Unchecked Expense

Non-standardized purchasing and contract management can lead to a greater number of rate plans and widely varying contract terms; managers, for example, might get their employees new cell phones for free by signing them up for a provider’s two-year plan. But that often means paying a lot of unneeded activation fees and carrying plenty of unused wireless accounts. An Aberdeen study says that “best in class” companies—those most adept at managing their wireless expenses—cut their costs by reducing the number of mobile devices, service plans, and carriers that they manage. Most also automate invoice processing and have rigorous processes for invoice approval and bill payment.

When Singh’s company, ABC, was asked to audit the wireless bills of a large local company with over 5,000 cell phones in its inventory, it discovered that 2,000 of those phones were no longer in regular use. The unused services were quickly disconnected and Singh helped the company get a retroactive credit for the time phones were being billed but not used.

Why run a million dollar telecom asset without establishing a system to ensure your can root out costly errors or effectively manage expenses?

She says client companies won’t often challenge carriers in such situations owing to a sense of guilt or shame. But she has no hesitation to play the “bad guy” in dealing with carriers. “Companies often think they took their eye off the ball for allowing a misbilling situation to happen, and they often give in,” she says. “But we function as the client’s advocate and will fight carriers tooth and nail if they’re in the wrong.”

New technologies also have made it easier for companies to track and trim their burgeoning wireless expenses. A tool called Minute Traq from Tangoe, Inc., a telecom expense management software company in Connecticut, for example, provides real time tracking that sends alerts to cell phone subscribers when they are nearing their set monthly minutes of use. Subscribers receive either a text message or e-mail when they reach that threshold of usage.