Central Controls

Not every organization finds it can rely on just one wireless carrier, however. Summit Fire Protection, a sprinkler-system installer based in St. Paul, for example, has standardized on two carriers to serve between 150 and 200 employees working out of six offices throughout the state. Which carrier an employee is assigned to depends on “what area of the state they’re in and what their job function is,” notes Quintin Rubald, Summit Fire’s president. “Most of the office staff and engineers use Verizon Wireless.” Field personnel, meanwhile, use Sprint because many of the construction companies they work with have standardized on that company’s push-to-talk functionality, which allows cell phones to operate like walkie-talkies.

Previously, Summit Fire Protection used a corporate liable approach but each of its offices made its own decision about which carrier to use. As Rubald explains, “With the buying power we had, we figured there had to be some savings we could achieve, and we wanted to increase internal controls.” The company enlisted the services of Select Communications, which analyzed the company’s needs and negotiated with carriers on Summit’s behalf. Since shifting business to just two carriers, Rubald estimates that the company has saved about 35 to 40 percent on its monthly charges.

The Administrative Burden

Of course, monthly usage charges are only one component of a company’s total wireless costs. On the administrative side, companies adopting corporate liable plans take on additional work in managing employee devices. But that may be offset by a savings in accounting time. Wireless companies, including Verizon Wireless and Sprint, issue a single bill to business customers that are on pooled plans, enabling the company to cover its entire monthly wireless charges with a single payment, rather than reimbursing each individual employee.

"We probably get better service because we have someone we work with on a regular basis, rather than having individual employees calling an 800 number."

Consolidated bills still show each employee’s usage. Some companies may ask employees to review their charges and, depending on corporate policy, may ask employees to reimburse the company for any personal calls. Some wireless carriers offer tools to help companies manage their wireless bills. Verizon Wireless, for example, lets authorized users review bills on line, and offers search tools that can save time compared to flipping through pages of paper.

Companies typically give responsibility for wireless bill approval and device management to a single individual, who may be in the company’s information technology, telecommunications, or accounting department. At EMC Paradigm Publishing, that person is Fruzzetti, who is in IT; at Summit Fire Protection, that responsibility belongs to the accounts payable manager. The latter approach may be most appropriate for a company such as Summit Fire that relies on an outside consulting firm for key wireless-related decisions.