TEM systems play a vital role in cost cutting

TEM systems play a vital role in cost cutting and budget management

Last March, Ardy Bullee, writing in this publication, claimed that Telecom Expense Management (TEM) systems do not lower costs. It was an interesting piece of journalism – it’s just a pity that it cuts no ice.

 If we were still living in the age of fixed telephony Ardy might have had a point. But, as we all know, we have come a long way since then.
The shift from fixed to mobile telephony has made telecom costs more unintelligible than ever. The same applies to the use of mobile telecommunication for data traffic. Together, this has caused telecom budgets to spiral out of control. This is clear from, amongst other things, the annually rising turnover and profit targets of the telecom operators. New applications and services are also pushing up the budgets of existing customers.
 
The trend seems irreversible. One does not have to be a clairvoyant to predict that Smartphones, Blackberries and iPhones will soon marginalize landlines in the workplace. New network protocols are enabling us to communicate with one mobile phone (sometimes with a PBX, but that is by the way). The single-device systems improve accessibility and user convenience, especially if they are integrated with applications on the office desktop. Mail, agenda and task management are then retrievable from one “personal assistant”. The downside is that all these clever appliances are accompanied by intensified management and security and higher operator costs. Who gets what functionality (management)? How can we prevent every Smartphone in the network from being able to access all the corporate information (security)? And how do we get a firm grip on the invoice system of the telecom operator, which is getting more and more incomprehensible as we speak (costs)? Given the financial jackpot that these operators are hitting with international data traffic, costs are certainly a factor in urgent need of attention.
 
TEM systems (including mobile device management) can provide this attention. Without these systems it would be practically impossible to effectively control management, security and costs. How else can you stay on top of issues like misuse, theft, repairs, phone distribution, applications and data security amid the chaos of subscriptions and user data? Besides independent tools, you need knowledge and proper result analyses to make efficient use of such a system. That way you can easily track down unused phones, sim cards and subscriptions, and non-relevant services.
Customer experience has shown that a well implemented TEM system saves money and lowers management costs. Obviously, the effectiveness of the applications depends on how they are implemented. For a good preparation phase, in which targets, integration, management and reporting are defined, a TEM system will have to match all the expectations in terms of effective management and cost transparency. Savings in the costs are simply the next logical step.
 
The costs of a TEM system do not correspond with the amounts quoted by Ardy Bullee in his article. The suppliers I know charge no more than one or two Euros a month for expense management per mobile device. A few Euros a month are charged for smartphone management. Lack of regular investment and failure to monitor the right application management will confine the benefits of a TEM system to checks on private use and cost allocation. However, if the data are used for purchase decisions and for testing existing contracts tens of percents can be won in savings. For example, new services such as videoconferencing, UMTS data sharing, Blackberries and iPhone subscriptions can be screened for “misuse” within the company.

TEM systems generate a wealth of information, not just in terms of costs but performance, as well, particularly (telephone) accessibility. CDRs are the key to this. Such a pity that Ardy Bullee failed to mention that. Accessibility is a hot issue in this era of Unified Communication. It is allowed to cost something, but not an uncontrollable amount. This is unrealizable without TEM systems. Or, getting back to Ardy,... let’s call them Telecom Performance Management (TPM) systems from now on. Telecom costs may play only a small role in the total corporate costs, but in return for that money, we want to be a customer-friendly company and hence accessible. Telecom Performance Management systems can offer solutions for both desires.

Conclusion: TPM systems guarantee financial and management control. That way, telecom costs become manageable and control of the telecom budget is guaranteed.

Johan van Oostveen

The author, Johan van Oostveen, is Director of Pridis and CPSharing.