As if the Internet, with all of its information, or non-information, and tools, widgets, etc wasn’t enough of a distraction… not to be outdone, the telecommunications industry (and more specifically, wireless telecommunications) has developed smart phones that come with full featured browsers and we can all now carry the full distractablity of the Internet in our pockets.
Think the Great Recession is over? Not for CIOs. For the second year running, business productivity and cost reduction was the No. 1 concern of CIOs, CTOs and IT executives in the annual CIO survey from the Society for Information Management — and by a wide margin, according to Jerry Luftman, who has conducted the survey for SIM for the past 10 years.
Working in the Telecom Expense Management world, it’s clear that data communications, and particularly wireless data communications, have been and will continue to be the dominant driver behind new technologies and new methods of sharing and working with information.
In our ongoing effort to bring best practices of telecom expense management to as many businesses as we can, Valicom will again be attending the WBENC Conference and Business Expo in Chicago September 22nd.
One of the classic TEM audit projects is determining if there are lines in your telecommunications spend that are no longer in use, but of course, still billing. A very direct and thorough method to accomplish this is test calls.
Soliciting feedback from customers, to gauge their level of satisfaction with your services, is an age old tradition in business. This deep desire for information drives everything from “Secret Shoppers” to the toll-free “Tell us how we’re doing?” number printed on the back of a receipt. For Valicom, it shows in our eleven year tradition of surveying clients quarterly, to learn how well we are delivering in eight key areas: professionalism, overall expectation, communication, quality and accuracy, understanding client needs, responsiveness, meeting deadlines, and overall value.
In the world of telecommunications, technology changes quickly. And so do people’s expectations. When I was in college, apartment complexes would brag of having a dedicated T1 for their building to provide Internet for their tenants. At the time, this seemed pretty awesome. Thinking back, nobody really new what a T1 was – we just knew it was fast.
Software-as-a-Service, or SaaS, can be easy-to-learn and simple-to-use, while still possessing robust capabilities. Through online training and client support teams, the user can expand their use of the tool as their knowledge increases. Upgrades are installed automatically as they are rolled out, usually at no additional charge. SaaS telecom expense management solutions can scale up or down with the users’ volume requirements.
One of the simplest functions performed as part of the TEM process, is paying the vendors for services. Many companies, tempted by sending fewer checks, will combine the payments for multiple telecom invoices on a single check, and provide a key to the telecom vendor so that they can apply the payments to correct accounts.
To be or not to be? That is the question… What Shakespeare was contemplating with this famous quote from Hamlet, was “Is it better to live or to die?” Can this same philosophy be contemplated with the use of software-as-a-solution, or “SaaS” technology? Well, while it is not a matter of life or death, mid-market companies have experienced numerous benefits to utilizing SaaS solutions to automate various functions within their organizations.
In an earlier blog dated July 20, 2010 entitled “What are Mid-Sized Organizations Doing About Controlling Telecom Expenses?,” we left you with the question: “What are the keys to telecom expense management (TEM) program success for small to mid-size businesses (SMBs)?”
We suggest to watch for these types of Carrier changes to impact your billing. Whether it is as simple as a remit address change, or a major billing error due to a billing systems switchover it is always a good idea to do a telecom invoice audit and confirm your telecommunications is billed correctly. If you need help with your telecom invoice processing & payment, give us a call.
Since the break-up of the Bell companies in the early 80s, there have been many new complex telecom technologies, services and plans and a variety of telecom providers that have entered the telecom space. With these complexities, come opportunities as well as threats for telecom users. One of the threats that has come with divestiture has been inaccurate billing, usually caused by the use of legacy billing systems designed to handle a basic, simple mix of circuits and services, and utilizing codes that were developed by the Bell companies around those services.
They are migrating to the new wireless devices to help them manage their data flow, connect with colleagues and improve patient care. It also allows them to better allocate their time, as they no longer have to check various avenues of communication – voice mails, email, SMS messages, text, etc – but can have it all delivered in one place. This means less opportunity for critical patient data too fall through the cracks, generating better, more efficient care.
A recent issue of The Economist, the venerable British business publication, discussed the advancing threats from cyberwarfare. As if IT people don’t have enough to worry about, it had some interesting statistics about infected computers out there on the international grid. Even here at home, with our higher security standards, millions of US machines are infected with something, creating mass sleeper botnets. Botnets that nasties from overseas can use to unleash chaos on our power grids, financial databases and just about anything we rely on that’s delivered via the internet.
Most organizations have not deployed either internal or external telecom expense management (TEM) programs, usually because they do not have the trained staff to do it. Also, according to AOTMP, “there is a common perception of greater effort and cost than financial gain” causing “small and medium size businesses (SMB) to shy away from implementing a TEM program.”
During a recent AberdeenGroup telecom expense management webinar sponsored by Valicom on the topic of SaaS TEM Solutions for the mid-market, there was an informal poll conducted with 75 mid-market attendees around the question “What is your current approach to managing telecom expenses?” The results of the responses are shown in the graph below:
Recently, I have had the opportunity to talk with quite a few companies and their executives regarding their views on telecom expense management (TEM). Some have had previous experience with a TEM provider and others have not. The companies that have had previous experience communicated the following concerns:
As with so many industries, the TEM industry has fallen victim to overstated claims and bloated features. Over the past 10 years, as more and more TEM startups have formed, the need to differentiate has become ever more important.
Porsche just announced the possible release of a new hybrid model. A $630K hybrid! Now I’m all for going green, but that seems a little ridiculous. If all you’re doing is driving to the mailbox and back, you don’t need a ride like that.
It’s all perspective, isn’t it? I mowed the lawn once last summer. I did a really bang-up job, too, if I don’t say so myself. Before I started, I canvassed the yard and picked up all the sticks. Then, I made sure I made nice straight lines in the mowing lanes and even sprayed off the mower when I was finished. I was quite proud of my work and then started in with the weed-whacking. Man, was I ever in for an education.