Wireless Expense Management Reporting

Many medium to large organizations utilize a variety of mobile management software and wireless inventory solutions whether purchased or created internally.  Specifically on the Wireless side, we see many of those companies strive to provide the managers and directors with the ability to see wireless information of the employees under their leadership, using their expense management tools.  This information ranges from summary detail (employees wireless plans, usage, features, device, costs associated) to actual calling detail.  This detail proves important so managers can see user spend variance, approved voice and data plans and features, see call detail as needed, validate the users that are hitting their wireless budget, and ultimately reduce telecom expenses.

To get this data, it's necessary to receive the appropriate electronic reporting monthly from your wireless vendors.  The major hurdle with this is that all vendor electronic reporting formats are different.  This is where the expertise of the Telecom Expense Management company like Valicom can assist.  We have the ability and proven expertise to take those different electronic reports from any vendor and filter them into one customized format that can be uploaded into your management system, thus allowing you to utilize this visibility for users with all of your wireless vendors.

Wireless data visibility is a great way better manage your wireless expenses, and provide a clear picture of what is hitting your wireless bottom line.

Almost there.  And you're probably sick of me talking about all this extra WORK I think you should do to reduce telecom expenses.  But then now you know why some people give up and outsource it to a telecom audit team.   But it's also why we built our new Clearview TEM software tool that we deliver via the web.  It's easy to learn, not too expensive and it makes all this a whole lot easier.   

But that's not what you're here to read about.  So onward and upward.   What's Step Five, you ask?   Stepping on the smart phones.  In other words -  managing your wireless expenses, mobile phone management, mobile management, whatever you choose to call it.  It means implementing a wireless policy.  Standardize what your people can buy, what plans they can utilize, what features they have, etc.  This allows you to better negotiate and track wireless costs.

As your wireless device options continue to erupt, the ability to properly manage these devices and their associated costs will continue to be a challenge to all organizations. Gartner states: "Defining corporate user requirements and policy is essential for all sizes of organizations, and although every company will need a unique policy, there are key areas that every policy should contain."

Wireless expense management is the current focus of most Information Technology and Telecommunication departments.

To help with this task, we offer a Wireless Policy template to get you started.

Stay tuned for Part Six - Talk softly but carry a big stick.  Contract negotiation......

With the explosive growth of cloud computing, as we've discussed before in Cloud computing to grow at 5 times rate of traditional IT, there is also growing concern about the business practices of vendors offering such services.  

Gartner recently released a list of what they feel are the "Seven Rights and Responsibilities for Cloud Computing Services".  Items that cloud computing customers and vendors should agree upon.  In my eye, they are sound, smart guidelines.  Having worked with the financial industry for years, and being a stickler for security and good business continuity practices myself, I just see common sense here.

But it's a good list to put to any telecom expense management provider you may be working with.  If your main focus is saving money through telecom expense analysis and tasks like mobile managment, you shouldn't have to spend time worrying about the security of your telecom asset and contract data.  You want to ensure the solution you choose is housed in a tightly controlled, secure environment, and that you maintain ownership of your own data.  Valicom understands all this, and addresses it in our security policies. 

But if you want to run this by any other vendors you use, here is the list. 
 

1. The right to retain ownership, use and control one's own data
    
2. The right to service-level agreements that address liabilities, remediation and business outcomes
    
3. The right to notification and choice about changes that affect the service consumers' business processes
    
4. The right to understand the technical limitations or requirements of the service up front
    
5. The right to understand the legal requirements of jurisdictions in which the provider operates
    
6. The right to know what security processes the provider follows
    
7. The responsibility to understand and adhere to software license requirements

To read the full article, with details on the Seven Rights, visit the Gartner Newsroom.

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....

Last week, Valicom sponsored a webinar entitled "Can SaaS Solutions Lower Your Telecom, Network and Mobility Expense?" During this event, research was presented by The AberdeenGroup comparing mid-market vs. "best practice" companies needs and their adoption and implementation of SaaS Telecom Expense Management solutions.  




One of the questions that came up by one of the attendees during the Q&A session was "How long does it take to implement Clearview (Valicom's telecom cost management software)?" The answer is contained in an earlier blog post at this link: http://blog.valicomcorp.com/blog/valicom/0/0/valicom-approach-enables-dramatically-reduced-tem-technology-implementation-times

Enjoy!

At Valicom, we are always looking for ways to reduce telecom expenses, increase operational efficiencies and minimize risk for our clients. I just read an article from WTN News about textblockers that prevent drivers from utilizing their cell phones or texting while driving. With the statistics regarding the number of accidents and fatalities caused by texting and cell phone use while driving, this may not be a bad idea not only for parents, but for employers to reduce your liability risk and protect your valued staff. It is not only wise to include a provision in your wireless policy that prohibits the use of employee's wireless devices while driving but to also consider ways to reduce risk by considering the use of these new cell phone apps.  

The new category of text blockers include apps like iZup, tXtBlocker, CellSafety and ZoomSafer. This wireless management software uses the GPS on your cell phone or blackberry to calculate the driver's speed. Once it detects that you are going more than 10 miles an hour, it determines that you are driving and shuts down your device until you are no longer moving. Some of these apps allow cell phone calls but block text, e-mail, Web, chat, Facebook etc. 
Passengers can unblock their phones by solving a timed puzzle that could not be addressed in a timely manner by the driver.

One consideration is whether you, as an employer, want to play Big Brother to your employees or demonstrate trust that they will not text (or talk) and drive on company time. This is dependent on your company culture and should be in keeping with other policies pertaining to the use of cell phones, computers, vehicles etc.

