Case Study – University Telecom Expense Management
Large University Faced Significant Telecom Management Challenges
A public research university with 29,000 students and operations across multiple properties, including a main campus and specialized research facilities, faced significant telecom management challenges.
Managing telecom resources for a sprawling institution like this, with its complex mix of academic, health sciences, and overseas operations, presented considerable hurdles.
The university relied on a telecom expense management (TEM) provider to manage its multi-million-dollar telecom spend and over 1,000 devices.
However, the TEM service fell short of expectations:
The Issues
Manual Processes
Each month, university staff had to download invoices from carriers, reformat them, and manually address errors.
Hidden Costs
The prior TEM vendor charged exorbitant fees, such as $10,000 per integration, with no clear understanding of all associated costs.
Lack of Visibility and Control
The university lacked a central platform to provide transparency and efficient management of telecom resources.
These inefficiencies hindered the university’s ability to streamline operations and control costs effectively.
Tellennium proposed a fully outsourced telecom management program, anchored by its Management of Things® (MoT®) platform.
The numbers:
• Multi-Million-dollar telecom spend
• Over 1,000 devices
• Research university with 29,000 students
The Solution
Automation of Processes
- Tellennium’s platform automated invoice processing and error correction, eliminating the need for manual intervention.
Centralized Visibility
- The MoT platform offered real-time inventory tracking and a unified view of telecom expenses, enhancing department-level visibility and control.
Mobility Store with Approval Workflow
- Orders routed through a pre-approval process ensured policy compliance and streamlined procurement.
Relational Database for Cost Allocation
- Tellennium’s database automatically associated inventory items with employees, simplifying cost allocation across departments.
By addressing the university’s pain points, Tellennium delivered a robust, fully managed service that minimized operational burdens.
The Results
The implementation of Tellennium’s solution marked a major improvement in how the university managed its telecom operations:
Efficiency Gains
- The automation of invoice processing allowed the university to reallocate internal resources, removing the need for staff dedicated to TEM tasks.
Improved Cost Allocation
- Automated processes enabled precise tracking of telecom expenses, ensuring fair distribution across departments.
Enhanced Control and Compliance
- The mobility store’s approval workflows enforced compliance with university policies, while real-time inventory tracking provided complete visibility.
Cost Transparency
- With all costs clearly outlined upfront, the university avoided the surprise fees associated with its previous TEM provider.
Tellennium’s partnership enabled the university to optimize its telecom infrastructure, reduce administrative overhead, and enhance financial performance, demonstrating the impact of a strategic and well-executed telecom expense management program.
The author, Rob Halik, is a Senior Analyst at Tellennium, specializing in Managed Mobility Services, Telecom Expense Management, and Utility Bill Management. With over 25 years of industry experience, Rob offers enterprise expense management insights to help businesses streamline operations and reduce costs. This article is a collaborative effort by Tellennium’s expert team members, including Greg McIntyre, Shawn Veitz, Matt McIntyre, and Todd Givens, who together bring over 100 years of industry experience to the table.