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 Since the break-up of the Bell companies in the early 80s, there have been many new complex telecom technologies, services and plans and a variety of telecom providers that have entered the telecom space. With these complexities, come opportunities as well as threats for telecom users. One of the threats that has come with divestiture has been inaccurate billing, usually caused by the use of legacy billing systems designed to handle a basic, simple mix of circuits and services, and utilizing codes that were developed by the Bell companies around those services.
As more complex, negotiated rates and services have come about with more competition, there is a propensity for errors in data entry of contracted rates and for legacy billing systems to apply the inappropriate charge, most in favor of the telecom supplier. To make matters worse, in the past 20 years, there have been numerous mergers and acquisitions among telecom vendors requiring the merging of disparate billing systems. This has dramatically exacerbated the problem.
Telecom users in North America spend a significant amount of money on telecom services and equipment. Telecom services are defined as “fixed”(also known as “wired” or “wireline”) including local, long distance/800, conference calling, wide area network (WAN) and internet; and “wireless” including cellular, blackberries, PDAs, smart phones and pagers. According to Forrester, “typically 3% to 6% of an enterprise’s gross revenues are spent on telecom services with 72% of the average North American enterprise telecom services’ budget spent on landline and 28% on wireless services.”
These companies are challenged with the management of carrier billing that is complex and fraught with errors. Forrester estimates that “billing errors average 5% to 12% of ongoing telecom services budgets.” In addition, during the past 20 years of auditing telecom invoices, Valicom has found that over 35% of invoices have some type of error, discrepancy or overcharge in them. Based on this, it is prudent to err on the side of caution when auditing your telecom invoices.
To learn more about the best approaches to performing telecom audits and expense management functions for your organization, read Valicom's whitepaper entitled "Can TEM SaaS Solutions Lower Your Telecom Expenses For Mid-Market Companies?" OR go this link to download a streaming vido of the webinar sponsored by Valicom about this topic.
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.
- The right to retain ownership, use and control one's own data
- The right to service-level agreements that address liabilities, remediation and business outcomes
- The right to notification and choice about changes that affect the service consumers' business processes
- The right to understand the technical limitations or requirements of the service up front
- The right to understand the legal requirements of jurisdictions in which the provider operates
- The right to know what security processes the provider follows
- 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.
Google Voice, which was until recenty in beta and only available via invitation, has been thrown open to the public. The free Google service offers some very useful features that can help your wireless crew while they are on the road. And all without raising costs. Just another creative way to reduce telecom expenses. One feature that could be very handy regards voicemail. It offers call routing options and speech-to-text transcription, which allows calls to be stored and searchable. Another feature, a single phone number that forwards calls to multiple devices, such as a users' home, work and mobile phones, is making news as it elicited an immediate lawsuit (for patent infringement) from Frontier Communications. Time will tell how that plays out in the courts. Other included options are low-rate international calling, personalized greeting messages, the ability to forward SMS messages to an e-mail account, call blocking and screening, conference calling, and mobile apps. I would say that it's worth investigating as part of your wireless expense management program. And if nothing else, you can use it yourself. I plan to.... LA
As Nancy's previous post " Making Sense of Cloud Computing" also addresses, companies are racing to deploy more and more services via on-demand, remotely hosted applications. And it shows no sign of slowing down. The research firm IDC posted a report today noting that public IT cloud services will grow at more than five times the rate of traditional IT products between now and 2014. Click here to read the article "...cloud computing is critically important for two key reasons - market growth and leadership disruption. The cloud model will propel IT market growth and expansion for the next 20 years and will help the industry to more rapidly develop and distribute a new generation of killer apps, and to more successfully penetrate small and medium-sized businesses." That need within small to mid-sized business for telecom expense control led us to partner recently with Aberdeen Group on a webinar about using SaaS. " Can Saas Solutions Lower Your Telecom, Network and Mobility Expenses?" is now available streaming online.
