It’s not a thin line that separates maintenance from management. In fact, there is a big difference in the terms. Some organizations think that the management of the telecom network refers to its monitoring and maintenance. In fact, the term ‘monitoring’ is also not understood in the right perspective here. Why am I saying all this? Because I want to discuss what telecom management actually means.

It starts with procuring the right telecom service for your organization. You have to compare vendors, their plans, and their tariffs in order to make a decision. Next, you have to study the telecom contract thoroughly and understand it before signing it.

Telecom management also requires you to keep your inventory in order. A poorly-maintained telecom inventory cannot yield you benefits that you want from your telecom network.

Next comes monitoring the performance of your telecom network. You have to ensure that it operates smoothly and troubleshooting is fast and effective. You have to keep track of the downtimes of telecom services and bring them to the notice of the vendor.

You have to review bills regularly for errors to ensure you are not paying more than you should. You have to check if your vendor has not added any service that you never asked for.

You have to always ascertain that the services align with your business’ telecom needs. You have to analyze current needs and usage to predict future needs and plan modifications accordingly.

If you haven’t been doing all this, you haven’t actually managed your telecom network. Hand it over to a team of professional telecom consultants before it’s too late.

There was a time when if you did not have a cell phone, you were not happening. Now, if you don’t have one, you are either a pauper or a fool. Wireless is the norm of the day, for individuals as well for businesses. And a wireless network definitely brings in several benefits for a business. The reason many organizations continue to be wary of wireless services is the complex technology that makes its difficult to manage the network.

While it is true that the technology is comparatively new, and therefore, may appear a little complicated, managing the telecom network is all about following some simple steps,  with the right know-how.

As with everything else, start with a needs analysis to understand your business’ telecom needs. Next, figure out which vendor and which plans suit your needs. For this, you will need to compare different vendors. Once you have zeroed in on a vendor and a plan, procure the services.

Procurement is a big decision but what comes next is the biggest part of wireless management. It’s about monitoring, maintaining, troubleshooting, and optimizing the network. This is where you will need the technical expertise.

Inventory management, usage management, and regular audits form integral parts of wireless network management.

If your organization does not have the requisite knowledge to manage the wireless network, hire the services of the professionals. A professional telecom management team not only provides you an end-to-end management solution from needs analysis to maintenance and optimization.

Expansions are often difficult, and sometimes dangerous, if the foundation is not strong. The same applies to technological foundations. Your telecom network will not be able to accommodate your ambitions and growing needs if it is not being looked after properly right now.

A poorly-maintained inventory, a non-performing telecom network, untracked usage, lack of expense management will not only keep adding to your business expenses without giving you enough benefits but also make expansions impossible for increasing telecom needs.

One of the things that are considered a deterrent in VoIP deployment is a poorly-managed network. First you need to ensure that your telecom network is giving you optimum results. Only then can you think of adopting newer technologies or getting new telecom services.

If you think you won’t need to expand your telecommunication network, you either don’t have ambitions or lack the foresight. A couple of decades ago, organizations weren’t thinking about wireless technology invading each and every corner of business and life. And today, you cannot survive without going mobile.

The technological changes and the telecom needs are gradual. You cannot think of stalling operations and overhauling your network to accommodate new changes. You have to make space for the ongoing changes as and when your business needs them.

If you think your current telecom needs are not properly identified and the network is not looked after properly, you should hire a professional telecom management team to take care of things. Not only will such a team organize your network but also make you aware of your needs, usage, and expenses. Don’t let a bad system affect your future growth. Take action now!

Your telecom network may well be your biggest asset. All your business communication thrives on it. Downtime can affect your business in a big way. Need I say more?

Yes, I am talking about how important telecom management is for you. I know you may point out that you have some sort of telecom management system in your organization, but is that good enough? I am talking about professional management for your telecom network. In case you are not in favor of outsourcing this management, let me tell you why I recommend it.

You get to understand and analyze your telecom needs and procure a telecom service accordingly. Now, you have a business to take care of; you cannot actually spend time figuring out what your business telecom needs are. This is where a professional team helps. Once your needs have been identified, this team goes out to get the best telecom deal for you. And no, it doesn’t make decisions on its own. It presents you with facts and figures on different vendors and plans and then lets you decide. Then you will be making an informed decision.

