{"id":4664,"date":"2016-11-02T15:38:14","date_gmt":"2016-11-02T21:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meetingone.eu\/eu-nl\/?p=4664"},"modified":"2018-12-05T15:17:09","modified_gmt":"2018-12-05T22:17:09","slug":"easy-conference-call-billing-management-de-stress-your-accounting-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meetingone.com\/eu-nl\/blog\/easy-conference-call-billing-management-de-stress-your-accounting-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Easy Conference Call Billing Management: \u201cDe-Stress\u201d Your Accounting Team"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nA law firm makes three conference calls one day.\u00a0\"Conference<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Lawyer X calls a client’s family.\u00a0 Lawyer Y calls a lien release officer and their manager.\u00a0 Lawyer Z calls the DA\u2019s office for a conference call.<\/p>\n

Each call has a different cost.\u00a0 Each call has a different billing code.<\/span><\/h4>\n
\n

How long does it take for them to realize they probably need a conference call billing management system?\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026Hopefully, not too long.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Billing for conference calls can be such a mess of tangled lines and rates.\u00a0 And who winds up breaking down these expenses?\u00a0 Your accounting team.\u00a0 Instead of heaving more upon them teams, let\u2019s \u201cde-stress\u201d your accounting team!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

At MeetingOne, we\u2019ve worked to simplify the process for our clients with automated conference call billing.\u00a0<\/strong> But don\u2019t take my word for it.<\/p>\n

To get a better perspective on the topic, I spoke with three members of our accounting team: Cindy E., Danielle M., and Michelle B.\u00a0 They shared their thoughts on the challenges of conference call billing management and how to combat them with MeetingOne\u2019s Online Account Management (OAM).<\/p>\n

Typical Billing Difficulties\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Every time you make a conference call, a lot of factors come into play for the billing.\u00a0 Domestic vs. international rates.\u00a0 Number of participants.\u00a0 Who\u2019s making what calls.\u00a0 And so on.<\/p>\n

When I addressed this matter with our accounting team, they were all very much on the same page.\u00a0 As all three pointed out, the greatest difficulties come back to inadequate expense reporting.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"SimplifiedMost of the information people get concerning conference call billing comes in the form of an invoice.\u00a0 Unfortunately, invoices alone rarely provide enough detail for accurate expense reporting.\u00a0 Cindy shared a personal example:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe would get the invoice from our long distance provider, but there were no details\u00a0that would say this or that department were on a phone call.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think the calls were billed right to the departments or accounted for in their budgets.\u201d<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Danielle provided an excellent instance to illuminate the issue:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cLet\u2019s say you\u2019re in a company of 200 people, and you have fifteen departments using your audio room lines.\u00a0 If I\u2019m the accounts payable person, I need to allocate call expenses out to the different departments.\u201d<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

If you don\u2019t have a detailed reporting of conference call expenses, it begs the question, Are the expenses being appropriately accounted for?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The types of reports typical businesses need should be detailed.<\/p>\n

\n

“At some point you have to move from the broad details of an invoice\u00a0to call-by-call, line-by-line specifics, if you want to gain a better understanding of how conference call expenses factor into your larger business model.”<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n

Top 3 OAM Tools for Easy Conference Call Billing Management\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

The costs of conference calls can add up quickly if you\u2019re not paying close attention.\u00a0 This is all the more important for businesses that make hundreds\u2014if not thousands\u2014of conference calls every year. \u00a0Knowing how the expenses break down across your business may help you improve business practices.<\/p>\n

What do you need then?\u00a0 Our accounting team shared with me the best tools in OAM to help any team make the above difficulties a thing of the past:<\/strong> Call Detail Reports (CDRs), the Report tab in OAM, and the Billing Code feature.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Call Detail Reports (CDRs)\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n

\u201cI love CDRs, they give you the best information for making practical decisions about usage.\u201d<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Michelle told me, brimming with a smile.<\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n
\"OAM<\/a>

Sample CDR – Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

CDRs are highly functional, and they afford MeetingOne customers a detailed look into their conference call billing and costs.<\/p>\n


\nExpanded Reporting\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Invoices can be helpful, but they lack detail.\u00a0 To resolve this issue, MeetingOne makes CDRs available with every audio conferencing\u00a0invoice we send out. \u00a0Anyone with administrative access can log in to OAM and download the CDRs, as Cindy laid it out for me.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a great example Danielle provided to demonstrate the benefit of a CDR:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cLet\u2019s say you have 500 minutes of domestic calls and twenty-five minutes of Canadian outbound.\u00a0 You can go to your CDR, and it can show you what adds up to those 525 minutes.\u00a0 What day they took place, when they started and ended, how many minutes, and\u2014the most helpful part\u2014the rate and\u00a0applicable fee\u00a0to get you a total.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing in Excel, there\u2019s a <\/strong>lot<\/b> of information in the CDRs that can be manipulated and filtered.\u00a0<\/strong> With the call details broken out by room, I can take the calls and sort them by country, day, caller, department, charge\u2014whatever information I need first.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cBeing able to filter the information I need\u2014that\u2019s of tremendous value.\u201d \u2013 Danielle M.<\/span><\/h4>\n
\n

