| Let's face it. Most of the telecom bills we receive | | | | another cost saving benefit resulting from the adoption |
| every month are mountains of cryptic information that | | | | of TEM bill management best practices. Since a large |
| is not easily deciphered. In most cases, we do not | | | | portion of the billing tasks such as bill acquisition and bill |
| have the time, expertise, or the resources to be able | | | | auditing are automated, staffing related to these tasks |
| to accurately assess and granularly audit this billing | | | | are typically redeployed to other duties within the |
| information against our telecom services inventory, | | | | organisation. |
| contractual terms and obligations set forth in our | | | | Ultimately, how much can you save by adopting TEM |
| relationship with our many telecom service providers. | | | | bill management best practices? I have found, based |
| What are the consequences of this oversight? | | | | on past experience, that organisations achieve |
| Consider these findings from a study by Aberdeen | | | | anywhere between 10%-15% in first year savings, |
| Group**, a leading TEM research company, on | | | | 7%-10% in second year savings, and 3%-5% in |
| telecom expense management practices within large | | | | on-going savings in subsequent years. These are hard |
| and medium sized organistions: | | | | savings that are quantifiable, but let's not forget the |
| - 7% to 12% of telecom service charges are in error | | | | soft savings as well. By centralising the acquisition and |
| - 85% of a typical enterprise's telecom bills are not | | | | storage of billing data, we eliminate the need to |
| audited internally and simply paid in full | | | | process information in different formats and from |
| - For bills that are validated, billing analysts most often | | | | different tools and systems. We also streamline the |
| examine only a subset of invoices associated with the | | | | billing process by compressing the time it takes to |
| largest spending. | | | | receive a bill to the point of payment through accounts |
| It's clear that without any sort of formal process to | | | | payable. By shortening the billing process, we save on |
| manage and process bills within large to medium sized | | | | time and labour. Cost allocations are more granular |
| organisations, wastage and overspend will result. | | | | since we capture all cost details and can associate |
| What can be done? One of the first recommendations | | | | these costs with the appropriate cost center. Finally, |
| I typically make during my consulting engagements with | | | | reporting in customisable formats and views can be |
| clients who are looking to adopt TEM for the first time | | | | achieved as a result of the single repository containing |
| is to automate and streamline their current bill | | | | all billing data from every telecom service provider. |
| management practices. | | | | Adopting TEM bill management best practices is only |
| What does this mean? Adopting TEM bill management | | | | the first step towards total telecom cost management |
| best practices will look to centralise all bill processing | | | | within the organisation. Since TEM takes a holistic |
| activities for voice, data, and mobile invoices across | | | | approach to managing telecom costs, other areas of |
| the organisation. Centralising bill processing will mean | | | | consideration where wastage occurs is in inventory |
| the collection and aggregation of all service provider | | | | management, contract management, procurement, and |
| billing invoices with its associated data which will serve | | | | improper sourcing strategies. The combined savings |
| as the basis for bill audits, cost allocations, and | | | | from each of these areas will generate significant |
| consolidated reporting of expenditures within the | | | | savings in annual telecom expenditures and best of all, |
| enterprise. Leveraging the right technology or | | | | these savings will fall straight to the bottom line. |
| outsourcing partner to perform these tasks is key to a | | | | **Aberdeen Group, "The Total Telecom Cost |
| successful TEM bill management deployment. | | | | Management Process Benchmark Report", Feb. |
| Redeployment or reduction of staffing resources is | | | | |