As part of an overall wireless expense management engagement, Valicom reviews not only wireless policies and strategies but also performs cell phone audits and on-going wireless optimization services to reduce business costs. In addition, by utilizing Clearview's mobile expense software module, we perform full lifecycle services such as telecom asset management, comprehensive reporting and bill payment.  To learn more about the benefits of our wireless expense management services, check out our web-site at www.valicomcorp.com. 

The traditional approach for some enterprise level companies has been to outsource Telecom Expense Management (TEM) to TEM providers. While companies search TEM expertise in Mobile Management and Telecom expense control, how much research do companies actually do to ensure that their potential partner has values that are aligned?  

We believe that it is our obligation to share our expertise with clients in order to improve their financial and operational intelligence. Only by doing this can we help increase your financial and operational performance. This realization helped us create our Core Vision, which is something we are driven by every day and every step of the way: "Through a unique combination of ingenuity and enlightenment, we are transforming the TEM industry and creating a better-educated marketplace." In addition, we are driven by our Core Values on a daily basis. Employees at Valicom are rewarded quarterly with recognition from peers for displaying actions falling within our Core Values. These are valued we feel contribute significantly to the continued success of our clients.  Our Corporate Values Memorable Experiences - Visibility, Winning, Life-Changing, Meaningful, Fulfilling, Dreams Enduring Connections -Co-creation, Leadership, Collaboration & Teamwork, Long Term Relationship, Mutual Respect, Community Authenticity - Originality, Integrity, Thought Leaders, Ethical, Diversity, Distinctive Inspiration - Can-Do, Free Spirited, Freedom, Enlighten, Visionary, Open-Minded Innovation - Out-of-the-Box, Strategic, Creative, Ingenuity, Transformation, Leading Edge Passion - Enthusiasm and Fun, Confidence, Compassion, Excellence, Sense of Urgency, Ambition, Empowerment, Ownership

If you live by your values and have alignment with partners, success will be inevitable! Obtaining telecom cost reduction through telecom cost management software are easily achievable when the right partner is selected. Valicom's clients continue to speak loudly by expressing their views via their quarterly Client Satisfaction surveys. Contact us today to begin your customized service and support!

I have been reading the AOTMP telecom expense management (TEM) discussions on LinkedIn and I find it astounding that, after interviewing hundreds of enterprises, AOTMP found that corporations with over $1B in annual revenue experienced an average implementation time for wireless mobility management (WMM)/TEM technology of 10.5 months and companies with less than $50M in annual revenues experienced an average conversion time of 8 months. I'm assuming that enterprises between $50M and $1B in revenues experienced an average implementation time somewhere between the 8 and 10.5 month range.


From this data, I wonder what the level of support or assistance from the TEM/WMM suppliers has been in the implementation phase for the transition to take this long! Granted, many client environment's are complex and the process of gathering invoices, cost allocation codes, customer service records (CSRs), contracts etc. can be a daunting task; however, with the support and project management of an experienced TEM/WMM supplier team, the transition should take no more than 3 - 4 months even for companies with over $1B in revenues.

Valicom has been implementing TEM/WMM solutions for the past 20 years and the average time it has taken for our most complex business process outsourcing solution for companies with over $1B in revenues is 3 months. With our Clearview-as-a-Service (CaaS) solution, implementation can occur in as little as one month depending on client size and the volume of invoices, circuits and wireless devices they may have.  Time is money and the focus is to properly manage the function and reduce business costs. With many clients, one of the main benefits of a telecom expense management solution is company cost savings through reduced telecom expenses. Operational efficiencies can also be achieved by utilizing best practices and automated telecom cost management software, once fully implemented. With conversion times as high as 10.5 months, I can only imagine that the return on investment (ROI) is quite long when using other TEM/WMM suppliers based on the AOTMP research statistics.
 
Over the past 20 years, Valicom has achieved an average telecom cost savings track record of 30.4% savings on our client's telecom expenses and in most cases a return on investment is realized in the first year of the engagement. With our Clearview-as-a-Service telecom cost management software at a lower price point than business process outsourced services, and an almost immediate time to savings, the return on investment is generally much quicker.  If you would like to experience the quick implementation first-hand, try our free 30 day CaaS trial. I guarantee you will be impressed!  Valicom is the key to achieve true strategic cost reduction. Contact us today!

What do you really know about Mobile expense software? In most cases, telecom expenses are not often reviewed in detail unless an executive within a company questions expenses or is reviewing and planning the upcoming year's budget. Telecommunication technologies continue to emerge at a rapid pace which creates a challenge for Information Technology (IT) and Telecommunication departments to keep up. According to Answers.com, one of the definitions they list for education is "the knowledge or skill obtained or developed by a learning process". There are a considerable amount of TEM companies out there that have the answer for you when you need to learn how to reduce business costs, achieve cellular optimization and implement cost reduction techniques.

In some cases, we have had clients that 'do not know what they don't know' in terms of telecommunication expense management (TEM) industry best practices. For example, when a company enters into telecom contract negotiations themselves they may achieve a minimal cost savings for the business when compared to their existing contract. However, they may in fact leave money on the table when compared to what other companies are able to negotiate. Utilizing a TEM services provider like Valicom will provide the advantage of knowing what the best practices in the industry are, as well as the best pricing that leads to the ultimate cost savings for business. I am in the business of educating our clients and enhancing the telecom expense management industry. Ask yourself how you stay current regarding telecom cost management.