TEMIA Members Comment on Ending Unexpected Wireless Bills or Bill Shock for International Travelers

The Telecom Expense Management Industry Association (TEMIA), the authoritative voice for Telecom Expense Management (TEM) and Wireless Expense Management (WEM) and Mobile Device Management (MDM) Solutions Providers, released member responses to "Wireless Consumer Usage Notification Guidelines," from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), CTIA and Consumers Union.

On Monday, October 17 the FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, the Consumers Union Parul Desai and the CTIA, wireless trade association, President and CEO Steve Largent announced a plan to help users avoid unexpected charges for wireless bills.  Under the CTIA's "Wireless Consumer Usage Notification Guidelines," carriers will send alerts to customers when they near or reach monthly limits on voice, text, data services and international roaming charges. By October 17, 2012, participating carriers will provide customers with at least two out of the four notifications for data, voice, text and international roaming and by April 17, 2013, they will provide all of the alerts.

"The rise in unexpected wireless charges has become one of the biggest concerns facing our industry today, so we applaud the FCC, Consumers Union and CTIA in their efforts to protect users against this mounting issue," said Xigo CEO, David Spofford. "This plan greatly supports our efforts in helping our customers avoid bill shock and more efficiently manage and minimize their mobile expenses."

"Bill Shock has been an ever-growing frustration for enterprise organizations. The proliferation of smartphones, business apps and wireless data available to the mobile worker means that the need to control costs and mitigate risk has never been greater" said Erik Eames, Managing Director of Wireless Analytics, a leading wireless expense management and wireless IT managed services firm. "A well planned and implemented WEM program will pay for itself by providing the visibility, security, tracking, and management tools companies need immediately, rather than relying on FCC regulations and carrier compliance in a year or two".

"Proactive notifications are a good first step to avoid unexpected charges or bill shock for the wireless services of the consumer," said David C. Perdue, Chief Executive Officer for Asentinel. "For the enterprise, maximum expense savings comes from telecom expense management solutions built on powerful software technology."

Some people might also suggest that another way to avoid bill shock for domestic use is to purchase unlimited plans for voice services and data, where it is available.  This approach may prevent bill shock, but it would lead to unnecessary expenses for most organizations because only a small portion of employees ever use enough services to merit having unlimited plans.

Other people might suggest that bill shock really occurs when people compare quotes for wireless service to the larger bills that they receive due to extra charges for Universal Connectivity Fee or Universal Service Fund (USF), Taxes, Federal Excise surcharges, Federal regulatory recovery fees and other government levies.  TEMIA members can help scrutinize the accuracy of bills including these hidden charges, and they can provide effective expense management strategies.

In Europe telecom carriers must halt mobile data service to customers when they reach 50 Euros (approximately $69 US) in charges within a month for overseas usage within the European Union.  While the EU also has mandates to reduce roaming fees, international roaming charges quickly add up.  Roaming fees and bill shock are more common in Europe, due to carriers' smaller coverage areas and overlapping coverage that lead to unexpected handovers to other carrier's network.  Even with mandated caps on data (50 Euros) and roaming charges, charges quickly add up.  Sophisticated tools and expert analysis are required to ensure business travelers do not lose coverage or experience  undesirable cost spikes when they travel.

Ben Mendoza, CEO of leading international TEM provider MDSL, commented: "Bill shock - frequently due to excessive roaming charges appearing without warning on the user's invoice - has long been a major source of tension between customers and their providers in Europe. Consumers are perhaps in a better position to safeguard their interests through use of either unlimited plans or - in the short-term - roaming bolt-ons, but the sheer complexity of managing these types of solutions on an enterprise-wide level puts them out of the reach of most companies, just at the moment when politicians on both sides of the Atlantic are calling for greater efficiencies from businesses across the board.

"For global organizations, the management of a mobile workforce can be extremely challenging given the variety of devices, plans, and regulations. At Quickcomm, we specialize in, and proactively manage, the complexities associated with all fixed line data, voice, and mobile expenses for customers across the globe. Our solutions simplify the process by providing standardized data across any vendor, service, currency, or language, available 24/7.  Through this, our clients gain complete visibility and control over their inventory and contract management; we dramatically improve operational efficiencies and help organizations avoid bill shock," said Ian Yates, CEO, Quickcomm.

"User's expect their wireless devices to work, regardless of whether they are in their home country or traveling abroad" said Kevin Whitehurst, Co-founder and Managing partner of mindWireless and TEMIA board member. "This is especially true with data-centric smart devices, which are generating 20% greater costs in international roaming than Blackberries and other voice only devices."

"International roaming can be expensive and not knowing what it costs is one factor that leads to bill shock. Currently, traveling executives are typically forced to choose between using their wireless devices as normal while abroad and accepting the high cost of roaming, or curtailing usage and even turning off their phones, PDAs and data devices to limit costs -- which limits their productivity and worse, risks losing business," shared Gary Cohen, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Truphone. "International business travelers based in the US will soon have better options enabling least cost roaming and even local tariffs while abroad."

Beginning on October 17, 2012 wireless carriers will be offering alerts on usage. "These proactive carrier notifications are a good first step to avoid unexpected charges or bill shock for wireless services, however, as noted by Gregg Smith, CEO of Proximiti Communications and a TEMIA member: "there is no need to wait. Comprehensive, real-time management is a reality today with cloud-based applications that run on mobile devices. The benefits of such an approach are many for preventing carrier roaming charges and overages, employee misuse, and the risks and costs associated with lost or stolen devices and unsafe driving related litigation and insurance costs."

Smith also notes that: "real-time mobility applications, when integrated with billing, CRM, and other business processes, improve the accuracy and completeness of information and also enhance the productivity and value of key employees."

The best way to avoid bill shocks and unnecessary wasteful spending for organizations that pay bills on behalf of their employees is to follow TEM and WEM best practices. These include:

• establishing policies that limit unnecessary use of mobile services
• use of TEM/WEM portals to manage procurement of wireless devices and service plans
• optimization of service plans through real-time and historical multi-variable analysis to ensure that employees have the right plans
• sourcing and contract negotiation to secure more cost-effective plans
• automaton of invoice processing to gain processing efficiencies and avoid late payment penalties for corporate and employee paid devices
• validation of charges on bills through TEM/WEM systems
• better accountability and visibility through charge-back reporting of usage and mobile expenses
• proactive measures using real-time management software and other approaches to prevent international roaming, high expense calls (such as 411), and other types of misuse and abuse.

"Anything that helps customers better control their communications costs is a positive, but this is just one small part of the solution to the challenges of trying to reign in telecom expenses. Organizations should not rely solely on carriers to solve this problem. A complete Telecom Expense Management program will audit and optimize for maximum savings. Contract negotiation will secure better plans this can help avoid cheaper "limited" plans that cause overages in the first place. Developing and communicating corporate mobile policies will help employees be more aware of usage, rather than relying on alerts or notifications," said Cameron Sowder Director of TEM Operations and Strategy for Manage Mobility.

"With all the technology, regulatory and internal changes impacting the cost of telecommunications today, and the increase of "hidden charges" over the past several years having a good TEM program in place with a trusted advisor have become a necessity more than ever before.  It is critical for companies to take the time to find right solution and provider who not only meets their requirements but is a good cultural fit for their organization," stated Leo Berz, director of professional services, Telecom Ecova (formally Advantage IQ).

TEMIA members have the technology and professional services to adjust employees' plans to maximize savings and avoid unnecessary expenses, and they can help manage carriers' alerts when they become available.  TEM and WEM can help organizations proactively manage fixed and wireless expenses.  This can have a real impact on the budget, and drive savings to the bottom line.

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