According to Forrester’s “SaaS your Application” webinar attended by Valicom in 2009, the Web 2.0, Collaborative Apps, CRM and web conferencing industries have the greatest Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) rate of adoption with the highest growth curve. There are other industries that are just now adopting SaaS models. Telecom Expense Management (TEM) and broader corporate expense management services were conspicuously absent from the research.
One measure of the potential growth in SaaS is that mass-market software companies such as NetSuite, Salesforce.com, Google, Workday and Microsoft have implemented platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offerings using cloud computing to integrate SaaS applications within similar or complimentary domains that can be accessed by their clients through their platform. As one example of how this integration works to serve clients, Valicom subscribes to Vertical Response (for e-mail campaigns) through our Salesforce.com application to enhance the functionality of Salesforce.com’s CRM application. This appears to be the wave of the future.
Clearview-as-a-Service (CaaS), Valicom's telecom cost management software is addressing the needs of large and middle market organizations for an on-demand, self service application incorporating game changing simplification and best practices into our client's TEM processes. Through this technology, telecom analysts are enabled to significantly reduce telecom expenses, and perform effective wireless expense management and telecommunications analysis. Contact us today for a Clearview demonstration and to learn more about our 30 day free trial. See you on-line!
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
As Mark Twain once said, “It’s what you know that just ain’t so.” This quote couldn’t apply better to the importance of benchmarking as part of the process of securing the most competitive rates throughout your telecommunications spend. Without solid benchmarks, you won’t have a reliable way of knowing whether the rates you just agreed to for the next 3 years are good, so-so, or even really bad. But you might wonder how you would get that information. What incentive do the vendors have to provide that kind of data? The answer is none. Valicom on the other hand, negotiates dozens of contracts every year for organizations of every size. As a result of engaging Valicom in a Telecom Expense Management (TEM) solution, you gain access to highly competitive information related to the rates that comparable organizations are getting from the same vendors you are about to go out to RFP with. So, not only will you have experts in your corner coaching you through each stage of the contract negotiation – but you also get to enjoy the ability to make truly informed decisions, as you are now empowered with the information to do so. Valicom’s TEM solutions provide the expertise and data to enable your organization to achieve the best results from your telecommunications contract negotiation process.
By Sara Demien
Are you in charge of reducing business costs by negotiating your telecom and data contracts? If so, you may be wondering if you are being offered the lowest rates.
The standard for your industry has been set by benchmarking, how else do you know how you stack up against the competition? Why not take the same approach to further help reduce your telecom expenses?
Sure, you've sent out a Request For Proposal (RFP) requesting the best rates upfront. Knowing that contract negotiation is a game, you've most likely further negotiated the rates. But, how do you know if you are getting trophy rates? Benchmark telecom costs. This process offers you the insight into the carrier's playbook. You'll know what the best rates are, and have the power to ask for them delivering you a slam dunk in cost reduction!
If you like further information as to how to conduct the carrier benchmarking process, please contact Valicom at your earliest convenience. We have 20 years of experience to share with you.
What comes to your mind when you hear the term "Cloud Computing?" These days everyone has a different definition of cloud computing and the only element of consistency is an understanding that it is an exploding technology. Wikepedia asserts that cloud computing is "Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software and information are provided to computers and other devices on-demand."  Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications are utilized by businesses to access on-demand, internet-based software through the cloud. According to Forrester research, in their webinar entitled, "SaaS your Appplication," it was reported that the CRM and web conferencing industries have the greatest rate of SaaS adoption with the highest growth curve. The TEM industry was conspicuously absent from the growth curve. Based on my research, the use of SaaS telecom expense managment technology is in it's infancy. So how is cloud computing utilized by companies to reduce their telecom costs and to gain telecom expense control? What better way to simplify the expense management process and reduce business costs than to utilize an on-demand, self-service telecom expense management tool to automate this tedious process! Telecom auditing, tracking of telecom assets and telecom bill payment can all be performed quickly and easily without the need to install complex software or utilize your precious computer staff or resources. Valicom has responded and launched our SaaS application for telecom expense management called Clearview-as-a-Service (CaaS). Check it out as an alternative to the traditional approach. You won't be disappointed. If you'd like to try an on-demand telecom expense management application first-hand, go to www.valicomcorp.com and register to try Valicom's Clearview SaaS application for 30 days. Try it, you'll like it!
