Do We Need Call Accounting?

What is Call Accounting?

Call Accounting, also called Call Logging, refers to a software system that is used to track telephone usage and allocate costs by department, division, or location. Tracking calls manually is very time intensive which is why the demand for a software solution calls for a call accounting solution. However, not all teams are set up with the information they need to make an educated decision on a quality call accounting system—or if they even need a solution at all!

Let’s cover three areas to help you make an informed decision as you explore if you really do in fact need a call accounting solution.

Three Reasons You Probably Don’t Need Call Accounting

1. You Already Have a TEM Vendor That Offers Similar Solutions

When you leverage a robust Telecom Expense Management (TEM) provider, inventory, usage, and cost allocation are generally included in the service offering. This form of call accounting is offered at a more basic level than the detailed reporting you would receive in a Call Accounting solution. When working with a TEM vendor, you will also have a dedicated team to support your needs and pull reports for you on a regular basis as most IT teams do not have the resources to allocate reviewing this data regularly.

Here are some questions to ask yourself when evaluating if you need a call accounting system when you already leverage a TEM solution:

1. Do we require further visibility into our usage?

2. Do we have time internally to regularly review the reports?

3. Will there be an additional ROI when using this solution?

2. You Don’t Have a Call Center with Call Tracking Requirements

Some of the most important industries to evaluate a call accounting system includes the healthcare industry, emergency services, and complex customer service departments at large organizations. The data that call accounting collects is really granular, including who initiated the call, who was called, duration of the call, any special notes about the call, and what lines it was placed from, etc. This information is helpful in tracking patient concerns like calls to urgent care and nurses on-call, as well as those urgently seeking support from an EMS provider.

Here are some questions you should ask yourself when evaluating if your organization needs the granular details of a call accounting system:

1. Is detailed call recording a priority for your business?

2. Does this call recording provide insight into operations decisions to serve your clients/patients/customers best?

3. Will you have the time and resources to prioritize call accounting in order to make actionable decisions from the call tracking data and justify the expense of a call accounting system?

3. Your Telecom Provider Doesn’t Offer Usage Information

Whether you have a dedicated team of telecom expense management experts monitoring your telecom activity or you outsource this project to a TEM provider, you may not have all of the information needed for educated decision-making. Data preference varies among organizations as do the amount of data provided by your telecommunications and wireless carriers. Generally, this information is easily accessed within the dedicated telecom and wireless portals. However, the biggest reason organization do not access this information proactively is because they do not have the time or the resources to analyze this data.

Here are three questions to ask yourself to see if you already have access to this data:

1. Does our telecom and/or wireless carriers offer access to a portal where we can analyze this data? If you do not have this information and you must search for it specifically, you probably don’t need a Call Accounting solution.

2. Do we have an individual on our team that we can assign this task to? Do they have enough available hours, or will we have to hire someone specifically for this project?

In Conclusion

To summarize the information above, call accounting is an add-on solution. Call Accounting preference vary among organizations across the globe, pending these important reasons for evaluation:

1. Do I have a TEM provider and do they offer cost allocation and usage tracking? If yes, you probably do not need a Call Accounting solution.

2. Do I need to track the participants on the call and other granular data for reporting purposes? If yes, you should lean towards a Call Accounting solution.

3. Will tracking the granular activity lead to a return on investment or will it be a sunk cost? Depending on how you answer this question, you may reveal your final decision of whether or not to invest in a TEM provider and/or Call Accounting system that meets your organization’s unique needs.

Have questions? We would love to hear from you!

Sales@valicomcorp.com

800.467.7226

About the Author: Chantel Soumis

Chantel Soumis brings over a decade of knowledge in workflow enhancement through the use of technology. Chantel studied marketing communications and business administration at Franklin University and proceeded to work in a fast, ambitious environment, assuring client delight in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. Passionate about project productivity and streamlining workflows through the use of technology, Chantel strives to inform organizations of Valicom’s advanced telecom expense management software and services by mastering communications and messaging while delivering helpful information and supporting resources.