| According to the Telecommunications Industry | | | | Historically, telecom invoices were issued in |
| Association, the total spending in the U.S. | | | | paper form. Large enterprises might receive |
| telecommunications industry in 2005 amounted | | | | hundreds of them and they were a nightmare to |
| to $856.9 billion with an expected growth of | | | | verify and reconcile, due to their volume and |
| 9% per year through 2009. International | | | | complexity. Today, invoices have electronic |
| spending (excluding the U.S.) for 2005 was at | | | | counterparts, which make computerized invoice |
| $1.8 trillion and expanding even more | | | | management much more feasible. |
| sharply. This explosive growth fuels the need | | | | |
| for Telecom Expense Management (TEM), of | | | | A further complication is that many different |
| which Invoice Management is a major | | | | vendors may be involved in providing telecom |
| component. | | | | services. Integrating invoices from all these |
| | | | different vendors into the invoice management |
| Invoice management includes the | | | | system can be a major challenge. Some vendors |
| administration, verification and | | | | may provide paper invoices only, requiring |
| reconciliation of invoices. Benefits of an | | | | manual data entry, while others may use a |
| automated Invoice Management system include: | | | | variety of electronic media. |
| | | | |
| * Prevention of penalties for late payments | | | | Fortunately, there is a move towards |
| | | | standardizing electronic invoicing in the |
| * Reduction of telecom costs by catching | | | | industry, but even so the invoice level of |
| billing errors | | | | detail may vary from vendor to vendor, which |
| | | | adds to further complications. In selecting a |
| * Verification of invoices against contracted | | | | telecom expense management system, it is |
| rates ensuring negotiated rates are being | | | | vital to select a system that can deal easily |
| applied | | | | with these disparities. |
| | | | |
| * Having an accurate inventory of existing | | | | Once an invoice management system is |
| telecom facilities relative to billed | | | | operational, the time and cost savings can be |
| facilities, which might save another 5-25% | | | | considerable. Depending on the size of the |
| | | | enterprise, this can amount to many thousands |
| * Reconciliation of actual calls based on CDR | | | | of dollars, which means the system will pay |
| from PBXs and wireless devices against | | | | for itself in short order. Savings can be |
| invoiced calls from carriers | | | | even greater if effective inventory control |
| | | | is instituted as part of the (TEM) strategy. |