Inventory Tracking Vital for Effective Telecom Expense Management

The Open Press (press release) - USA
Effective inventory management starts with collecting all available raw
data on telecom related items, such as carrier invoices and contracts, ...

Telecom Expense Management (TEM) is often perceived as a means of finding telecom billing errors, but it is not widely realized that an accurate inventory of telecom equipment and services is a vital part of effective TEM.

Accurate inventory is needed to determine if the company is billed for equipment and services it no longer has. It also leads the way to consolidation and optimization of what it does use. Many enterprises have had occasions where they paid for cell phones of employees that left a long time ago, or for services to locations that have been closed.

While savings from catching billing errors can be around 7-12% of your total telecom bill, an additional 5-25% savings can typically be realized from inventory optimization, depending of course on original conditions and the thoroughness of the inventory adjustments.

Effective inventory management starts with collecting all available raw data on telecom related items, such as carrier invoices and contracts, payment records, call detail records (CDRs), and whatever else can provide inventory information. This information is then integrated into a coherent collection of data and subsequently entered into the company’s telecom inventory database, as part of the TEM system.

A site inspection should also be performed to verify that the inventory data is correct and complete. This visual inspection is highly recommended, as it may show up many circuits that are no longer in service, or badly configured.

Once the inventory database has been created, it is of paramount importance to keep it current and accurate. When there is a need to move, add, change or disconnect (MACD) any part of the telecom network, the database must be updated accordingly.

With an accurate inventory, large savings are possible, as a result of:

• Ensuring you are not being billed for what you don’t have
• Disconnecting all circuits and services that are no longer used
• Optimizing what you do have and use
• Negotiating favorable contracts for needed services and equipment

Together with invoice management and the management of contract/tariff information, inventory management is a major component of an effective TEM system.