losses. According to the State of Florida Enterprise Information Technology Services website “Many thousands of dollars worth of illegal long distance calls have been identified as having been made by telephone hackers” of state government phone systems.
TEM call accounting finds niche uses in various industries. The data collected from TEM call accounting modules no longer has to be reserved for tracking a lawyer’s billable hours. Telecom Expense Management call accounting software has come into its own as a rich source of data that can be an excellent predictor of seasonal business trends, and marketing research.
According to Pat Hurley’s Telephony Online article “Managing the Mobile Enterprise Effect,” the benefits of telecom expense management (TEM) are many; especially today when mobile technology exposes companies to new security threats. Pat Hurley’s article states: “A recent survey by Pointsec Mobile Technologies found that 85,000 cell phones were left in Chicago taxis in a six-month period. Losing a plain old cell phone is one thing, but losing a smartphone synchronized with corporate e-mail and data is quite another.” Sophisticated telecom expense management software solutions can help automate processes and provide security for wired and wireless networks.
