Top 3 Telecom Money Wasters!

Overpaying invoices happens to even the most diligent of companies and much more frequently than you might think. All it takes is for an invoice to be submitted for payment both electronically and by snail mail to multiple recipients. Confused? That's exactly how the same invoice ends up getting paid twice. And, once paid, it's hard to get a refund. Will the vendor apply it to the next billing cycle? Possibly, but in the meantime, time and energy have been expended and your cash flow negatively impacted.

A good Telecom Expense Management or 'TEM' system will be able to recognize duplicate invoices as they come in and flag your administrators when payments have been made. Does your TEM do this?

Unused services and equipment can often be found lurking behind contracts that are automatically renewed without question. Just because you've disconnected a circuit or tossed an unused cell phone doesn't mean you're not paying for it. Letting those contracts renew without renegotiation can amount to thousands of dollars in over payments that your service provider is happy to keep quiet about.

Every month that goes by without taking action on organizing your inventory and IT services, is a month you are probably overpaying. Information spread out across your organization in disparate databases and spreadsheets is a recipe for overpayment.

Your TEM solution should provide an accurate inventory of all your services, vendors and contracts. It should track recoveries and billing disputes so that you are never paying a penny more than necessary for services and equipment.

Not conducting periodic audits may be the most expensive mistake you can make. A common misconception about audits is that they cost more than they recoup. If that has been your experience, you've turned over your audit to the wrong professional service team. Audits should not only pay for themselves, but they should become the 'gift that keeps on giving' in the form of ongoing savings across the board.

Audits worth their salt should result in savings equal to a minimum of 5-10% of your monthly telecom spend. Tightening up sourcing activities, re-negotiating contracts and bill reconciliation will add potentially thousands of dollars' worth of additional savings. Smart Telecom/IT departments usually opt to use some of those savings to purchase a TEM. Adding in the benefits of TEM will keep the savings coming, helping you stay organized and cost efficient.