Telecom expense management (TEM) can be a highly valuable service for organizations. Not only can it deliver immediate cost savings, but when strategically managed, it can generate infrastructure management efficiencies, reduce capital expenditure, and make your telecom budget go further.
Despite its value, choosing a TEM solution continues to challenge enterprises across all sectors. To reap the greatest benefits, IT professionals need to evaluate TEM vendors on their ability to provide a transparent, supported, end-to-end service that drives ongoing cost and efficiency savings.
What to Look for When Choosing a TEM Provider
Trust and Transparency
Advanced telecoms management is complicated. Multiple vendors in different countries offer various tailored tariffs and bundles aimed at users with different types of roles and needs. There is a rapidly increasing portfolio of devices with variable contract lengths. And the growing popularity of BYOD programs adds yet further complexity.
The key to effective cost optimization in telecoms is transparency. An exhaustive, continuous and detailed audit of devices is needed to provide clarity into billing records, contracts, tariffs and inventories and present a detailed summary of where savings can be achieved.
TEM provides organizations with greater visibility into fixed and mobile telecom expenses, but to extract the greatest value from a TEM service, enterprises must also be forthcoming about the devices and contracts they have in place.
Choosing a provider that’s transparent about the services they offer is pivotal to attaining the greatest value and will leave your team free to focus on more important, core activities. But, to reap the greatest benefits, transparency must be provided to the TEM provider in return.
Comprehensive Customer Support
Cost optimization in telecoms demands continuous focus, attention to detail, and expertise. To generate the most value from your TEM service it’s necessary to choose a provider that can demonstrate the requisite commitment and availability to your organization.
Powerful TEM software is an essential element of a wider TEM strategy, but, on its own, is rarely a solution for organizations unless they can afford to dedicate their critical telecom and finance team members to full-time audit and validation work.
A fully supported TEM solution is comprised not only of software, but is backed by a team of experts who are available 24/7, experienced in handling invoice disputes via sophisticated workflow tools, and have a long-standing reputation of providing unrivalled customer service. The right provider will be there to help you better manage your telecom budget, perform ongoing cost optimization, and more.
End-to-End TEM Service
An end-to-end TEM service is essential. From contract origin, through systematic optimization of expenses, to eventual service termination, only a comprehensive solution can effectively support organizational requirements and improve quality management.
Ongoing cost optimization in telecoms isn't easy. The best-in-class TEM providers have come to understand that while cost savings are an important goal – and frequently regarded as the primary aim of TEM – they must not come at the expense of a fully managed customer-facing service.
A truly end-to-end service provides a personalized and optimized experience. Choosing a provider that offers comprehensive service throughout the telecoms lifecycle will help manage complexity, and give you unmatched reliability, experience and insight.
A Strategic Approach to Handling Your Telecom Budget
Your TEM provider needs to work with you to build a long-term, smart savings strategy. Every business is unique, so a one-size-fits-all offering is unlikely to deliver the value that you expect.
That's why it's important to partner with a provider that will continually review your TEM environment so you can achieve ongoing cost savings.
Your chosen provider needs to:
- Set cost-saving goals from the outset
- Provide transparent reporting
- Regularly audit your telecom environment
- Evaluate strategy when business needs change
Find the Right Provider for You
To gain the most value from your TEM solution, it's important to select a provider that can effectively support the scale and scope of your organization.
While many organizations view TEM simply as a way to recoup capital, when delivered as an effective service, the benefits extend far beyond cost savings and include increased productivity and better telecom budget management. To take advantage of these additional benefits, enlisting the services of a well-established, publicly-traded player with long-standing ties to the industry is essential.
Cass has over 60 years of experience in delivering expense management services and offers unmatched reliability, experience and insight within the telecoms expense environment.
Topics: TEM
