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For many companies, the best approach for managing telecommunications expenses and reducing costs, is to outsource the whole process to an experienced TEM consulting firm. Often, in these engagements, the focus is primarily on auditing and cost reductions. And while these activities are certainly paramount to an TEM project, there is another equally important side to these engagements. Most TEM firms can achieve cost reductions and provide standard auditing services for their clients - they wouldn't be in business if they couldn't. But only a few, such as Valicom, bring a truly unique and personalized approach to the TEM engagement. Valicom's project teams pride themselves on learning your business and becoming a seamless extension to your staff. Having this kind of relationship with your TEM firm means that you will realize more savings and cost reductions, while incurring less disruption to your internal processes, and enjoying a more transparent project. So when it comes to selecting the right TEM firm to meet your needs - make sure you consider the culture aspect of the firms in question. Finding a TEM like Valicom can go a long way to establishing a foundation for success for years to come and providing a solid shared strategy for continued cost reductions and expense management.
Kick the Tires, Honk the Horn, won't cost you a thing....
 We know that you'd never buy a car without checking it out, looking under the hood and taking a test drive. And while Valicom, with our twenty year history and record client satisfaction scores, isn't exactly "Honest Al" over at the local car lot, we'd still like to offer you the same courtesy. In February, we led the TEM industry by releasing our third-generation telecom audit platform Clearview as a Software-as-a-Solution (Saas), giving small to mid-sized businesses a new tool to reduce telecom expenses. It can also be used by telecom expense reduction analysts or telecom consultants to help them deliver results. Now we've made it even easier to try out Clearview by launching a short online demo, so you can see just what you're missing. And Clearview is designed to do just that - give you a " clear view" of your telecom spend. Delivered securely online, it allows you to review your telecom invoices for errors, see wireless expenses - like mobiles phones and data plans, organize all your telecom assets in one place, track changes, additions or deletions, and in general make order from chaos. And in doing so, you'll save TIME and MONEY, which is really the whole point. So if you'd like to take a test drive of Clearview, just head on over to our website and we'll give you the keys....
“You can't do today's job with yesterday's methods and expect to be in business tomorrow”
– Unknown Most of us have probably heard this sensible business advice, but are you taking it to heart in your current work processes? Maybe not… We all know that it’s a lot easier to use tried and true tactics, going down the same path every day, rather than tackling anything different. Heaven forbid - you might have to learn something new! But the price you pay for stagnation can be huge. New techniques arise, best practices evolve over time, fresh technology comes out…. Your competitors are probably on board. The 25-year old guy in the corner cube who wants your office is probably on board. You better get on board too, or the boat is going to leave without you. So what kind of neat shiny new things am I talking about? Well, I’ll give you an example. A HUGE example. Granted, this doesn’t have much to do with telecom expense management or telecom invoice auditing, but we get to that in Part Two. This one tool helps to illustrate how the software-as-a-service technology is changing the face of business. Something you can use to automate workflows, and reduce costs for your business. But, this example is at work in your sales department… Ever heard of SalesForce.com? If you’re in IT or a CFO, I forgive you if you haven’t. But, if you work in sales or customer service, you’re in trouble if you don’t know. It’s only the fastest growing, most heavily adopted, and slickest customer relationship management tool out there. Best part? It’s web-based. Delivered online, real-time with a password, it means you can access your data from anywhere, anytime - even at 3 am when your flight out of O’Hare is cancelled for the third time. At a convention in Singapore? No problem. One click, and all your customer data is at your fingertips. On vacation in Costa Rica? Just log in and there are all the campaign stats for that email you sent out last Tuesday. Sure beats that crummy old rolodex sitting on your desk, doesn’t it? And with this new technology comes an avalanche of new best practices, tactics, ideas, collaborative plug-ins allowing access to third-party data and services, and so much more. Probably something you'd want to know about, and be using to save your business money, before Jimmy-in-the-Cube figures it out and you end up working for him. So, now that you get a taste of the type of tools available, stay tuned for Part Two to see how it can be applied to your telecom expense reduction tasks. Whether you’re an IT staff managing wireless expenses, a CFO looking for business cost reduction options, or a telecom consultant wanting a way to increase your capabilities while saving time and money, we’ve got a new toy for you…
During my 25 years of experience in running IT and telecommunication in manufacturing, complex services, consulting and government, most of the companies when asked did not know how much they spent annually on telecommunication services. This includes wireless devices, wired devices, data and voice circuits and their total telecommunication related inventory. Knowing the answer to that question is the first step in achieving true bottom-line business cost reduction. When a company is not aware of their telecom spend or is not organized in a way to make this possible then strategic cost reduction is not easily achieved. The key to any process improvement or strategic telecom cost reduction initiative is to understand all the components that make up the telecom expense control. Then you focus on the components that consume the most resources or expenses and generate options that lead to a reduction in annual telecom expenses and improvement in telecom services. This should not be a difficult process with the right telecom expense management system. Does your company have an automated tool that provides expense analysis? Contact Valicom today for more information!
Benchmarking is an extremely helpful process for companies as they prepare for a Telecom Request For Proposal (RFP). However, many organizations don’t take advantage of it?
