Watch how much you spend

MTN Business is now offering its customers a solution that provides a comprehensive, validated view of their overall fixed and mobile telecommunication and mobile data spend.

MTN Business is now offering its customers a solution that provides a comprehensive, validated view of their overall fixed and mobile telecommunication and mobile data spend, to effectively monitor and dramatically reduce the cost associated with this function. The solution actually extends into Internet proxy servers, e-mail servers and Multi-functional devices should the organisation really want a single cost and productivity view on a per user basis. The platform, built to accommodate any change on the South African telecoms market due to regulation or other market factors, monitors three key areas of telecom spend, namely: Rates, Infrastructure and Abuse.

‚The critical focus on, and subsequent investments into telecoms, means this function now represents a significant portion of operational expenditure for corporate SA,‚ says Justin Colyn, General Manager for FMC at MTN Business. ‚Various analyst resources describe telecom costs as an area that is often overlooked by organisations when it comes to managing its use and abuse. Despite its ability to drive business competitiveness, telecoms services and investments are typically viewed as a necessary purchase, not a choice. Couple this with the abuse, misuse and potential fraud, it’s obvious then why companies feel they are ‚over paying’ for telecom services and in many cases they may be paying for services that are often not even required!‚

The MTN Business Fixed Mobile TEM Solution is designed to help organisations achieve significant telecom savings by enabling transparency to their telecom expense systems, while still maintaining optimum service levels and improving productivity. For example, a TEM solution will automatically verify whether only existing inventory is included on the vendor invoice at point of entering the invoice (manually or electronically). The TEM system will then generate reports to check for conditions such as:

· Any unusual or abnormal activity (i.e. long duration or very expensive calls)

· Services still being billed at inactive locations

· Services where charge amounts vary significantly from one month to another

Continues Colyn: ‚Further to this operational level improvement capability, the TEM solution takes strategic decision making to an entirely new level. Access to TEM reports allows management and key stakeholders to analyse and take advantage of other business imperatives. For example, the ability to analyse customer buying behaviour to improve service levels or sales and even to take note of criminal threat pattern behaviours for more effective risk mitigation strategies.‚

The MTN Business TEM Solution fully supports a range of global telecommunication functions, including Fixed Line Services, Mobile Services and Remote Office Services and is customisable to any industry type. What’s more, given the solution’s automation and subsequently simplicity and ease of use, TEM increases financial cost transparency and as such, allows for greater policy adherence and alignment to corporate governance ‚ handing control and management of telecommunications spend back to stakeholders. MTN Business have also implemented the TEM solution internally, to validate its own billing and financial management processes more effectively and further improve its customer service capabilities.

‚We understand that our customers continue to look for value added services that will meet their business needs and save costs. We also understand that constant market changes have forced corporate SA to trust their service providers to deliver valuable telecommunications solutions that will future proof their business, as they focus on running the organisation. It’s with this premise in mind, that I proudly reiterate MTN Business’s commitment to transparency and providing customers with insight into the type of technology that will provide them with a longer business retention cycle as well as the possible risks and what to look out for. TEM is one such technology.‚

‚While Gartner does substantiate the business case and growth of TEM (its research states TEM vendor growth to double by 2013), for MTN Business, the business case is in the ability to extract value from one’s very own information. The possibilities are endless and the business intelligence an asset to any business, in any industry,‚ concludes Colyn.

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