Effective corporate governance is a key element of company profitability and the safeguarding of shareholder interests, especially in a rapidly evolving and `regulation heavy` South African economy.
Accountability for a business`s corporate governance framework - from policies to reporting systems - vests in management. From the CEO through finance directors to department managers, profitability stems directly from tight control of all aspects of company operations.
Although phone calls don`t naturally leap to mind when the phrase is used, corporate governance can be dramatically influenced by the way telecommunications systems are managed, audited and controlled.
In many instances cost savings of 40% are achievable for companies that take proactive strategic control over their telecommunications system. Leveraging these savings; reporting the success of doing so; achieving operational efficiencies; and ensuring that the company is fully harnessing the power of evolving communications technologies moving forward are all central to an effective corporate governance framework.
Indeed, for many companies telecommunications can be one of the highest non-operational expenses. One of the reasons for this is that a significant percentage of businesses don`t seek to fully control the day-to-day management of non-operational expenses, even though they might have been carefully budgeted for.
"The need for strategic and operational control over telecommunications systems in the corporate sector has been such that we have recently developed a Telecoms Scorecard system," says Mpho Mothapo, Sales and Marketing Director of telecoms specialist, Multimatics. "The Multimatics Telecoms Scorecard is designed to cut telecommunications costs, improve staff efficiency and allow for far tighter strategic control over the entire telecommunications system - all of these abilities feed directly into the overall quality of the corporate governance framework."
Mothapo continues: "For example, your company`s telecommunications bill arrives in the post. Like nearly every other company in South Africa, it is passed on to the accounts department for payment and the payment is made. There are no checks in place to determine exactly what has been paid for and whether the services paid for are actually what has been ordered or required."
Simply put, South African decision-makers often lack a high level snapshot of the state of their current telecoms setup. Without this executive snapshot it is nigh impossible to develop a telecoms implementation strategy, which impacts positively on the bottom line.
"The market has received the offering very well," says Mothapo. "There is an obvious need from a governance perspective for greater control of telecoms systems, along with a need for a sharpened ability to report on the bottom line impact of the system itself to shareholders and stakeholders. For this to become a reality, decision-makers require a high level scorecard that deals with the key pillars of a telecommunications system."
Key business questions the Multimatics Telecoms Scorecard addresses include:
* Do you actually have the use of all the services you have been billed for?
* What contract terms do you have and are these being met by your providers?
* In general, how efficient/healthy is your company`s telecommunications infrastructure?
* How do your employees rate when it comes to telephony behaviour and private calls?
* How well does your least-cost routing system actually work?
* Is there any fraud being perpetrated using your PABX system or internal company resources?
Multimatics examines all aspects of a company`s telecommunications spend, from employee behaviour and least-cost routing to what telecommunications equipment has been installed and what is actually being paid for. The Telecoms Scorecard will define, for example, that the contract rates promised are indeed being charged.
"It`s surprising how often this is simply not the case," says Mothapo. "Companies are frequently under the impression that they have negotiated the best possible deal with their telecommunications company and service provider. But because checking large telephone accounts is difficult and time-consuming, executives are often unaware that in fact they are using equipment surplus to their needs, or paying premium charges. Pressures of limited time and staff resources can dictate that checking procedures are neglected or ignored altogether, resulting in a `hidden` negative impact on the bottom line and the company`s overall performance in the market."
Ultimately, effective telecommunications management is a corporate governance issue, Mothapo concludes.
"Unless managed strategically, by expert business partners, telecommunications systems can impact negatively on many aspects of business. With the right partnership, however, accelerated productivity growth, operational efficiencies and reporting transparency can be achieved - placing the business on a firm and reliable platform from which to move forward."
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