For the uninitiated, Telecom Expense Management (TEM) is, in a nutshell, a broad framework consisting of industry best practices combined with innovative technologies to deliver an integrated holistic solution that enables enterprises to effectively manage and optimise their telecom expenditures across the organisation. Deploying TEM successfully within an enterprise will result in increased profitability, visibility, accountability, and manageability into how every dollar is being spent and accounted for within the organisation.

Consider what happens when telecom costs are not properly managed or optimised:

- Lack of visibility and management of telecom services and asset inventory typically average anywhere from 10%-30% of wasted telecom expenses a year.

- Lack of expertise and resources in thoroughly auditing monthly telecom service provider bills can result in overpayment 7%-12% of the time.

- Lack of enterprise-wide visibility into corporate voice, data, and mobile usage can result in 12%-18% being forfeited in telecom spend.

- Telecom service provider contracts are not properly negotiated and scrutinized and rates and contract terms are typically unfavourable to the enterprise subscriber.

- Consolidated enterprise-wide high level summary reports of telecom expenses are difficult to obtain and in most cases, unreliable and inaccurate.

- Low levels of user accountability in telecom usage leads to increased telecom abuse and fraud

Studies by TEM industry analysts have consistently revealed that most companies do not closely track and verify their telecom spending. Having proper expertise and understanding of telecom expenses enables a company to optimize and enhance its overall business performance and competitiveness. The result is that companies are able to maximise visibility of telecommunication costs and make spend adjustments where necessary by having the ability to quickly analyze and compare their enterprise-wide voice, data, and mobile telecom costs across the organisation.

Requirements for Success

With the proliferation of new telecom service offerings combined with current turbulent global economic conditions, the complexities of managing and optimizing telecom costs have become even more acute. As such, many companies are now turning to outsourcers such as TEM managed service providers to mitigate the complexities associated with managing and optimizing their telecom expenses.

The following 10 criteria should be considered when choosing a TEM managed services provider:

1. Skills - TEM vendors should be subject matter experts and ideally have decades of experience in the global telecom sector.

2. Delivery - TEM vendors should provide with flexible deployment options with maximum control and accountability of delivery service levels.

3. Technology - TEM vendors should employ the most current technology solutions and continuously innovate and adopt cutting edge technologies needed to provide maximum business value to enterprise customers.

4. Methodologies - TEM vendors should adopt industry best practices and be innovators themselves in continuously refining and introducing new lifecycle methodologies to further the TEM pract

Here is a checklist of sorts to remind you that taking care of your health will mean taking care of your stress.

Did you ever go through your medicine cabinet or drawer or whatever, and you see expiration dates... and there are some that expired  three years ago?

Or did you ever look at spices in your cupboard and realize that 1) Some actually have expiration dates and 2) You have been using spices that are really, really old? (OK, that just happened to me-maybe you are better about this!)

Anyway, it made me think about how time gets away from us and we don't always realize how much time has passed since we called a friend, or visited the dentist, or got a check-up.

So I have put together a list to jog your memory and remind you to take care of yourself.

When you take care of you, everything in your life will move along easier!

10 Point Health Check-in

If you have not done these in a while... get moving!

1. When was your last physical?

2. What about a tetanus shot? If you suffer a wound that is deep or dirty, and haven't had a tetanus shot for the last 10 years you could be in serious trouble with a tetanus infection, a bacterial disease that affects the nervous system and could be fatal. Children receive this shot along with their vaccines, but often adults do no think of asking their doctor about it.

3. When did you last see the dentist? Go.

4. Ladies....make sure you keep up with self breast check and mammograms.

5. Anyone over 50...I'm sorry, but it is colonoscopy time!

6. It's that time of year. If you want a flu shot, figure out where you will go and get that in motion.

7. How is your vision? Headaches or squinting could signal that you need glasses or a new prescription.

8. How is your weight? Do something about it. Suggestion: Keep a food diary for a few days and use it to help you zero in the most troublesome areas.

9. Are you golden girls dvd set exercising at all? Start with 10 minute walks a day. Move.

10. Are you laughing everyday? I'm serious... don't be too serious.