Bills, bills, bills. Every month they come in and must be paid out. Unless something is drastically different from one invoice to the next, you probably don’t even pay them much attention. Though that seems like a positive in terms of streamlining operations, it may mean you’re missing out on an opportunity to leverage extremely beneficial information to reduce costs. With your wireless bill in particular, you can identify transaction details that include a play-by-play of user activity and a jumping off point for generating additional savings. To do so, it’s imperative you avoid these common mobile management mistakes:
- Leaving pooled devices unattended
While it’s true that pooling devices is a step in the right direction, it’s simply not enough to “set it and forget it.” Mobile data usage is in a constant state of flux, as is pool plan pricing from most carriers. Therefore, you must continue to monitor your wireless invoices. Plus, accessing and understanding employee usage can help you identify the most cost-effective pool configuration. Paying for more than what you need just to avoid overage charges is not the best approach. - Waiting until contract expiration for review
Initially, you and your staff work hard to negotiate great pricing for your organization. But then what? Sadly, many companies assume that is all that needs to be done until the contract is up for renewal. Instead, it’s important that you make sure monthly plans match contract terms ongoing. If you optimize wireless expenses over time, your cost savings can be much more valuable than the extra point or two negotiated in your discount. - Expecting cost-saving opportunities from the carrier
Though your carrier business account manager may have the best intentions, he or she is in a position to make the carrier money, not save your company money. The carrier’s systems are also not designed to recommend plan changes that might be beneficial for your account. Once the contract is signed, your rep and carrier are under no obligation to do you any favors. That’s why it’s critical you pay attention and stay engaged to determine how your plan is working. - Assuming you are locked in to what you have now
While your contract ensures rates won’t go up, it does nothing to ensure your usage matches what you’re paying over time. Also, it doesn’t account for new plan options the carrier offers that may not have existed when you locked in. Generally, equipment contract terms are tied exclusively to the equipment itself and not to the accompanying plan, which means you are free to make changes to plan features throughout the contract without negatively impacting its terms. - Believing dedicated staff can go it alone
Assigning team members to monitor and manage your mobile device costs is not only beneficial, but imperative. Yet you shouldn’t expect them to be able to do the job of humans and technology all in one without error or misinterpretation. With a proper wireless expense management solution, you can be confident that the solution is using sophisticated algorithms to analyze and optimize your data, ultimately giving you the most bang for your buck.
Knowing your company’s reliance on mobile devices isn’t declining any time soon, the good news is that there’s plenty of opportunity to optimize wireless expenses and benefit from better mobile management. Contact TechOrchard today for details on how to get started.