Benchmarking is well worth the effort and cost to obtain assistance from a Telecom Expense Managerment or IT/Telecom Consultant to provide benchmarking on your existing telecommunications services. Not only can it provide you with a clear picture of where your services can be from a pricing standpoint, but also help you make RFP savings estimates by service type. This can further allow you to provide direction of where to apply the most effort during the RFP and telecom contract negotiations to maximize strategic cost reductions. It’s always good practice to have goals for how you would like your pricing and contracts to look when the RFP efforts are completed. Here are some tips on what to expect from the benchmarking of specific services. Local Services: These LEC services, including POTS, PBX Trunks, DID Trunks, Centrex, PRI T-1, Point to Point T-1, Analog circuit, etc., are all benchmark dependant on location. With the local POTS, Trunks, and PRI’s you’ll be able to have a nice range within each state of what the pricing would look like on the low and high ends. Keep in mind that some circuits such as Point to Point T-1’s often have too many variables to get that detailed, such as, the specific end point addresses, mileage between them, and distance from the LEC Central Office. Long Distance: The pricing here is more of a commodity, and typically will have a fairly close range of what can be expected based on your volume. It's especially important to have solid benchmarking on the International and Instate rates, as that is where the vendors often have the most variance in pricing. Data/Internet: This benchmarking effort is largely based on location and discounts provided. There’s typically a fairly large range here depending on service, size, and other specific variables. Wireless: Benchmarking of Wireless services such as, Cellular, Data Devices, Aircards, and Telemetry, is typically based off of a few metrics. Cost per minute, cost per KB/MB, and cost per device. Benchmarking here can be very accurate based on device quantity and discounting structure. I encourage you to take advantage of the valuable tool of benchmarking when you are planning you’re next RFP.
Let the experts at Valicom take your business cost reduction to the next level! Mike Krogman
Project Manager
For those companies that are currently utilizing Telecom Expense Management (TEM) services, or interested in TEM services, are you certain that the your TEM provider is focused on the areas of expertise that you need? Are they trying to be everything to everybody?  When a company is looking for a TEM vendor to have the expertise that leads to telecom expense control through best practices, years of experience and the best tools available, be sure that they are not trying to be everything to everybody. Have you heard the phrase, "the jack of all trades and the master of none? I read quite a bit of information posted from numerous sources. So many TEM, or pure expense management vendors talk about how they can provide Information Technology (IT) and telecom hardware, consulting services, VoIP convergence... oh and by the way we might be able to wash your car if it generates revenue. That approach is difficult to really know who your vendor is and how they might deal with you after the proposal is signed. When your TEM vendor is focused on your success and not distracted, or incented to lead you to a specific carrier or solution, because they will receive compensation on the back-end, then your company is in the best position for a successful engagement. Before you make the selection final, be sure to know who you are dealing with and that they have the focus on exceeding your expectations regarding telecommunication invoice audit and mobile management. Many companies have decided to utilize existing staff that have a great understanding of the company's business and industry and just need a tool to manage telecom expenses. Proper due diligence is the key in selecting who you partner with. Establishing your TEM vendor relationship will become the foundation for success and visible expense reduction. Keep your focus on strategic cost reduction!
By Sara Demien Depending on the size of your company you may have employees ordering telecommunications services without any knowledge of how these services are billed. If the services are not ordered correctly you will be paying higher costs than needed. Here are some tips and suggestions to avoid unnecessary telecom expenses when ordering new services. - Know your contracted carriers and their pricing. Make sure the carrier places the new services under existing contracted pricing.
- If you have a separate long distance contract with a carrier it is important to request that carrier as the long distance provider.
- Just as important, contact the contracted long distance carrier to inform them of the new service and line numbers.
- Ask for waived installation fees. Most Carriers have the ability to waive part or all of these fees.
- Some carriers have service level agreements on installation times. Follow the installation and if service level agreements are not met ask for credits.
- Centralize ordering for employees or consultants who are trained and have access to contracts.
Following these tips will result in reduced telecom costs as well as the manpower costs to fix them.
When Valicom began in 1991, we were founded on the values of carrier independence, ethics, and integrity. Today, there are a small number of IT, finance or sourcing executives who express concern over telecom expense management (TEM) providers who are not carrier agnostic. Most companies seems to have a lack of education and awareness as to why carrier independence is important when working with a telecom expense management provider. There are several reasons why independence is important when hiring a TEM provider to perform telecom consulting services. Telecom expense control companies who are vendor agnostic will perform more thorough telecom audits because uncovering billing errors and finding other telecom cost reduction opportunities does not create a conflict of interest with the carriers. In addition, the choice of carriers and plans is done in the best interest of the client since there are no financial ties to the telecom suppliers.
Just as you wouldn't hire a carrier to perform a telecom audit or recommend a telecom vendor it is not in your best interest to hire a TEM provider who represents a telecom carrier to provide cost reduction services or perform telecom contract negotiations. Telecom cost management providers who are not independent will be motivated to switch you to one of their carrier plans whether or not it is in your best interest. Many telecom expense management providers who are agents or resellers of wireless services receive activation fees for switching companies to the wireless providers they are representing and are not incented by your existing provider to perform wireless optimization services. In some cases, telecom expense management companies who are financially aligned with vendors do not disclose that they are receiving compensation from telecom carriers which becomes a matter of ethics.
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