Google 411 can greatly reduce mobile phone expenses for businesses

Stop paying for 411 calls now!  Goog-411 is a free telephone based information service that could replace toll 411 calls. About 2.6 billion 411 calls are made in the U.S. each year, and it is a $7 billion/year market.Goog-411 can be accessed by dialing 1-800-GOOG-411.   Goog-411 is voice activated.  After dialing you tell it your city and state, and then ask for a specific business or business category. In my tests the product was excellent.  Results are spoken back or text messaged back to you, and you are automatically connected to the phone number requested.

GOOG-411 is using Google’s normal local business information available on Google Maps and elsewhere. Businesses that want to add or correct data can do so here.

Don’t Let Employees Choose Mobile Devices or Plans!

When companies allow employees to choose their own wireless phone and plans, the results are messy. Telecom managers end up with complicated brews of various plans, then struggle to maximize efficiency, track costs, and budget for the future. Yet according to The Yankee Group, 48% of U.S. corporations let employees do the picking.

At the same time, wireless spending continues to devour a larger chunk of enterprise telecom budgets. For U.S. firms with 500 or more employees, the average total amount spent on wireless services will spike from $3.6 million to $4.7 million, a 31% increase from last year, according to Yankee Group. Most of these costs are wireless voice services, not wireless data services.

Visit us at http://SummitMobilesolutions.com  to learn about reducing your company’s mobile phone bills

Take better control of wireless expenses

 ”The 2008 Enterprise Mobility Benchmark Report” published by The Aberdeen Group, states that Best-in-Class organizations are 31% more likely than the Industry Average to have policies for wireless expense management.  The report suggests these organizations have established programs to perform monthly service plan optimization.

 Wireless Expense Management

More Suggestions

Getting a firm grip on wireless expenses includes software solutions as well as organizational and policy assessments

Here are some tips:

1. Involve senior leaders from the start.

Often the information technology department, finance, purchasing and operations and telecommunications, might be affected by processes and policies and should have a say in the project.

2. Establish Metrics.

The only way to know if your program is working is by analyzing for average cost per device. Set goals that can reasonably be achieved and review them with appropriate parties before instituting them.

3. Take ownership.

Consider transferring the ownership and liability of employee devices and phone numbers to the company where they can be centrally controlled. Owning the device numbers is integral to getting an accurate inventory of wireless assets.

4. Standardize and reduce the number of carriers.

Consolidate carriers as much as possible and set up electronic billing. Analyze wireless usage and work together with the carriers. To standardize and reduce the number of vendors, you don’t want to be switching every year.

5. Outside experts.

If needed, consultants can help create company wireless policies, write the requests for proposal sent to carriers, and weigh in on the software decision.

6. Evaluate business requirements.

A good approach is to limit and standardize the number of available devices. An unwanted effect is for a company to be in is to have saved money on telecom, only to end up with a major business gap. Meet the needs of the business, contain costs and provide the best services.

How to Control Mobile Phone Costs

How to Control Cell Phone Costs

• DON’T. . .
  
• Take a one-size-fits-all approach to cell phone rate plans.
• Buy nationwide plans for mobile workers who never leave a specific state or region. And don’t buy regional plans for coast-to-coast road warriors.
• Buy too many or too few minutes. The cellular industry calls that “breakage” and derives about 50% of its revenues from those customer mistakes.

• ---

•  DO. . .
  Manage enterprise cell phone usage centrally.
• Buy cell phone service to fit mobile workers’ geographical range, usage and long-distance needs.
• Consider using a wireless management company to optimize your cell phone costs.

Mobile Phone Expense Management

Wireless Expense Management, Aberdeen Reports

Just how much money can organizations save by using a wireless expense management solution? An example of potential savings is data from Aberdeen showing that best-in-class organizations spend an average of $72.40 per user per month on mobile services, while other organizations spend $124.50.

Wireless Expense Management

Mobile Expense Management for Business

Challenges in Mobility for Business 

Mobile devices, mobile phones, smart phones, PDA devices and data cards are a necessary part of the business landscape and are an essential asset in doing business in the global economy.  Businesses large and small are struggling with the dual challenge of cost reduction and device management.  Most indicate they have no formal program to manage mobility. In addition, controlling mobility costs need to be balanced with a strategy that puts companies ahead of their competition.

 Priorities 

Summit has identified the main areas that help businesses focus their priorities on cost reductions and device management.  The automation of these priorities leads to cost savings and process efficiencies.

Invoice Reconciliation – encompasses invoice review, audit and reconciliation

Device Management – tracking changes and updating of device inventory, billing records and order activity

Optimization – The automated function of analyzing device usage for its best appropriate rate plans, pools, features, etc.

Accountability – The ability for mangers to provide oversight to the proper and authorized use of mobile devices.

Productivity – The ability to quickly apply trusted solutions to costly problems such as international calling, device security, device destruction and workplace specific solutions.

 Conclusion 

The best practices of controlling the mobile workforce include the automated application of the above priorities and result in cost reduction, task reduction, ability to define usage policy, provide management oversight and greater productivity for the end user.