While the economy has begun to open up post-COVID-19, many IT departments are being downsized. This trend may continue to affect technology budgets for the foreseeable future.
Technology workers are used to constant change, from taking on new projects to learning new skills to adapting to new innovations. However, a shrinking talent pool brings its own challenges. Often, IT departments are the first hit when it comes to belt-tightening measures. So, you learn to do more with less.
Telecom Expense Management (TEM) tools can help your organization run more efficiently. You may even find more room in the budget by resolving billing errors or recycling or retiring used devices such as laptops, tablets, and phones. First, you have to identify these opportunities, and it makes sense to invest in the technology that will get you there.
Solutions Provided by TEM Tools
You may already have the tools to work more efficiently and help your company expand the bottom line. Upgrading your Technology Expense Management tools can help you automate your inventory and billing so you can spend more time analyzing your telecom expense and less time putting all the pieces together from various systems.
Here are several benefits you can realize by choosing Valicom as your TEM partner:
More accurate inventory for all your telecom assets, including vendors, services, contracts, hardware, and software.
Cloud-based or on-premises data storage with flexible reporting tools. It's hard to evaluate what you can't see. When your data lives in several systems, getting to the one source of truth requires a lot of time and effort. Let us help you integrate your data and reporting solutions.
More accurate usage tracking. Follow built-in audit trails for better recovery outcomes on billing disputes.
Real-time visibility into usage to help prevent overpaying. You also gain tracking tools that help ensure you pay the bills on time, saving you money on late fees.
Support from a premier TEM vendor for billing, inventory, and other telecom data.
What to Expect From Your TEM Solution
You should expect great things from your Telecom Expense Management provider. Starting with a customized solution for your business, your TEM should deliver efficient results that can help your team stay afloat, even with further downsizing related to COVID-19. That could include a licensed, on-site solution or cloud-accessible, secure data repository to encapsulate your inventory and telecom expense data.
Even when the budget is tight, it sometimes makes sense to fully outsource Telecom Expense Management. That typically starts with a preliminary audit of invoices, inventory, contracts, and vendors. TEM consultants can help you find additional savings and suggest potential vendor changes that can provide better service at lower prices.
If your IT or telecom team still handles a lot of the auditing by pulling manual reports, switching to an integrated system can help save their sanity and boost morale. With the right TEM provider, your department and organization can move through this challenging time and build a firm foundation for the future.
Isn't It Time to Contact Valicom?
Compromising quality isn't an option for supporting customer interfacing systems or critical software and hardware assets needed to help the company grow. At Valicom, we can provide the systems and people to upgrade your TEM solution.
Contact us today to schedule a demo
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: JEFF POIRIOR
Jeff brings 25 years of telecommunications and information technology management experience in voice and data networking, server support, and telephony and security; with a significant emphasis on customer service. Prior to joining Valicom, he was chief of the infrastructure support section for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Jeff was the vice president of operations for CC&N, overseeing telecommunications, help desk, data, and desk side support services. Prior to that, he served as the associate director of technical resources for Covance, responsible for managing systems and network operations supporting 1700 users in Wisconsin and Virginia. He has also led data center operations at Magnetek Electric, supporting mainframe systems, client/server applications, telephony systems, and computer-aided design. Jeff holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Cardinal Stritch University and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix. In addition, Jeff is a past board member of the Wisconsin Telecommunication Association.