MTS - Mer Telemanagement Solutions Ltd. (Nasdaq: MTSL), a global provider of business support systems (BSS) for comprehensive telecommunication management and customer care & billing solutions, announced today that four international banks have selected its Applications Suite to manage their telecommunications expenses on three continents.
The MTS Applications Suite will be installed as part of each banking institution's telecommunications expense management (TEM) platform.
The banks - one based in Switzerland, one in Hong Kong, and two in the United States - have selected the MTS Applications Suite to help them analyze why their telecommunications expenses are so high. The banks' existing systems did not have the means to automatically check usage, allocate expenses to various departments/accounts, verify rates relative to contract terms and, most importantly, verify billing errors. Employing MTS' telecommunications expense management solution will enable these banks to save money directly by preventing billing errors, improving operations costs and resources, as well as will improve their vendor and partner relations.
MTS' full-featured, customized TEM solution has been implemented in various enterprise settings and demonstrated the ability to uncover errors that result in huge savings for the respective enterprise. In fact, many enterprises and organizations have found that using TEM solutions not only provides automatic in-depth examination of telecommunications expenses, but also enables them to improve efficiency and performance of their IT operations overall. It further provides the enterprises with a learning procedure for making effective use of their telecommunications tools, thereby educating them into new approaches for discovering unchecked expenses.
"The MTS telecommunications expense management solution is a natural fit for the banking industry," said Hanoch Magid, MTS, Vice President Sales and Marketing. "Given all the communications that transpire between departments, vendors and partners for any one banking transaction, the opportunity for error is great. Research shows that an average enterprise overpays its telecom bills by 8% to 20% due to errors such as wrong rates, duplicate bills, incorrect taxes, inaccurate charges, obsolete or unused equipment, and more. In fact, statistics show that billing errors of 12% or greater often go undetected for several months, which for a multi-location bank can translate into millions of dollars in avoidable expense. In order to recover this estimated loss, enterprises must allocate many resources to manage contracts and control their complex invoicing conditions, including service level agreements (SLA), rates, and other associated records, in addition to verifying communications' usage."
MTS' TEM solution features an automated simplified tool for managing, monitoring and routing invoices for payment or correction. Invoice data is transmitted from all sources, including calling cards, purchase orders, mobile lines and landlines, and automatically analyzed relative to real usage, thereby reducing overhead costs caused by invoice discrepancies, disputes and errors. Therefore, the service provider is able to realize a quick positive return on investment (ROI).
Mr. Magid added, "Many services and resources in a bank setting are no longer in use or obsolete, yet the bank continues to pay maintenance and service contracts for them because the expense isn't verified. Our TEM solution is designed to catch such discrepancies and alert the appropriate person or persons in the bank, eliminating disputes and reducing expenses."
MTS' TEM solution is comprised of a number of modules that work in tandem to manage all telecommunications expenses. For example, the Assets Management module analyses the enterprise's assets, facilities, and inventory, where they are located, and what is their current condition and utilization. The Budget Control module tracks and checks assets with their respective contracts for maintenance, service plans, inventories and renewals, and issues a proactive alert in the event a discrepancy or predefined exception is found. The Traffic Analysis module ensures that all the resources are used effectively. And lastly, the Invoice Management module facilitates full bill reconciliation, verifying charges with actual contracts and usage. Process controls are maximized when MTS' customizable process engine is utilized to define all Invoice Management process steps, rules and data flow, as well as monitor and adjust them according to the bank's individual business policies. Because of its modular infrastructure, the system can be purchased on a modular basis and expanded as the organization grows or desires additional features.