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In telecommunications, an audit is one of:
The simplest audits consist of comparing current telecommunications billing and usage to the underlying rate structure whether that is dictated by contract, tariff, or price list. Complex audits utilize software applications, direct bargaining with service providers and activity reports that include detail down to an individual employee's usage.
Telecommunications billing is the group of processes of communications service providers that are responsible to collect consumption data, calculate charging and billing information, produce bills to customers, process their payments and manage debt collection.
In business, companies with significant telecommunications costs or a telecommunications focus normally either conduct audits internally or hire a consultant. No matter the method, typical audits encompass one or more of the following:
Business is the activity of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products. Simply put, it is "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit. It does not mean it is a company, a corporation, partnership, or have any such formal organization, but it can range from a street peddler to General Motors."
A consultant is a professional who provides expert advice in a particular area such as security, management, education, accountancy, law, human resources, marketing, finance, engineering, science or any of many other specialized fields.
Analytics is the discovery, interpretation, and communication of meaningful patterns in data; and the process of applying those patterns towards effective decision making. In other words, analytics can be understood as the connective tissue between data and effective decision making, within an organization. Especially valuable in areas rich with recorded information, analytics relies on the simultaneous application of statistics, computer programming and operations research to quantify performance.
Computer software, or simply software, is a collection of data or computer instructions that tell the computer how to work. This is in contrast to physical hardware, from which the system is built and actually performs the work. In computer science and software engineering, computer software is all information processed by computer systems, programs and data. Computer software includes computer programs, libraries and related non-executable data, such as online documentation or digital media. Computer hardware and software require each other and neither can be realistically used on its own.
Telecom audits can encompass every communications service that a business expends its budget on. Audits may focus on mobile phones and devices, Internet service or land line telephony, or they may encompass all three.
A budget is a financial plan for a defined period, often one year. It may also include planned sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities, costs and expenses, assets, liabilities and cash flows. Companies, governments, families and other organizations use it to express strategic plans of activities or events in measurable terms.
The Internet is the global system of interconnected computer networks that use the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to link devices worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of private, public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope, linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical networking technologies. The Internet carries a vast range of information resources and services, such as the inter-linked hypertext documents and applications of the World Wide Web (WWW), electronic mail, telephony, and file sharing.
Internal Audit: A business accounting department will generally only conduct a telecom bill review in the months that trigger a red flag due to the sudden spike in the expense of a communications service. This is usually contained to the one telecom service provider who triggered the red flag and the rest of the invoices are left unexamined because they fall within the considered norm of a small monthly cost increase.
Contingency Fee Based Audit:
India's telecommunication network is the second largest in the world by number of telephone users with 1.179 billion subscribers as on 31 July 2018. It has one of the lowest call tariffs in the world enabled by mega telecom operators and hyper-competition among them. As on 31 July 2018, India has the world's second-largest Internet user-base with 460.24 million broadband internet subscribers in the country. As of 31 December 2018, India had a population of 130 crore people, 123 crore Aadhaar digital biometric identity cards, 121 crore mobile phones, 44.6 crore smartphones, 56 crore internet users up from 481 million people in December 2017, and 51 per cent growth in e-commerce.
In Nepal, operating any form of telecommunication service dates back to 1970. However, telecom service was formally provided mainly after the establishment of MOHAN AKASHWANI in B.S. 2005. Later as per the plan formulated in the First National Five year plan ; Telecommunication Department was established in B.S. 2016. To modernize the telecommunications services and to expand the services, during third five-year plan (2023-2028), Telecommunication Department was converted into Telecommunications Development Board in B.S. 2026.
Communications in Somalia encompasses the communications services and capacity of Somalia. Telecommunications, internet, radio, print, television and postal services in the nation are largely concentrated in the private sector. Several of the telecom firms have begun expanding their activities abroad. The federal government operates two official radio and television networks, which exist alongside a number of private and foreign stations. Print media in the country is also progressively giving way to news radio stations and online portals, as internet connectivity and access increases. In 2012, a National Communications Act was also approved by Cabinet members, which lays the foundation for the establishment of a national communications regulator in the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors.
The telecommunications industry within the sector of information and communication technology is made up of all Telecommunications/telephone companies and internet service providers and plays the crucial role in the evolution of mobile communications and the information society.
