The Telecom Expense Management Industry Association (TEMIA) announced the selection of new Board following its annual meeting attended by 19 TEM companies and 32 attendees.

Also, at the meeting, a formal ethics code was debated and ratified and future programs were discussed.

Trent McCracken (News - Alert) from telecom lifecycle provider Spectrum was elected secretary, and Kevin Whitehurst from mindWireless IQ was elected treasurer. Ravi Padmanabhan from IBM was elected as an at-Large board member, according to TEMIA officials.

“The time is right for IBM (News - Alert) to join TEMIA’s board to complement our Telecom Expense Management worldwide consulting and managed services solutions for fixed and mobile as part of the Integrated Communications Services portfolio,” stated Ravi Padmanabhan from IBM.

As a member of the TEMIA (News - Alert) board, Whitehurst intends to continue the company’s push to educate enterprises on the financial benefits they can achieve with a proactive TEM program.

“mindWireless fully supports the concept of working in cooperation with other TEM industry companies,” Whitehurst added.

McCracken said he’s keen to contribute his leadership skills toward the continuation of TEMIA’s growth initiatives.

“It is my hope that with guidance and strategic direction from the other talented board members, we can work on ensuring that TEMIA is providing valuable educational and industry resource for businesses and telecom agents that are seeking more knowledge on the benefits of telecom lifecycle management.”

The new ethics code was ratified following a discussion and votes from members. The new code creates industry standards for accuracy and truth in advertising, marketing, sales and all other forms of communication. It also states that members will seek to win on their strengths and not disparage competitors, TEMIA said.

The code also mandates that members disclose any potential conflicts of interest to clients. It also calls for members that have evidence that another member or non-member may not be conforming to the principles of this Ethics Code, to notify the Ethics Committee ([email protected]) for further review.

By applying the code to non-members, TEMIA hopes to improve the entire industry. In the next months, TEMIA will work to establish a balance implementing these standards while it works to avoid getting stuck in the morass of becoming a policing organization, officials at TEMIA said.

The entire Ethics Code is available at http://tinyurl.com/2b8jvz9.

Larry Foster, vice president/general manager of PINNACLE and president of TEMIA, said the Ethics Code is a game changer for the association and the entire industry.

“TEMIA has demonstrated how the power of collaboration can influence the industry for the betterment of our customers. TEMIA is poised to build upon the successes we have achieved and help our clients’ maximize their investments by streamlining their relationships with their technology supply partners,” Foster added.

The annual meeting concluded after a recognizing the efforts of TEMIA’s outgoing Secretary David Perdue (News - Alert), Treasurer Don Hobbs, and at-Large board member Chris Mezzatesta towards the growth of TEMIA. Each of these board members has served in leadership roles with TEMIA since its founding in 2006.

TEMIA is dedicated to raise awareness and knowledge of TEM solutions. TEMIA’s ongoing mission is to improve the ROI and service quality through the development, promotion and adoption of industry standards.

In April, TEMIA published a report titled “Best Practices for Inventory Management Using TEM Metrics to Improve Performance” to analyze the two different approaches to implementing TEM programs, TMCnet reported.

In this report, one approach to implanting TEM strategies focuses on building an inventory first before processing invoices. The other approach begins with processing the invoices and then building the inventory working from the invoices. Both approaches have benefits.