MOBILITY MANAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES

Click Here to read the entire article: MOBILITY MANAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES

Cell phones, PDAs and BlackBerrys, aircards and embedded devices such as netbooks and scanners are among the most menacing line items that cross a controller's desk. On an individual basis they seem insignificant, but upon adding them together organizations are spending more than they can imagine. With the growth in mobility, IDC (www.idc.com) estimates 70 percent of the U.S. work force qualifies as "mobile" at least part of the time. As organizations deploy more cellular solutions it becomes exponentially more challenging to manage billing, inventory, logistics and maintenance of enterprise cellular accounts.

Engineering News-Record top 400 general contractor W.L. Butler Construction deploys more than 300 cellular devices companywide. With five locations across California and Arizona, W.L. Butler was forced to deploy two carrier providers for the coverage they needed. However, juggling multiple relationships and different carrier processes proved tedious for the company's IT and accounting departments. Poor account visibility led to ballooning minute usage, incompatible plans and a buildup of unused lines. Without proper documentation and accountability, it was challenging for W.L. Butler to dispute carrier billing discrepancies. With more important issues to address, W.L. Butler could not afford to spend more time on bill reconciliation, tracking plans or users and cellular inventory.

Gary Sciuto, IT manager for W.L. Butler said, "The carriers claimed that their Web-based management tools would provide all the stats and information we needed, but what they provided either never worked or was very basic and left us with little information to assess our overage charges or troubleshoot phone issues. In addition, the carriers seemed to routinely break the sites and would push us to use the reps who were completely unresponsive to our needs."

The following best practices can help your firm avoid the situation W.L. Butler experienced:

1. Centralize the Management Process.
At most companies, a variety of people from management, procurement, IT, operations, human resources and accounting contribute to managing cellular accounts. Usually, anyone in these departments has authority to place orders or make moves/adds/changes to the account. There is no way to prevent costly mistakes unless each person communicates his or her individual move/add/change requests with the rest of the business groups before the transaction is processed with the carriers. Not being able to account for each order or move/add/change is the primary reason accounts grow lopsided and cost the company significant amounts of money.

Appoint a mobility manager. By centralizing the management process through one individual, this person can become familiar with the company's cellular infrastructure and intricate details. The mobility manager would be responsible for tracking:

• the amount of minutes needed vs. purchased;
• the amount of lines being used vs. unused;
• individuals not adhering to policies;
• contract dates;
• warranty dates; and
• carrier plan pricing and promotions.

Cellular is a commodity. The only concerns an organization should have
when selecting a carrier are price and coverage.

2. Consolidate, Standardize and Optimize.
Doing more of your business with fewer carriers gives you greater negotiating power. This doesn't mean you should work with only one carrier, as coverage may be an issue. Don't be fooled by the hype of devices and applications being better on one carrier compared to the next. Each carrier has a wide range of units and third-party application providers that will meet just about any business need. Cellular is a commodity. The only concerns an organization should have when selecting a carrier are price and coverage.

If possible, standardize the equipment and services allowed. It is much less resource-intensive to support fewer variances in hardware, operating systems and services. Equipment and technology become easily interchangeable, allowing companies to maximize inventory and spare parts.

Optimizing minutes is easier than it seems. Most organizations can become more than 70 percent optimized just by utilizing two pooling plan options. The most cost-efficient way to build a corporate sharing minute plan is by using the highest-minute sharing plan and the lowest-minute sharing plan the carrier offers. For example, on Sprint you would want to build a plan using its 6,000-minute and zero-minute add-a-phone plans. On Verizon, you want to use its 4,000-minute and 200-minute add-a-phone plans. With AT&T, you want to use its 4,000-minute and 450-minute pooling plans. T-Mobile forces enterprises to buy minutes in blocks of 25,000, so there is not much room for minute optimization. You want to avoid any of the 900-minute, 1,350-minute or 2,500-minute plans on all carriers.

3. Institute Clear, Written Policies.
At some companies, especially at management level, employees are allowed to purchase any devices and plans they want. This does not make for tight controls. Organizations with liberal cellular policies end up overpaying. Companies need to be explicit about policies and controls to ensure compliance on services and usage. The two biggest culprits for overage charges are text and data. Unless the individual needs these services for business, block them.

4. Demand More From Your Carrier.
Companies do not lean on sales representatives enough. Remember that you are the customer, paying a monthly service fee. It is your carrier's and your sales representative's obligation to keep you happy to keep your business. Ask your sales representative if your company qualifies for any discount programs.

All carriers have implemented special discounts tied back to national purchasing programs. These allow even the smallest enterprise accounts (as low as five lines) to enjoy discounts ranging from 15-24 percent, $20 Blackberry plans, unlimited aircards for $45 and several special pricing options. For example, in the construction space, Verizon offers customers with an AGC membership a 22-percent plan discount, $20 Blackberry plans (as opposed to $44.99) and up to $100 in additional credits for new lines of service activated. Learn more at http://www.agc-oregon.org/public/programs/verizon.shtml

Sprint is the most aggressive, offering a discount for just about every vertical, ranging from 15-24 percent. Some of these association memberships offer flat Blackberry and aircard plans up to 50 percent below market rate and aggressive bill credit and device subsidies for new business. Many of these programs only require a minimum line count of five or 25 subscribers to qualify.

AT&T is on board as well, providing increased vertical discounts up to 22 percent, special plan pricing and additional bill credits and device subsidies. In addition, it has shown a willingness to compete with fellow carriers – matching or even beating offers. All you need is proof of an offer from a competing carrier, and AT&T likely will match the pricing.

5. Consider Outsourcing.
Above a certain threshold of mobile users, about 200, companies may want to hire a mobility management service. Considering the cost of a full-time person (salary, payroll taxes, benefits and opportunity costs), a mobility management service usually makes more business sense.