It happens to nearly everyone: you check your wireless bill at the end of the month, and you’ve gone over your minutes. Maybe by a few, maybe by a few hundred. Perhaps you vow to cut down on calls, or switch to a calling plan that matches your actual usage.
But what if your company foots the bill? How much less do you care if you’re not picking up the tab?
Managing wireless use is becoming more important as mobile devices are being distributed to more and more employees. In many businesses, wireless use was initiated by employees who received their own bills and then turned them in as expenses for the company to pay. Now, however, more businesses are seeking to centralize—or at least more closely manage—wireless billing.
But there are plenty of obstacles in the way to saving money. Employees who leave may run up bills before service is switched off. Figuring out which voice and/or data plans work best when you have thousands of devices deployed is a huge challenge. And, as Kevin Whitehurst of Mind Wireless noted, carriers don’t really have much incentive to help customers control their bills, because overage charges are profitable.
“There is no clear or easy answer for companies to manage wireless,” said Whitehurst, one of the managing directors and founders of Mind Wireless. The relatively young company, which launched in 2000, offers to help businesses cut their wireless costs by studying the billing data that companies receive from carriers and using that information to match employees with plans that fit their usage. The company also helps companies optimize carrier contracts and helps managers get a better handle on how employees are actually using wireless service.
Mind Wireless operates in seven countries and plans to expand to about 20 next year. The company says that its customers usually have between 1,000 to 30,000 devices deployed and typically save between 30 percent and 45 percent on their wireless costs; its client roster includes companies such as the Shell Group, DuPont, Stanford University and BP plc.
Because the quality of coverage from each carrier varies by region, businesses often find themselves using multiple wireless providers. Whitehurst said companies that hire Mind Wireless typically use from three to six carriers—although one business had three dozen wireless providers. Companies might also have decentralized systems for dealing with wireless, making it difficult to manage. However, even companies with centralized systems can be complex. Whitehurst noted that Shell has a centralized system, but Mind Wireless still had to work with about 30 different business units within Shell to manage the company’s wireless use.
Mind Wireless generally recommends a centralized model, in which devices are registered with a main database and procurement is handled through a tailored Web portal, which Mind Wireless provides.
“Wireless is not solved with technology. It really is something that we’ve got to improve service around the different processes and have technology help us automate that, so we can keep track of everything,” Whitehurst said.
Although the work the company does may sound intuitive, some companies might be tempted to try it on their own. Whitehurst recalled that once Mind Wireless had helped Quanta Services get its costs under control, the firm decided to try it on their own.
“After about nine months, it became unraveled,” Whitehurst recalled—and the company hired Mind Wireless back to cut costs and help keep them under control.