Chunghwa Telecom is the largest telecommunications company in Taiwan and the incumbent mobile, PSTN and broadband carrier there. It has its headquarters in Zhongzheng District, Taipei on the remains of the old Taipei Prison.
Telecommunication Company of Iran, or TCI is the fixed-line incumbent operator in Iran offering services in fixed telephony, DSL and data services for both residential and business customers, all throughout the country. It was established in 1971 with a new organizational structure as the main responsible administration for the entire telecommunication affairs.
The Indian Communication Finance Service (ICFS) earlier known as Indian Post & Telecommunication Accounts and Finance Service ( IP&TAFS) is a Group "A" Central Civil Services of the Union of India. The Service was started in the year 1972 for prudent and professional management of the finances of the Department of Posts and Department of Telecommunications which were the sole provider of the communications needs of the country at that time. Gradually, over time the service has crystallized into a professional cadre of over 376 officers. In 2017, 25 officers were recruited through prestigious Civil Services Examination conducted by Union Public Service Commission. This services contributes to the largest share of Non-Tax Revenue collection/assessment for Government of India.
Expense management refers to the systems deployed by a business to process, pay, and audit employee-initiated expenses. These costs include, but are not limited to, expenses incurred for travel and entertainment. Expense management includes the policies and procedures that govern such spending, as well as the technologies and services utilized to process and analyze the data associated with it.
Rivermine is a telecom expense management (TEM) company that specializes in managing voice, data, and wireless telecom expenses. Headquartered in Fairfax, VA, United States, its solution is available as on-premises software, software as a service (SaaS), or managed services. Rivermine’s solution automates the telecom lifecycle including contract sourcing, ordering, inventory management, invoice processing and auditing, wireless expense management, mobile device management (MDM), and reporting/analytics. On January 6, 2011, Rivermine was acquired by Emptoris, Inc., a developer and provider of supply and contract management software solutions. On 6/1/2015, IBM's Rivermine was acquired by Tangoe, Inc..
Revenue assurance (RA) telecommunication services, is the use of data quality and process improvement methods that improve profits, revenues and cash flows without influencing demand. This was defined by a TM Forum working group based on research documented in its Revenue Assurance Technical Overview . In many telecommunications service providers, revenue assurance is led by a dedicated revenue assurance department.
The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) is the regulatory body for the communications sector in Kenya. Established in 1999 by the Kenya Information and Communications Act, 1998, the Authority is responsible for facilitating the development of the Information and Communications sectors including; broadcasting, multimedia, telecommunications, electronic commerce, postal and courier services.
By definition an audit is,
Veramark Technologies, Inc. provides services and software for Telecom Expense Management and call accounting. The company "specializes in controlling telecom expenses by managing a company's voice, data, and wireless services through a combination of auditing, consulting and software".
Operations Support Systems (OSS), or Operational Support Systems in British usage, are computer systems used by telecommunications service providers to manage their networks. They support management functions such as network inventory, service provisioning, network configuration and fault management.
A utility bill audit is a comprehensive review of an organization's utility invoices to include Electric, Gas, Water/Sewer and Waste invoices in order to track billing errors and evaluate rate plans to make suggestions for further savings. This is separate from an energy audit which seeks to minimize energy spending through increased efficiencies. The audit may be performed by an internal department or by an external contractor. Reasons for choosing a contractor include:
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Lebanon is an independent public institution established by Law 431/2002 and legally mandated to liberalize, regulate, and develop telecommunications in Lebanon. The TRA effectively started operations upon the nomination of its board members in February 2007.
Contact Telecom is a telecommunications and IT services company that develops data processing and software services for the telecommunications industry, established in 1998.
The National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, commonly known as NTRA, is the Egypt government-approved regulatory and competition authority that was established in accordance of the Egyptian telecommunication regulation law No. 10/ 2003 as the national authority equipped to regulate and administer the telecommunications region..Regulating the competition environment between the operators inside the industry according to the Egyptian constitution was a huge mandatory case after the huge rate of telecommunication technology growth, as well as ensuring the availability of qualitative and green telecommunications services.
The General Services Administration (GSA), an independent agency of the United States government, was established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. government offices, provides transportation and office space to federal employees, and develops government-wide cost-minimizing policies and other management tasks.