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Explore our TEM blogs for expert perspective, real examples, and clear guidance to manage telecom and technology expenses confidently, with fresh insights added routinely.
Our telecom auditing teams manage mobileenvironments of various sizes, and we hit up our operations experts for some best practices. First we’ll go over ideas for wireless and mobile inventory management (cell phones, smartphones, tablets), then we’ll get into wireline (landline telephones).
Telecom expense management (TEM), as an industry, was born as a business process outsourcing (BPO) solution. However, with the recent creation of low cost, easy to deploy TEM software tools, many firms have chosen to bring their TEM program in house. But the expansion of devices, complexity and risk in modern telecom environments have led many managers to rethink that decision and move back to an outsourced model.
23-year veteran of telecom expense management (TEM) Valicom announces the launch of their educational series. Released on their blog and as downloads on their website, the article series hopes to shed light on the various elements within a strong TEM program.
The old adage “You can’t manage what you can’t measure” starts with inventory. Tracking phones, devices, circuits and assets is the starting point for gaining control over expenses. There is no way to know what the telecom costs should be if the data isn’t there on what the costs cover. And as the telecom environment expands with mobile devices and smartphones, or companies grow through mergers and acquisitions, keeping track gets even more complicated.
Wireless Expense Management (WEM) is a subsection of Telecom Expense Management (TEM) with a focus on wireless services and mobile devices. The goals for WEM programs are similar to TEM programs. They seek to proactively reduce expenses, establish new operational efficiencies, increase visibility and provide better control for mobile voice and data services.
The Android Police did a good job recently laying bare the latest scandal of fraudulent apps and malware infecting the Droid universe.Though it was caught fairly quickly, the recent fake Virus Shield app rocketed to #1 on the App Store with over 10,000 downloads in a week – at $3.99 each – before it was determined that it offered no security features whatsoever.
A new story today in the New York times vividly illustrates the security risks we’ve been talking about in previous posts, as more and more devices and machines become internet connected. A scary detail broke that the hackers in the recent Target payment card breach gained access to the retailer’s records through its heating and cooling system. In other cases, hackers have used printers, thermostats and videoconferencing equipment.
Every IT and Telecom manager is facing their own set of needs regarding cost control, security measures, time saving tactics and asset management. Now it is up to TEM vendors to give them what they need.
We talk a lot about the Carrier Wars and how it is impacting the mobile market, as shrinking growth options drive vendors to invite creative ways to steal clients from one another. But the New York Times added an interesting angle in a recent article giving the federal government some credit for this cost-lowering, two-year-contract-busting, annoying-fee-eliminating fight. And they may have a point…
Telecom inventory management for enterprise has gone from a headache to a nightmare. With the rapid expansion of devices and technologies, IT and telecom managers need a proactive approach to overseeing fixed and wireless environments to control cost and reduce risk. Telecom expense management veteran Valicom will share best practices for handling telecom inventory in a new webinar Telecom & Wireless Inventory Management: What the Pros Know on Wednesday, May 14, 2014 at 10 a.m. CST.
Smart machines and M2M (machine to machine) traffic have been around for a while, but they are rapidly becoming ubiquitous. More and more devices are designed to collect, process and transmit data. Whether it is medical equipment or RFID tags on shipping containers, they need to be inventoried, secured, managed and expensed.
If you haven’t heard, Phone + Tablet = Phablet. This newest entry into the mobile device market is a mashup of ideas, designed to offer more screen space, while still providing the talk capabilities of a phone. Already big in global markets, it is hitting the US consumer hard.
Techradar wrote a great article on wearable tech and network security recently, leading off with the ridiculous new product from Sony -a “smartwig”. Supposedly such an item could be worn even if you have hair – as an extra – and be used to do things like change slides for a presentation with a waggle of the eyebrows, orient and guide the wearer via GPS, or transmit biometric data (heartbeat, blood pressure) from the wearer to medical staff.
The technology world is seeing a massive explosion of wearable new toys, all wirelessly connected. The floor at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was swimming with them – all racing to market to capture early tech adopters. Smartwatches and Google Glasses are just the tip of the iceberg. There is a veritable avalanche of gadgetry heading your way.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re aware that the mobile carriers have been taking major pot shots at each other lately. ATT&T and T-Mobile especially, and between the nutty CEO antics and “mano a mano” marketing strategies, the tactics and analyst speculations fill industry news.
Before diving in, learn more about telecom expense management and how it works. As organizations expand mobile programs, BYOD privacy concerns have moved from a niche IT issue to a frontline workforce battleground. As a followup to our TEM in 2014: History and Trends...
BYOD: What is driving costs? In our previous post on TEM Trend One – BYOD Boom or Bust, we covered the issue of whether BYOD is helping with costs or not. It is worth discussing what is driving those costs higher, as it isn’t an easy answer. There are six main things companies are seeing…
Many firms just don’t have a good enough grasp of their current telecom environment to be able to determine if BYOD does them any good. It always comes back to “You can’t manage what you can’t measure”. If you don’t know where you are now, how do you decide where to go?
Mobile carriers have long pushed back on law enforcement, and customer, requests to provide a “kill switch” on their devices. A kill switch can come in various forms, but is intended to disable phones when stolen, making them less attractive to thieves by eliminating their resale value. With mobile phone theft making up a high percentage, 30-40%, of all robberies in the US the problem is very real. But carriers have been accused of refusing to provide such a feature, due to the perception that they benefit from stolen phones in two ways. First, the previous owner now has to buy a new phone, often at sky high “out of contract” rates. And secondly, the stolen phone is often activated by the new owner, gaining the carrier a new customer.
Valicom’s telecom expense management (TEM) clients reported continued high satisfaction scores for the fourth quarter of 2013. Since 2000, we have been surveying clients to learn how satisfied they are in eight key areas: professionalism, overall expectation, communication, quality and accuracy, understanding client needs, responsiveness, meeting deadlines, and overall value. The combined client satisfaction scores for the 4th quarter, and the average for all of 2013, were 3.93 on a 4.0 scale.
Telecommunications management has undergone a radical evolution the past few years, and new security, privacy and pricing trends are making “business as usual” almost dangerous. After 23 years doing telecom expense management, Valicom has seen enough of the industry’s history to be very alert to trends and fads. To address these trends, and give a solid overview of where the industry stands and where it’s going, they recorded their webinar “Telecom Expense Management 2014: Trends & Best Practices” and it is now available to stream.