How Does Telecom Expense Management Force You to Think Outside of the Box?
March 25, 2013
By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor
It’s not uncommon for executives to view the telecommunications network as a necessary evil; something to have, yet not worth the investment to properly update or even maintain. If this is the reality for your firm, you could be missing out on important opportunities for growth and profitability.
As highlighted in a recent blog by telecom expense management solution provider Telesoft, employees often obsess over smartphones, tablets and the latest apps, but very few in the organization will actually pay attention to the corporate network. In doing so, the organization is ignoring significant opportunities that emerge with the streamlining of the network and the integration of key communication tools.
Businesses are also ignoring the reality that persistent innovation is driving today’s competitive global market. Intellectual capital is more valuable and more important than physical products. In an increasing number of organizations, in fact, knowledge and information is the final product offered. As a result, businesses seeking dominance today must be able to compete on knowledge, leveraging intellectual capital to its full value.
What does this mean for the telecommunications network? When this network is at a level where operation is quick and reliability is at its prime, collaboration and best practices help to drive innovation and revenue opportunities. It also demonstrates that the decision makers believe in the value the telecommunications network contributes to the overall strategy and don’t view telecom expense management as simply a line item in the budget.
As such, they are more likely to adopt next-generation technologies and provide employees with the broad array of solutions needed to enrich their interactions. Employees gain access to the tools they need to be more responsive to customers, colleagues and business partners. The business then benefits from bigger sales, shorter sales cycles, better customer service and business processes that are overall more efficient.
The first step in getting to this level of thinking is to get executives to view the telecommunications network as a strategy asset. This demands thinking outside of the box – literally. Telecommunications providers today have solutions and feature sets that go beyond the out-of-the-box communications platforms, providing the competitive edge companies need in a fast-paced market.
Making such a move does not mean the organization has to expand its telecommunications budget beyond its means. Working with a telecom expense management provider like Telesoft is an important part of leveraging the current capabilities available. The company’s service and technology platform is built to optimize fixed and mobile telecom expense management environment to ensure all solutions are integrated for optimal management and performance.
Likewise, the IBM Emptoris Rivermine telecom expense management solution offers companies the opportunity to reduce telecom expenses through the active management of the communications lifecycle. Automation of this lifecycle includes procurement, inventory management, order management, invoice processes, mobile expense and device management, auditing and cost allocation and advanced business intelligence and reporting.
If knowledge truly is power, the business seeking to optimize on its knowledge, leverage innovative solutions and manage its telecommunication platform according to the needs of the business is more likely to enjoy the much-coveted competitive advantage.
Edited by Rachel Ramsey