How Call Accounting Blended with TEM Helps Control Spending
December 29, 2014
By Susan J. Campbell
TMCnet Contributing Editor
Communications tools are important in the operation of the business. You need to stay connected to customers and colleagues. With the benefits afforded in mobile solutions, companies everywhere are embracing newfound flexibility. The busier you get, the harder it is to track spending in this area, pointing to the need for call accounting to keep everything on track.
A recent Business2Community article pointed to the importance of tracking your communications spend, especially where mobile is involved. Call accounting as a standard practice is important, but adding in Telecom Expense Management (TEM) is a great way to identify areas where you’re spending money that could be redirected in the budget.
For instance, TEM and call accounting can help identify wireless devices that aren’t actually being used, but are still included in billing charges. It’s not uncommon to purchase the latest gadgets for the team, only to learn that half of your staff never actually activated the device or used it past day one. If the devices are attached to monthly billing plans, you have an unnecessary expense. If an agreement is identified that can’t be broken, you can at least transfer the device to someone who can make use of it while it’s under contract.
It’s also not uncommon for wireless providers to overcharge for their services. This isn’t always an intentional activity, but one that simply gets lost in a myriad of fees, taxes, line items and more. Plus, wireless billing is often on a different statement than your main phone system, even if the service is provided by the same company. If there are print and digital versions of the bills available, compare the two and determine whether or not they are consistent. Chances are, discrepancies exist and somewhere you’re paying fees you don’t actually owe.
For companies with multiple departments and segmented billing, call accounting is important to be able to charge back the appropriate amount to the right departments. It also helps to identify abuse. For instance, the customer service department should have significantly more calls than the marketing department. If the latter is running up the charges, it’s an opportunity to dig deeper to determine whether the charges are legitimately business-related, or abusive calling within that department.
Finally, TEM can help determine whether or not the charges applied for specific services or activities are the charges agreed to in your corporate plan. Errors do happen, and if you don’t catch them the service provider likely isn’t looking and won’t alert you to the overspend. By correcting the problem, you not only keep control of your spending, you also keep the wireless provider accountable for contracted rates.
Edited by Maurice Nagle