Many corporate enterprises have expanded their geographic presence through organic growth and mergers and acquisitions. Telecom expense control and reducing business costs become rather difficult as the proliferation of services and invoices abound across various regions. Telecom audits become challenging with a myriad of different vendors and services between locations. Centralization of telecom expenses coupled with the utilization of effective telecom cost management software is the key to greater control and telecom cost reduction. By consolidating vendors, there is greater volume to leverage rates and perform effective telecom contract negotiations. In addition, telecom auditing becomes more manageable with fewer invoices.
Valicom's Clearview® solution can assist in providing your company with centralization and telecom cost savings. This software as a solution takes all of your telecom invoices and inventories and populates all of the critical information in one central repository with detailed financial, asset, and issues reporting available on-demand. Invoices, vendors, and services are consolidated to simplify your telecom expense management functions. Telecom contract negotiations are also performed to ensure the best rates, terms, and conditions achievable with your suppliers. You can experience this first-hand by trying Clearview® free for 30 days. Through this trial, you can see how this solution will assist you in centralizing your services, reducing telecom expenses, and providing greater telecom expense control.
Have you ever heard the above phrase before? You may have, but you're not aware of who said it. This is a quote from Thomas DeMarco. Thomas DeMarco has a BS degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master's degree from Columbia. He started his career with Bell Labs, participating in the development of the first large scale electronic switching system. Structured financial controls, telecom rates, and telecom inventory are all a part of a system which has to be measured to be controlled. Controlling telecom expenses to achieve true telecom cost reduction is essential to any business. However, to be able to actually control a process the process needs to be measured to obtain visibility and identify any variances. Once an inventory can be organized and a process defined then the foundation is in place to begin measurement and control ultimately resulting in telecommunications expense reduction. Try this concept in your organization. You might be surprised how "You can't control what you can't measure" can lead you to sound telecom expense reduction.
I was thinking recently about the kinds of information and disclosures that are required for car manufactures and dealers. When you look at a new car, the amount of information about how that car will perform is quite detailed. And if you want more information it usually isn't hard to get. For example, you can easily determine something as specific as the compression ratio of the engine in a car you are considering. But if you wanted to know the average processor speed of the computers that run the wireless towers in one city versus another, or between one telecom carrier and another it would be next to impossible. You may say that's way too much detail but I would say it's not. Maybe it isn't processor speed that matters more than maybe the tower voltage. Either way, my point is that virtually nothing is disclosed about the technological quality and capability of the wireless networks that we are forced to choose between.
How many people have signed up for wireless service, having only seen a simple map indicating that their home area is "covered?" What does that even mean? If all a car dealer was willing to disclose was a road map with the roads highlighted that this car would work well on then that certainly wouldn't be enough information to buy it. By comparison, the wireless phone industry offers little details about how their network will perform, or rather, the factors that might help you determine how it will perform. All we get is a map. And there is always a disclaimer in fine print that essentially indicates that the shading on the map may not be correct. As far as I'm concerned, the map is pretty useless. When I consider that a large urban area will be shaded the same color as rural Montana - I can't help but ask: "Really??? - Surely there is a greater tower density in the urban area??"
That being said, it would be beneficial to the consumer if one could easily learn the details behind their wireless phone coverage. Suppose there were easy to understand metrics required for various components of a carriers infrastructure such as tower grades. Then you might be able to go further than just knowing that an area is "covered." You might be able to find out that only 10% of the towers are grade A, and the rest are C and D towers. I am not sure what the criteria would be for the ratings, or what other metrics would be appropriate but I have to assume that as with all electronics (think computers, for example) - some are better than others, faster than others, and more reliable than others. Having this kind of extra information about a wireless coverage area would empower the user to make a decision using real information - information that will actually impact their experience.
But for now - we just get a map.
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