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Keeping Up with the Telecom Audit

By STEFANIA VISCUSI TMCnet Assistant Editor for Channels

When it comes to telecom expense management, the necessity of the telecom audit in the total equation can not be ignored.

What many sometimes fail to realize is that the telecom audit is not a one time process used to uncover mistakes and areas of improvement that once fixed, will not return again.

The reality is erroneous and unnecessary spend on telecom expenses have the ability to back in to invoices and contracts, and most times without realizing it before its too late. By continuing on with an automated telecom audit process, one that continuously reviews and compares contracts, telecom spend is much better kept in control.

Those who may have thought the telecom audit was a one time event, must realize that it is really that event coupled with automation tools that help to maintain savings and ensure errors don't creep back into telecom spend.

The telecom audit is utilized to audit current contracts and analyze those numbers against industry benchmark rates to see where money can be saved and how the company measures up with others sharing like needs.

Contract rate savings are important because they can add up and additional capital for companies can be invested elsewhere in their business. The telecom audit also enables the task of going back to telecom vendors to renegotiate telecom contracts at much lower rates.

The telecom audit is also used to audit invoices against inventory. Often times one time or ongoing telecom audit processes will uncover assets (phones, devices, circuits, etc) that are no longer in use but still being billed. This type of telecom audit process is able to uncover even the smallest error that may go unrecognized and have a drain on capital.

For an efficient telecom management process to be established, the telecom audit and other automated tools and processes involved in telecom expense management are utilized to increase visibility and control of telecom spend. By continuing to use an automated telecom audit process, it is possible to continually monitor and catch small errors whenever they slip in.

AnchorPoint offers a telecom audit process that includes working from a central database to improve the overall analyzing, capture and sharing of information, so better telecom expense management decisions can be made. AnchorPoint also offers a specialized Contract Audit Team, a group of experts in the telecom audit field that take a customized approach to developing audits and analyses that fit their customer's telecom service profile, focusing the largest area of resources on the highest levels of cost, thereby ensuring the greatest return.

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Stefania Viscusi is an established writer and avid reader. To see more of her articles, please visit Stefania Viscusi's columnist page.