With the proliferation of mobile devices and new technologies like Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), the old ways of keeping track of equipment and services are no longer adequate. And even though communication costs have plummeted in recent years, demand has also increased, with new high tech devices being added almost daily. If anything, the need for telecom expense management (TEM) software has increased, particularly in the area of inventory control.

According to research firm Aberdeen Group telecom and related network services eat up 3.6 percent of enterprise revenues. Their report, ?The Cost of Doing Nothing: The Total Telecom Cost Management Benchmark Report,? is based on a survey conducted on various sized enterprises and how telecom expenses impact them. The report examined in-depth how and when enterprises engage in telecom expense management, and the impact that management has on cutting costs, by, for example, eliminating billing errors.

Tracking inventory can be a troublesome task. it's critical to have an up-to-date repository for all telecom and wireless inventory. A good starting point is to collect all telecom vendors? invoices and establish what is being billed for. This may not give an accurate picture, as billing errors are common.

Some TEM systems incorporate a cable management module that provides a firm basis for establishing what the communications network consists of. This feature greatly simplifies managing the physical layer details for any network. It documents the circuits and physical connectivity for all cable connections between voice and data equipment in single or multi-building network cable plants.

The cable network data must be supplemented with an inventory of mobile devices that are not part of the physical network. These mobile devices should be recorded, along with the names of the persons using them and tied to personnel records. The necessity for this is illustrated by the case of one large company that, after implementing a TEM system, found that 3500 monthly cell phone bills were still being paid for ex-employees who had long since left, costing the company in excess of a million dollars per year.

Once the inventory is complete and accurate, it should be inspected for any non-optimum utilization of resources. For example, it is not uncommon for telecom vendors to continue billing for branch locations that have been closed, either because they were not notified or because they failed to adjust their records. Modern TEM systems can automatically detect and report these unused resources. Any equipment or service that is not associated with an employee, department, project or profit center is likely to be unused and can be discontinued.

The telecommunications network is not a static entity and configuration changes are common. Any moves, additions, changes and disconnections (MACD) of service or equipment should immediately be recorded online, so as to keep the inventory up-to-date.

Telecom cost management, or its absence, depends on the extent to which enterprises prioritize this as a cost-saving activity. Cream-of-the-crop enterprises?those Aberdeen refers to as ?best in class??proactively manage 90 percent or more of their telecom expenses.