At first glance, it can seem logical that as your business expands and evolves, your telecom expenses should also continue their steady march upward.
Rising telecom complexity and costs can seem inevitable as your business uses more devices, adapts to hybrid work, and leverages more cloud-based services.
However, it doesn’t have to be this way. Many organizations decide to take control of their telecommunications programs and apply proven telecom expense management (TEM) techniques to turn the tide. From detailed line-item reviews to continuous negotiations with providers, telecom expense management providers can identify new efficiencies and prevent wasted spending.
But without the right platform or partner, TEM can still be a complex, ongoing process that diverts critical resources or only gets part of the way toward the goal, leaving money on the table.
Here’s how to ensure your team maximizes the benefits of working with a telecom expense management partner while solving some of the most common challenges that can limit TEM’s effectiveness.
Telecom Expense Management: What You Need to Know
TEM consists of the processes involved in tracking, managing, and optimizing all telecom expenses across a business. It covers:
- Service ordering and provisioning of devices.
- Invoice auditing and dispute resolution.
- Contract negotiations and vendor management.
- Device lifecycle management.
Telecom expense management partners also support organizations in several key ways:
- Cost control: Telecom is often one of the largest non-payroll business expenses. TEM helps identify unused services, monitor costs, and provide clear visibility into expenditures.
- Operational efficiency: Without proper visibility, companies waste time tracking down billing errors and paying for unnecessary services.
- Compliance: With increasingly complex regulatory and security requirements, unmanaged telecom assets can expose businesses to risk.
The Top 6 Challenges in Telecom Expense Management (And the Fixes)
Although putting the elements of TEM in place can seem straightforward, some common challenges can hold enterprises back from realizing its full benefits.
Six of the most common include:
1. Increasing Complexity of Telecom Services
The combination of cloud, mobile, Internet of Things (IoT), and hybrid work environments often comes together to create a fragmented telecom landscape that can be difficult to capture, let alone manage.
The Fix: Working with the right TEM solution can give your organization the comprehensive and centralized visibility it needs, complete with access to aggregated and normalized data across carriers, locations, and services.
2. Lack of Visibility into Global Telecom Spend
Multiple providers spanning just as many jurisdictions, varying currencies, and differing contract terms can make it challenging to gain a true view of the reality of telecom expenses.
The Fix: Partner with a telecom expense management provider with in-region knowledge and the ability to centralize telecom data to conduct regular audits to ensure accurate cost assessments and provide financial clarity.
3. Undetected Billing Errors and Overcharges
Telecom invoices can contain errors or unauthorized changes that often go unnoticed and can, over time, lead to unnecessary expenses that drain operational resources.
The Fix: Work with a telecom expense management provider that has tools to automate invoice auditing line-by-line, paired with decades of combined expertise to quickly detect discrepancies.
4. Managing Mobility and Remote Work Expenses
With an increasing number of devices consuming data faster and faster, managing mobility expenses can become overwhelming.
The Fix: Use a mobile device management (MDM) platform integrated with TEM to track devices, plans, usage, and costs to ensure they meet your business model.
5. Complex Contract Management and Vendor Negotiation
Outdated contracts may contain price increases or terms that no longer serve your business’s best interests.
The Fix: Work with a telecom expense management company that can not only benchmark costs against industry standards but also negotiate better pricing and contract terms on your behalf.
6. Juggling Other Responsibilities with TEM Requirements
Internal teams often wear many hats, resulting in competing priorities that make it difficult to focus on telecom cost optimization and identify process improvements.
The Fix: Partner with TEM experts who can provide dedicated support, continuous reviews, and data-driven insights, freeing up internal teams to focus on strategic initiatives.
Maximize Your Telecom Expense Management
There aren’t too many things about your business environment that you can control, but having cost-effective and right-sized telecom expenses can be one of them.
This is especially true with an experienced telecom expense management partner like Cass, which has proven its ability to control costs, improve operational efficiency, and maintain compliance for its customers, no matter the size of their business or the geographic scope of their telecom infrastructure.
Cass knows how to optimize your telecom expenses and help your business overcome these six common challenges with the right TEM strategy.
Want to take your understanding of what TEM can mean for your business, productivity, and bottom line to the next level
Topics: TEM
