14th March - Aurora Kendrick James,
the telecoms expense management specialist, has revealed
that UK companies are pouring more than £1 billion
annually down a black hole by simply not controlling
the cost of communications. Aurora Kendrick James estimates
that more than 75 per cent of UK firms do not have a
corporate telecoms policy to measure, manage and control
usage. From old and redundant mobile phones, to poor
tariff selection and incorrect invoices, companies are
wasting money every second that an employee is on the
phone.
Aurora Kendrick James has been working for more than
10 years with UK businesses managing their telecoms
costs. Based on this experience, the minimum saving
achieved is rarely less than 10 percent with some
firms hitting waste levels of 38 percent. According
to the Yankee Group, enterprise telecoms spend in
the UK was £5 billion in 2006, which means that
by simply taking control of communications with a
formal telecommunications expense management policy
Aurora Kendrick James estimates that UK businesses
can deliver more than £1 billion back on the
bottom line.
With so many telecoms services on offer from fixed
line traditional telephony, to mobile, VoIP and WiFi
comms, the reality is that businesses are not paying
specific attention to the telecoms services they are
buying versus the actual services they need. Instead,
the trend is for businesses to rely on suppliers to
manage their costs and ensure they get the best rates.
Given that rate reductions will mean smaller margins
for the supplier it is clear to see why businesses
do not get the best deal and end up giving money away
unnecessarily.
So how can businesses take control and not rely on
their suppliers to cut costs? Businesses must clearly
define the usage, procurement and management in a
formal telecoms policy as the first step to regaining
control of spiralling costs. These are the 5 top tips
from Aurora Kendrick James for implementing an effective
telecoms expense management (TEM) policy:
1. Check your Invoices - regularly validate supplier
charges against contracted rates, especially when
you have ordered new services
2. Manage your Usage - create sensible guidelines
for how employees should use their phones and proactively
monitor all usage
3. Supplier and Contract Management - maintain an
accurate log of all telecoms contracts and negotiate
regular benchmarking and price review clauses to allow
you to take advantage of market price changes
4. Inventory and Estate Management - create and manage
an accurate inventory of your telecoms estate to allow
you to easily spot opportunities to rationalise unwanted
services and standardise services and equipment
5. Telecoms Expense Management Reporting - generate
and distribute accurate and informative management
information to users and managers and constantly reinforce
usage policies
Adopting a formal approach and focus to telecoms
usage is the key to managing it and the associated
costs. Most users are unaware of their telecoms costs
and usage and so have little accountability for it.
It's a little like providing an employee with an expenses
credit and then not asking them to justify the usage
on it.
"Implementing a telecoms policy will educate
users. The majority of people will stick to guidelines
if they are sensible and well explained; however this
process must be continuous and not ad hoc. Providing
users with their mobile usage statement and reinforcing
the policy on usage can drive out most significant
misuse and excess costs," says Matt Atkinson,
managing director, Aurora Kendrick James. "A
lack of insight into costs in your organisation will
almost certainly mean that you are overpaying for
telecoms services and missing out on significant cost
savings that could be achieved without changing your
suppliers. Once you have established a greater control
of these costs your organisation will be able to go
on to tackle areas like redundant services, call abuse
and fraud."
