DOC-504 The What and The How of Managing Mobile Communications Expenses (Part 2)

By Hans & Annelie Bergman, TelDesignPart 1 of this article appeared in InfoTelecom #5, published in March 2013. In Part 1, we identified and discussed a number of stages associated with the management of mobile expenses. Part 2 provides some further essential and detailed pointers for each stage of the process. These tips were gleaned from personal experience in this field, and will further assist you towards successfully managing your mobile communications expenses.

Assessment Stage

• Calculate the monthly ACPU (Average Cost per Unit), and a12 month ACPU. The ACPU is to be used as the key performance indicator for any subsequent interventions.
• Verify that all negotiated contract conditions have been applied at the correct rate. You will be surprised how often this is not the case.
• Verify that you have not been charged for features and capabilities that were marked as "included" in the contract.
• Verify that there are no incompatible or overlapping features. For example: you are paying for a US data roaming travel pack with a lower rate per MB, while your contract already gives you that rate without any extra travel packages.
• Identify low and no usage devices.
• Identify unusual spenders associated with specific expense types (i.e. overseas usage) and make special arrangements with these specific users.
• Analyze spending by device type (such as cell (feature) phone, smart phone, tablet and modem) and, if necessary, adjust or create corporate policies associated with specific device types.
• Analyze usage by time of day and assess if the usage patterns are conducive to delivering business value.
• Verify that pooled resources are used to maximum benefit of the enterprise. Overage charges often immediately raise a red flag. The same red flag should be raised if you find that you regularly use less than 80% of the pooled resources.
• Don't be fooled by believing that low variability in monthly billing implies that you have the best possible arrangement with the carrier. The likelihood is that you are paying for resources that you are not using.