You signed a great deal, now what? A professional telecom management team will help you recover costs and reduce further expenses by performing an audit. In the audit, it will check previous and existing bills for errors. It will also make sure you pay only for what you use. Apart from expense management, it will also monitor the usage of the telecom services. It will track instances of misuse and abuse and take steps to stop them.

Inventory management is also an important part of telecom management. A professional team will look after the inventory, making sure that it is utilized in the best possible way. It will also bring along automation, automating areas such as invoice processing.

Outsourcing telecom management ensures that your network is looked after all the time. This ensures that the network operates smoothly. The telecom management team offers quick and effective troubleshooting support in case of a problem.

Outsourcing will definitely rescue you from hiring, training, and maintaining a team of people for the management of the telecom network. Oh yes, I forgot to mention a professional team will strive to reap the maximum benefits of the network. Do you need more reasons?

It may not be true for all organizations, but some organizations forget about the telecom network once it has been put in place and the services are deployed. Yeah, they continue to pay all the bills. But they don’t look at expanding the network, understanding its own needs, or optimization of any kind. Their disregard to looking after the network breeds from their assumption that the telecom vendors are doing their job and they are obliging with paying their bills on time. Only if they knew how much they would save by just looking after their telecom network. Let’s look at what an organization should know about its telecom services.

• It should keep reviewing its telecom needs. A periodical review will make it aware of the need for expansion or reduction of any sorts.
• It should analyze if the current telecom plans align with its needs. It has to revisit the telecom contract if the needs are not being properly met.
• An organization should always be aware of its infrastructure. It should know the status of its inventory and manage it properly.
• It should know if the telecom services are being used properly. It should find out if there is any misuse or abuse of the services.
• It should be aware of every element in the bills. An organization should review its bills and make sure there are no errors. It should also make sure that it pays only for what it uses.
• An organization should be aware if the telecom services are unavailable at times and its frequency.

Yeah, keeping track of so many things is not easy. And organizations not only need to keep track of these things but also need to manage them effectively, with a focus on reaping maximum benefits off the telecom network. Now, all this definitely calls for help from professionals. Hire a good telecom management company and you don’t have to worry about anything.

Telecom management is a big deal. After all, it involves not only monitoring the telecom services but also acquiring the right service and optimizing it. A typical telecom lifecycle is comprised of the following phases:

• Procurement and contract negotiation
• Inventory Maintenance
• Invoice Processing
• Audits and Analysis
• Monitoring and Troubleshooting
• Reporting and Documentation

Now, a proper telecom management system is one that focuses on all these phases and manages them effectively. Organizations are now implementing something called Telecom Lifecycle Management (TLM) that encompasses all phases of the telecom lifecycle. TLM is an obvious term for the management of your telecom network, but is the system any good when deployed? How different is it from the popular Telecom Expense Management (TEM)? Let’s find out.

Now, while TEM focuses on saving money by managing the telecom costs and expenses of an organization, TLM looks after the management of the technical aspects of the telecom network apart from managing its costs. Thus, TEM forms a part of TLM.

While most companies offer some kind of TLM or the other, the standard, widely-accepted TLM is the one that employs the most-effective software and the best practices in the industry to provide an end-to-end management for all your telecommunication services.

TLM looks at optimizing the performance of your telecom network. At the same time, it looks at making maximum savings possible in terms of the cost incurred in managing the telecom services and the expenses. As TLM provides overall management, you get a better visibility of your network.

For a professional telecom management team, looking after the telecom network is what they know, and they know it well. In spite of our best intentions and effort, we miss several important areas when we manage the telecom network on our own. In today’s post, I will introduce you to the five biggest mistakes we make when we take things into our own hands.

Mistake #1: We don’t compare the telecom vendor we choose with others.

We often go for the vendor we come across first, without comparing it with others. We may not be using the best service that suits our telecom needs.

Mistake #2: We don’t study the telecom contract properly.

Irrespective of the way we select our vendor, we sign the contract without understanding it completely. We don’t ask the vendor to explain the contract to us, and even if we do, we don’t ask for detailed explanations if we don’t understand something. The fine print is almost always not looked into.

Mistake #3: We pay blindly, without studying the telecom bills.

