Business Model - Telecom Expense Management

Description

This business model is dedicated to provide services to mid-size or big organizations where on average, telecom is the fourth largest expense. Without a right management tool, it is often truly a black hole. Here's where you can come an offer possibility to dramatically reduce expenses and keep track on them. Please note that you do not provide VoIP services here - you give a solution of how to reduce telecom expenses.

Target group

As described below, target audience is formed by mid-size or big organizations that would like to have control on their calls and make appropriate actions to reduce the expenses rationally.

What is needed

Equipment/infrastructure:

• [MOR license]
• Recommended add-ons:
  • Mobile Number Portability if the portability rules are applied in your country.
  • Monitorings to ensure security of the system and preventing you/your client from huge money losses.
• Recommended (but not essential): VoIP GSM Gateway allowing to use different SIM cards for specific destination

Suppliers/providers:

• Multiple providers (to get better price to specific destination)

Analysis

First thing you need to do is to make a detailed analysis of possible problems inside the organization. In this aspect problem might mean:

• High amount of international calls even though just few employees should call abroad. Solution - limit the rights to call international numbers.
• Calls are being made by those employees whose work is not associated with phone calls at all. Solution - limit the rights to initiate outside calls (leave possibility to communicate only locally).
• Calls to specific destinations are very expensive. Solution - create the LCR by making sure that cheapest suppliers are chosen for each destination.
• Calls to mobiles are initiated from landlines even though it is less expensive to call using the mobile of the same operator. Solution - deploy a GSM gateway and create an LCR to make sure the cheapest path is chosen based on the dialed number
• etc.

Usually you notice those issues only after doing a detailed research in specific company, communicating with the management about the roles and rights of each employee and analyzing the phone bills.

Calculating the ROI

After analysis is completed, you can present a business case for the management explaining the main problems and showing how much they could reduce their expenses. You can also include graphs and charts showing the possible return on investment (don't forget to show long term results).

Pilot project

If you prove the management that you can make a significant change for their company by showing a theoretical model, usually the next step is to show those results in short time period. In some cases you may skip this step, but personally we would recommend to include it and also apply some charge for it because you are already putting the efforts to reduce their expenses.

Implementation

If pilot project is successful and company sees the reduced expenses, you may sign the agreement with them and start deployment in order to help them to continue reducing expenses in the long term.

The main responsibility after implementation is to keep track on the company changes, analyze market situation and support the equipment itself to make sure it operates well with no glitches.