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November 19, 2009
Wireless Expense Management: Moving Users to Corporate Liable
A growing number of enterprises – for a multitude of reasons – are weighing the pros and cons of moving their users from a corporate liable plan to individual liable.
With the economic downturn, enterprises are seeking to cut costs by re-examining the original assumptions of who should be paying for these mobility expenses, according to Joe Basili, managing director of the Telecom Expense Management Industry Association. In some cases there are debates where firms are taking a short-sighted approach by seeking to eliminate reimbursements and move people from corporate liable to personal liable.
“First it is important to note that most enterprises have a mixture of corporate and individual liable services,” Basili said in an interview with TMCnet. “Sometimes this is by design, but often it is a result of poor planning and limited resources that are needed to transition employees from one approach to the other.”
Most enterprises will find the best approach is to develop a clear written policy that establishes a framework to control mobile devices and their expenses along with reducing the security risk, explained Erik Eames, managing director of Wireless Analytics, in a recent interview with TMCnet.
Eames said enterprises need to take into account both security and operational issues including:
Security
· Compliance
· Enforce policy by blocking features, Web sites, etc.
· Data security
· Ability to wipe data of lost or stolen devices
· Manage sensitive data on devices
· Risk reduction
· Prevent inappropriate usage (camera, downloads, etc.)
· Device management (third party applications)
· Corporate control of applications
· Over the air updates, security patches
· Prevent software conflicts
Operational
· Dedicated Tier 1 and Tier 2 help desk support (not an option with individual liable)
· Expense management
· Corporate contracts allow for pooling, large discounts, waiving of early termination fees
· Cost monitoring/reporting and inventory tracking
· Comprehensive insight into mobile number, type of devices, spending, usage, trends, user analysis, call detail, etc.
· Inventory tracking and provisioning
· Opportunity to gain efficiencies through scale and standardization of devices
· Richer user experience
Another area that is often raised is how to deal with taxes, Basili said.
“Taxes often distract from evaluating the real issues between corporate and individual liable approaches. A common misconception centers on the mistaken belief that when employees are given a stipend or they are reimbursed on expense reports, employers can avoid tax considerations,” he explained.
Under the current U.S. law and Internal Revenue Service code requirements, employees must keep a record of each call, including the time it is incurred, and its business purpose, Basili explained.
Implementing a wireless expense management plan can ensure that enterprises more efficiently manage their mobile devices. According to Basili, on average, organizations that do not have a centralized portal to manage mobility provisioning have three times as many devices compared to organizations that use a centralized portal.
“When individuals are reimbursed for mobility expenses, there is less accountability for usage. Enterprises are not able to take advantage of more creative approaches that allow for a combination of pooling, unlimited plans for large volume users, and low cost per minute plans,” he said.
The Danvers, Mass.-based company offers its Wireless CLEAN Platform application to provide organizations with a “consistent and professional” way to set and communicate cell phone usage policies. Using the CLEAN Platform, mobile program managers have the visibility to monitor wireless phone usage that is wasteful or contrary to an organization’s mission, according to company officials.
Erin Harrison is a senior editor with TMCnet, primarily covering telecom expense management, politics and technology and Web 2.0. She serves as senior editor for TMC's print publications, including "Internet Telephony (News - Alert)", "Customer Interaction Solutions", "Unified Communications" and "NGN" magazines. Erin also oversees production of TMCnet's weekly iPhone e-Newsletter. To read more of Erin's articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Erin Harrison
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