Call Accounting Makes Business Analytics Simple
With the growth of mobile and wireless devices, the increasing transition to Voice-over-IP (VoIP) and other converged communications platforms, and the use of calling cards and conferencing services on top of a labyrinth of existing services, companies are spending more money to communicate, but enjoying less visibility into this confusing mix of services and what they cost.
In this complex IT environment, call accounting has evolved into a true business intelligence tool, providing a wealth of metrics to help company executives and managers make informed decisions about sales and marketing efforts, call center operations, staffing levels, employee productivity, network security and toll fraud, and many other operational activities.
A March 2007 Aberdeen Group survey (The CFO's View of Telecom Cost Management) concluded that there is a correlation between companies whose overall performance is regarded as “best in class” and their use of call accounting technology to realize savings from telecom usage reporting and analysis.
Web-based call accounting solutions consolidate key voice-and-data network management functionality into a single application to provide real-time data monitoring, historical reporting, and a host of other features and benefits, including:
- Cost Allocation—Call accounting enables companies to gain control over the consumption of telecom services by aligning or grouping costs in a way that is meaningful to their business, such as charging back to departments for the actual phone costs they generate. Cost allocation also allows businesses to identify inefficiencies and more effectively manage resources.
- Return On Investment—Call accounting blends raw data-gathering power and the analytics of business intelligence to create end-to-end visibility into the telecom spend, a combination that enables organizations to make targeted decisions that result in significant hard- and soft-cost savings and a high return on telecom investment.
- Track Employee Productivity—Call accounting provides managers with reports to identify calling patterns and assess productivity and efficiency, convert “misuse and abuse” phone time to immediate gains in productivity, and gives sales management the metrics to monitor prospecting and other sales-related activity. Most importantly, it allows managers to manage daily activity instead of end-of-the-month results.
- Marketing Effectiveness—The old saying that you can't manage what you can't measure holds true in every aspect of marketing. Call accounting provides marketing professionals with the data they need to track campaign effectiveness and optimize lead management by identifying which marketing campaigns are yielding the best results or return on investment.
- Staffing Needs—By monitoring calling trends such as calls received, calls answered, calls overflowed to another group, and lost calls, call accounting gives businesses a better understanding of sales variations to better anticipate staffing and training needs.
- Traffic Analysis—Traffic analysis is a good way to track needless spending on unused and underused trunk lines. Call accounting can pinpoint and document fraudulent or incorrect billing practices, making it possible to obtain rebates from carriers or verify the time and specifics of calls for use as evidence in legal matters.
- Phone Bill Verification—Call accounting simplifies bill verification by providing consolidated billing statements for the entire enterprise, making it easy to compare actual usage with vendor bills and arming accounts payable departments with the ammunition they need for carrier contract negotiations.
- Toll Fraud Detection—Toll fraud costs businesses billions of dollars each year according to the FCC. Call accounting can identify suspicious calling patterns, monitor 411 and directory assistance calls, check for abuse of incoming 800 calls, track illegal or suspicious destinations to the station originating them, and monitor production time spent on the phone.
- HR Management Issues—Call accounting lets companies track excessive personal calls and prevent employee abuse of phone privileges. When employees know their calls can be monitored, they spend less time on personal business and more on company business.
- Control Inventory—Call accounting systems enable companies to accurately track and bill back for inventory—who has what equipment, services, calling cards—eliminating costly and unnecessary equipment purchases.
Why should your company invest in call accounting software? The use of call accounting technology enables CFOs, CIOs, and department managers responsible for critical areas such as IT, sales, and customer service to:
- Identify usage trends
- Accurately analyze profitability
- Predict future business performance
In short, call accounting technology offers a cost-effective way to:
- Understand the demand for telecom services
- Generate the business intelligence you need to improve resource allocation
- Increase productivity
- Streamline your telecom environment
- Ultimately, lower your overall telecom spend
To learn more about SAI's call accounting solutions, complete our contact form or call us at (800) 775-0025, ext. 4516.
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