<\/h4>\n

Time Saving\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

\"OAMLike I said, CDRs are highly functional.\u00a0 Beyond serving as a detailed report, a CDR can be used to save time\u2014especially when it comes to keying in expenses.<\/p>\n

Danielle elaborated on how the reports help save time,<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cMany of larger companies have accounting systems require which require you to enter an invoice into the accounts payable software.\u00a0 You have to key in those expenses.<\/h4>\n

\u201cOur CDRs are in\u00a0the Excel\u00a0format and may potentially\u00a0be uploaded by the bigger accounting software systems and added to your general ledger.\u00a0 That saves a ton of keying time for accounting.<\/strong>\u201d<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n

Clarifying Expenses\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

On the MeetingOne side, we use CDRs to clarify expenses with our customers.<\/p>\n

Michelle outlined for me what we do:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cCDRs are also helpful for clearing things up on the invoice, especially for clarifying expense and usage.<\/strong>\u00a0 If a customer has a question, we can show them when they logged in, how long the calls were, the costs per line per person, etc.\u201d<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

(Want to learn how you can use CDRs to reevaluate your calling practices?\u00a0 Check out the blog post<\/a><\/span><\/strong>!)<\/p>\n

\n

OAM Reports Tab\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

CDRs present the best option to dig into your conference call billing reports.\u00a0 But the Reports aren’t always available.\u00a0 The CDR for any given month (let’s say July) only becomes available on the first or second business day of the following month (i.e. August).<\/p>\n

Where can you go for call info in the interim?\u00a0 OAM has this base covered.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cFor our customers who just want to know what the costs are going to be for one call, they can just pop over to the Reports tab [in OAM] and see the day-to-day call costs<\/strong>. These reports show you the minutes, rates, and estimated, domestic charges for calls, which gives you a good estimate on the costs (unless you have a high volume of International calls).\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cThe reports really help when you want to verify rates at any time, especially as you look into your call costs.\u201d \u2013 Cindy E.<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n

Billing Codes
\n<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"OAMTo help supplement the information CDRs provide, OAM offers a billing code feature.\u00a0 The feature allows users to associate certain billing codes with a call.\u00a0 The additional information provided by the billing codes helps users better understand and manage their conference call costs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

To expand upon this, Danielle provided a particular example.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe most often see customers use billing codes when they turn around and rebill their clients\u2014like a law firm might.\u00a0 A law office may need to expense calls on a client-by-client basis, so they need to be able to identify the calls easily.”<\/h4>\n

\u201cUsing billing codes is a great way to get the additional call details you want.\u00a0 And it\u2019s helpful for getting more info about how expenses line up.\u201d \u2013 Michelle B.<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

(If you\u2019re interested in using billing codes, check out this blog<\/a><\/span><\/strong> for learning how to associate codes with calls.)<\/p>\n

\n

Easy Conference Call Billing Management\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Going into these interviews, I would never have thought that the accurate reporting of conference calls could make so much of a difference in accounting processes.\u00a0 I want to extend a big thanks to the MeetingOne accounting team for sharing their time and insights with me!<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no reason conference call billing management should be an unnecessarily heavy burden on your accounting team.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 The tools are out there to simplify the process.\u00a0 Let\u2019s actively work to de-stress their lives! \u00a0Let\u2019s promote easy conference call billing management.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

<\/h4>\n

Learn how to use OAM to combat these problems by reading our best practices for OAM blog!<\/a><\/span><\/h4>\n

\"AudioOne<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

For those of you looking to get more out of your conference calls, check out AudioOne<\/a><\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 Not only does AudioOne give you full access to all the great features in OAM, but you also have the opportunity to make use of our visual interface for better managing conference calls, Click&Meet<\/a><\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\n

\"trial<\/a><\/p>\n

If you want more strategies for making the most out of your conference calls, subscribe to our blog<\/a><\/span>!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A law firm makes three conference calls one day.\u00a0 Lawyer X calls a client’s family.\u00a0 Lawyer Y calls a lien release officer and their manager.\u00a0 Lawyer Z calls the DA\u2019s office for a conference call. Each call has a different cost.\u00a0 Each call has a different billing code. 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