Telecom expense management software - to use it or not.  That is the question.

Telecom consultants who hold their clients' needs as the number one priority may not recommend telecom expense management software even if the client shows a great deal of interest in the concept.

The lure of telecom expense management software is easy to understand. It brings the ability to uncover phone company billing errors, notifies when contracts are up or if there are contract anomalies, manages inventory, invoice payment, etc. And all from the convenience of a personal computer at the client's office.

However, there are some issues that a client should be aware of before making the plunge, and in our experience it can be quite a plunge - especially on the land line side of the telecom equation.  The discussion of telecom expense management software for wireless is another ball of wax, and this software we might be in favor of, as long as the client has thousands of wireless devices.

Telecommunications consultants should only recommend telecom management software if the end user has hundreds, or even better, thousands of circuits to manage as well as a very large number of telecom invoices. The simple truth is a traditional, manual telecom audit will provide more cost reduction that any automated platform can possibly deliver.  So cost reduction by automated telecom auditing should be taken right off the table as a reason to implement telecom expense management software.

The other potential downside of TEM software is the time it takes to upload a client's data into the platform.  This could easily take six months to a year.  That's up to 12 months of continuing waste while you're trying to install a platform to eliminate waste.  A conundrum for many.

Another potential downside is that most TEM software platforms deliver more functionality than any single client can use.  So you would need to be very aware of the functions you would use and make sure you are not overpaying for a host of services that are of no value to you.

Then, there's the debugging and training that come with installation of any kind of business software, telecom software or otherwise.  That can consume your time, cost, and resources.

After saying all this, we would still recommend telecom expense management software to a select number and very narrow type of clientele.  A bare minimum of $20 million in telecom spend and thousands of circuits could make a program like this worthwhile.  And you must have a staff or at least one very dedicated and knowledgeable person to manage the program..and be sure that person doesn't leave your organization!

There's more to be said about the pros and cons of telecom expense management software.  A good telecom consultant can certainly help with the continued discussion.

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