We assume that we are paying for what we use, and that the vendor is sending us correct bills. While your vendor may not cheat you, you may be paying for certain unnecessary services. The bills may even have errors that we don’t pay attention to. Ignoring bill reviews may cost us dearly in the long run.

Mistake #4: We don’t review the usage of the telecom services.

We assume that the telecom services are being used the right way, and never really look into it. However, we may be ignoring instances of over-use, and misuse.

Mistake #5: We renew the telecom contract blindly.

We don’t see whether or not our current telecom services align with our projected telecom needs, and keep renewing the existing contract.

These mistakes can be avoided if we hire the services of a team that understands our infrastructure, analyzes our needs, and looks at acquiring a telecom service that optimizes the telecom network.

You may think that since the term ‘management’ sounds good, any kind of management is supposed to good. Therefore, ‘telecom inventory management’ should also be. Yeah, you are right, but I am not recommending the management of telecom inventory just for the sake of it. It is good because it helps you reap maximum benefits of the telecom services.

Let me show you some concrete reasons why you need to manage the telecom inventory.

• You need to know the status of your inventory. You have to keep track of each and every piece of equipment because if you don’t, you may end up losing them on the sly. Inventory management ensures that the inventory is accurate at all times.
• Procurement and contract negotiation become easier with inventory management.
• Inventory management ensures that no unnecessary equipment is lying around and there is enough space for the necessary equipment.
• Proper inventory management enables proper and accurate invoice management.
• The management of your inventory makes people accountable for your telecom assets.
• With inventory management, you can track and manage the expense related to each asset.
• You can keep track of the usage of each asset in the inventory.
• Proper inventory management makes it easy for you to modify your inventory.

A well-managed inventory is the first step towards effective telecom management as it helps you align telecom plans with your needs and optimizes the telecom services.

Most organizations deploy inventory management of sorts but that does not turn out to be effective. I recommend seeking professional help and involve a telecom management company to manage your inventory for you.

The two things that make organizations worried when it comes to the telecom network are expense management and optimization of the services. I have always maintained that expert knowledge is important for these, and therefore, a business should go for professional telecom management. However, if you would like to handle the management of the telecom network on your on, you need not only the requisite telecom knowledge but also a thorough understanding of your network.

How well do you know your organizations’ telecom network? Here’s a list of things you should know.

• Telecom needs: You should know what your business’ telecom needs are.
• Telecom plans: You should know if the current telecom plans meets your business’ needs.
• Inventory: You should know always be aware of the current status of the telecom inventory.
• Telecom usage: You should know how the telecom services are being used within your organization, and if there are instances of any overuse or misuse.
• Telecom network performance: You should be aware of problems in the telecom services and find out the frequency of downtimes, if any.
• Unused service: You should know if you are being billed for any service that your organization does not use.
• Billing: You should find out if there are any errors in billing and accounting.
• Plan changes: You should know if there are any changes to the charges and the plans being reflected in the bills. Vendors may make changes to your plans without checking with you.

These things will familiarize you with your telecom network and prepare you to manage it.

One of the biggest reasons professional telecom management is recommended is the lack of expertise internally in organizations. So, with the requisite knowledge, can an organization handle the management of its telecom network on its own? It sounds logical, doesn’t it?

The knowledge isn’t enough if the organization doesn’t know how to go about using it. If you are looking for effective telecom management, you need to do the following:

• You have to procure the right service. You have to compare vendors, their plans, and their tariffs to help you pick the best offer.
• You need to analyze the telecom contract well before sealing the deal. You have to make sure that you understand the fine print of the contract.
• You have to keep a track of your inventory in order to get maximum benefits. You have to organize your telecom inventory better to use it more effectively.
• You have to monitor the performance of your network. You have to ensure that the telecom services function without a hindrance. You will have to provide troubleshooting support if there is a problem. You have to ensure that downtimes are minimal.
• You have to ensure that there are no errors in billing. You have to regularly analyze invoices and bills and ensure that you don’t pay money you don’t owe to the telecom vendor.
• You have to make sure that you utilize the services effectively to meet your business’ telecom needs.
• You have to look at preparing for your future telecom needs.

If you think you can do all this internally, you don’t have to look elsewhere, but if these things are either complicated or add an overhead to your responsibilities, seek professional help.