Communication Service Providers
The Role of AI in Telecom Expense Management for Cloud-Driven Networks
All organisations need to deal with a large number of tasks to manage their telecommunication expenses. These range from auditing telecom invoices to ensure accuracy, tracking telecom assets, ensuring compliance in all telecom contracts and managing timely payments to avoid late fees. Such activities are a vital part of a Telecom Expense Management (TEM) system, a strategic framework to managing and optimising the costs and assets related to telecommunication services.
Why is TEM a big deal for companies?
Telecom expense management is a vital cog in the wheel for telecommunication companies because it helps with visibility into spending, cost optimisation and control, compliance and efficiency. TEM is essential for both telecom companies and enterprises that use telecom services. Telecom companies use TEM to optimise internal operations, monitor infrastructure costs and keep their services cost-effective in a highly competitive market. For enterprises using telecom services, TEM helps with tracking usage, identifying cost saving opportunities and managing contracts with vendors.
In recent times cloud-driven networks have revolutionised enterprise telecommunications, bringing in unprecedented agility and scalability. By using cloud-based infrastructure and platforms, telecom companies can manage and process data on the cloud, reducing the reliance on physical data centers. While this shift brings in advantages such as greater scalability and reduced operating costs, it also introduces a new set of challenges in telecom expense management. These complexities demand better and sophisticated solutions to deal with these specific challenges and effectively address them. Let’s explore some ofthese difficulties faced in TEM with the advent of cloud-driven networks.
Dynamic Cost structures – In traditional telecom systems, the cost structures are generally fixed. The same does not apply for cloud networks, which mostly operate on usage-based pricing models. This makes the costs fluctuate a lot, making it a challenge to track and predict expenses accurately.
Complexity in billing – Telecom billing in cloud-driven networks is complex mainly due to the large volumes of data generated. In addition to that, diverse pricing models and real-time usage fluctuations make it a challenging task to track billing.
Contracts with multiple vendors – Companies generally engage with multiple cloud vendors and telecom service providers. This brings in added complexity due to variable pricing structures and contractual obligations.
Lack of Real-Time Insights – Traditional TEM systems often lack the real-time analytics needed for proactively checking the expenses cost management and providing actionable insights.
With current inflationary pressures, businesses are constantly looking to optimise the value of their telecom spend and reduce costs through better analytics and reporting. It is to be noted that in this ever-evolving TEM landscape, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made a significant impact. Let us see some of the ways in which AI can play a role and change TEM for the better.
Inventory management -– AI platforms perform real-time inventory tracking. They track devices and cables and even forecast demand for new equipment, without understocking critical network components. Additionally, they track and manage telecom assets, providing visibility into usage patterns and costs. AI analyses usage trends and historical data and recommends optimal expansion points that would be needed for the future. Any network disruptions are instantly identified by AI and optimised repair routes are suggested.
Cost Management – Usage of AI could significantly bring down the cost for organisations. AI analyses cloud usage patterns and tracks unnecessary expenditures and recommends optimisations to reduce costs and improve performance. Instances of potential fraud are also easily detected by AI by detecting anomalies in telecom expenses. Once these are flagged, they can be tracked and plugged. Apart from that, some of the labour-intensive work such as detecting overcharges or duplicate entries is done by AI, thus eliminating human errors.
Contract Management – AI analyses contract terms and conditions and ensures compliance. It even has the ability to identify opportunities for cost savings. It ensures compliance with contractual obligations, reducing the risk of penalties and service disruptions that could result in losses.
Real-time expense monitoring: While a lack of real-time insights is the bane of traditional networks, the usage of AI can help with real-time tracking and monitoring of telecom usage and expenses. This helps with identifying cost trends and alerting businesses to possible overspending which helps with taking swift and corrective action before any damage is done.
With AI making significant strides across industries, TEM is no exception. The integration of AI in Telecom Expense Management solutions brings with it transformative changes that will help enterprises significantly optimise their telecom spends with unparalleled efficiency. In today’s dynamic business landscape, embracing AI-driven TEM solutions has become a strategic imperative to stay competitive and maximise cost savings.
How can IBPM help?
IBPM’s Cloud and Telecom Expense Management Solution (CTEMS) provides a unique managed service that allows customers to offload the tasks related to cloud and telecom expense management. This solution addresses critical challenges, including limited spend visibility, complex cloud pricing structures, labor-intensive processes, vendor inaccuracies, and the difficulties of managing telecom inventory effectively.
