Managing People and Technology in a Global Economy

Most large U.S. companies are already managing a global voice-and-data network. For many others, it's just a matter of time. Globalization of the workforce through offshore resourcing and more intense competition will drive organizations to real-time collaboration on a truly global scale.

In today's dynamic business environment, the mission of any voice-and-data network is to ensure that managers and employees have constant access to communications data no matter where they are in the world, and to help reduce corporate communications costs. Companies around the world are increasingly opting for Internet Protocol (IP)-enabled communications and IT infrastructures that provide more flexibility and scalability in order to tie together their increasingly complex operations, streamline business processes, and improve profitability.

However, effective management of global voice-and-data networks demands accurate cost and usage data. These, in turn, require accurate usage management information from as many locations as possible regarding the volume and types of calls being made.

The most effective enterprise call accounting packages consolidate key voice-and-data network management functionalities into a single application via a Web browser, and address cost allocation, traffic analysis, personnel productivity, client and project code charge back, and toll-fraud.

Fortunately, the conversion to IP-enabled phone systems is actually making it easier to collect the usage data needed to manage the network. Avaya, Cisco, Nortel and others leverage the data network to transmit usage records anywhere in the world the customer wants, making it easy to gather and analyze the data centrally. Worldwide intranets also make it easy to then distribute this information whenever and wherever it is needed. And managers who are able to effectively measure the use of their employees' time are able to plan and produce results most efficiently.

According to Sage Research, Inc., IP communications enable “workers to effectively do their job almost anywhere” and “empowers employees to use more telephony features…for improved communications and collaboration.”

However, globalization raises issues that are not considered to be a factor domestically, such as more stringent European laws on privacy and the rights of employees. While some countries like the U.S. allow employers to collect and analyze employee calling data, others require employee permission to collect call data that can be specifically linked to them. Here again, call accounting technology provides an answer for managing a global workforce by scrubbing off any employee-specific identifier so that the data can be summarized and analyzed on a location-by-location basis. Understanding the rules in each country is essential to getting the best results and working within the local regulations.

This same technology also provides a solution for dealing with varied international dialing norms and calling charges. The concepts of area codes and prefixes don't exist in the same form in other countries, where identifying a call as “local” or “long-distance” can be complicated. In many countries, you actually pay a premium for dialing a wireless number from a land line, even if it is a local number. So it is important to deploy a call accounting application that can account for these variations by country.

In a global economy, getting the maximum return out of resources is the name of the game, and that is certainly true for technology investments. Your best bet is to engage a vendor who is experienced in working with call usage data from other countries. They can help you make the best decisions on how to report on and use this information, and overcome existing cultural and technological barriers to successful globalization.

Together, IP-enabled communications and call accounting technology enhance organizational efficiency by giving IT/Telecom and Security timely and historical insight into the network operation at call-detail and extension levels, and into employee productivity by simplifying and automating data collection and reporting processes. Eliminating the manual collection of data and the labor-intensive effort of analysis translates to improved voice system performance and availability, at a lower cost. And improved knowledge of your company's voice systems allows management to make more informed financial decisions and to better manage resources.

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