Telecom Expense Management is a broad term that refers to practices, software, and services that businesses use to optimize costs and drive efficiency to voice, data, and network devices and services. It covers – or at least should cover – Employer Paid Devices (EPDs) and Bring-Your-Own-Devices (BYODs) in your organization.
So why do companies invest time, effort, and capital into TEM?
It helps them to get a sense of ongoing expenses and device and service functionality. They can identify cost-saving opportunities, optimize their telecom spend and enhance overall operational efficiency.
Meanwhile, mistakes in telecom bills can bump your costs up by 15%, if not more. And you wouldn’t even know unless you’re scrutinizing invoices. Manual TEM can pose several other challenges, including:
- Time-consuming data gathering from various sources and locations.
- Managing ever-evolving data is complex and requires constant monitoring
- Repetitive monthly data gathering and consolidation
- Difficulty in identifying canceled subscriptions and dispute billing errors from vendors
- Time and effort-consuming negotiation for market rates and best deals.
- Difficulty in spotting patterns over time and numerous devices/services.
- Potential for accidental omissions and human errors despite efforts.
There’s a ton of struggle with manual TEM for reasons that are out of your control.
That’s why a majority of businesses, small, medium, and large, are turning towards outsourced TEM.
Exploring the Benefits of Outsourcing TEM
Did you know that the cost of network downtime could be as high as US$5600 per minute, maybe even more? Now multiply that by all the network incidents you see in the year (and consider that some downtime might go unrecorded).
Businesses need to record these numbers because only when they are armed with these insights they are well-placed to make improvements that optimize processes and costs.
Working with a TEM SaaS provider can give you end-to-end efficiency while also reducing the burden on your team, freeing them up for more important tasks. You typically get a customizable package of software-as-a-service, dedicated expertise, and plan management.
Here’s why more and more companies go the outsourced TEM way every day:
Cost Savings and Return on Investment (ROI)
The ultimate goal of outsourcing TEM is to save costs on operations. When you subscribe to outsourced TEM services, your partner can identify better rates, plans, and pricing and switch things up so that you get the best deal. You only have to set benchmarks and expectations for costs and quality with your TEM partner, who will do the rest.
You get a better idea of where your money is invested and whether you are getting a return on investment.
Outsourcing TEM can save a ton of your capital
- You could save anywhere between 15-25% of costs on billing errors
- Better forecasting can save you up to 40%
Access to Expertise and Specialized Resources
When you outsource TEM, you automatically gain access to a dedicated team of experts with deep knowledge and experience in telecom expense management. Most TEM partners will provide support to your team via email, chat, and phone.
Moreover, outsourcing TEM provides you with a wider pool of resources that can improve your telecommunication tasks. Instead of purchasing tools yourself, you get access to the TEM service provider’s expert tools.
Scalability and Flexibility
Even the most well-oiled manual TEM mechanism would get thrown into chaos when a business suddenly adds a new unit or several new units at the same time.
With TEM software and experts at your disposal, you can scale and adapt to new technology without any chaos or burdening your team. TEM providers continuously update their tech and tools to ensure you have access to the latest advancements. This, in turn, saves you money which you can invest in other crucial business aspects.
Enhanced Efficiency and Process Optimization
No one wants to be entrapped in the loop of performing the same tasks repeatedly. This is where you can outsource a TEM partner to take care of your telecom management.
At its very core, TEM software typically integrates with your systems so that you do not have to run around collecting data. Your TEM software will automatically gather utilization data from email, IAMs like Slack and Okta, and MDM tools.
This can be helpful for your teams that lack the knowledge to manage their telecommunication processes effectively.
Compliance and Risk Management
Compliance is a greater concern for organizations today than ever before. We’ve seen headline-making non-compliance fines in recent years across sectors.
Outsourcing TEM can help you tick compliance checkboxes around data security and privacy. They work with your service providers to ensure that your vendors have sufficient guardrails in place so that they do not compromise your security safeguards. They can help you identify billing discrepancies, manage contract compliance, and enforce policy adherence.
Real-life Success Stories
Usually, larger organizations opt for external TEM service providers to help them save costs. This is a real-life example of an IT Finance group, a large company based in the US that managed its IT expenses by outsourcing TEM providers.
The pain point of the IT Finance group was they were investing exorbitant amounts of money and were not getting ROI. They wanted a homegrown database to manage IT invoices and expenses. Managing the humongous data of a large organization manually can lead to inaccuracy.
That’s where they outsourced their TEM requirements to develop a customized software solution for their auditing needs. The TEM service provider helped them to automate the process of manually entering billing information. The IT team was able to save some time and function efficiently.
TRe outsourced TEM company also helped them to create an alert for billing errors and eliminated the problem of misallocated bill payments.
Ready to Outsource TEM to a Trustworthy Partner?
Spenza can take all the stress and heavy lifting associated with TEM off your shoulders. With Spenza, you get Telecom Expense Management software that actually works, expert service from professionals who will negotiate and dispute on your behalf, and more efficient TEM processes that make life easier for your team and everyone in the organization. Optimizing costs and functionality was never this quick and hassle-free,
Get in touch to make TEM truly effective.
