Swinerton Builders Reduces Direct Cellular Billing Costs and Increases Productivity with Electronic Mobility Management Services
SAN FRANCISCO, July 21, 2009 — Monthly cellular invoices are among the most menacing line items that cross a controller's desk. Lengthy documents with poor account visibility make managing corporate cellular accounts a challenge. How does one determine additional charges when they are all grouped into one lump sum, let alone take action on them?
Instead of just charging a flat rate for usage, carriers create confusing bundles of minutes, data, and text messaging plans, forcing users to play a complex game of management where, more often than not, the carriers win. Companies that can't keep up are forced to overpay for services, and literally throw away money each month. For companies that do contend with the carriers, it becomes resource-intensive internally, costing inordinate amounts of time and salary dollars.
Overages and underages, also known as cellular breakage, are how the carriers profit from this game of mobility management. If an organization uses too few minutes on its plan, it loses money on the unused and wasted minutes. Conversely, if an organization uses more minutes than its plan provides, it pays a premium for going over the allocated minutes. When multiplied by the tens, hundreds or even thousands of users an organization employs, breakage adds up. Other prime breakage areas include text messaging, data usage, and international plans.
Six months ago, John Knott – Controller of Swinerton Builders Northern California Region – decided to stop playing the carrier's game. Frustrated by the variable monthly charges, confusing and lengthy invoices, and poor carrier customer service, Knott scheduled a meeting with eMOBUS. After an initial consultation, Swinerton Builders decided to roll out Electronic Mobility Management. Knott states, "We're in the business of construction and cellular is just a tool that our employees need to conduct business. We knew that there had to be an easier way to make sure we were getting the best value, for our clients and Swinerton." Besides the out-of-hand billing costs, John noticed the day-to-day administrative tasks were taking a toll on the business. "Cellular was a nightmare that unfortunately, both our IT and Accounting groups had to deal with. It was certainly a big enough cost to do something about, but hiring a full-time person was not justifiable," claims John. "Prior to eMOBUS, I estimate that we were spending more administrative time a month on cellular related issues than I care to think about. Now we hardly spend any time on cellular at all. The most attractive part of the service is that the fees are incorporated into the savings. Within the first 60 days, eMOBUS reduced my direct Sprint and Verizon billing costs by 33%."
About Swinerton Builders
The Swinerton Family of Companies (http://www.swinerton.com) provides commercial construction services throughout the Western United States, delivering innovative construction solutions and outstanding customer service to a diverse range of business clients that demand exacting performance. Established in 1888, Engineering News-Record magazine consistently ranks Swinerton among the Top 25 General Contractors in the nation and in the Top 10 within the categories of Commercial Office, Retail, Multi-family Residential, Hospitality, Healthcare, Education and Entertainment. Today, Swinerton offices are located throughout California, in Colorado, Hawaii, Texas, New Mexico and Washington.
About eMOBUS
eMOBUS provides mobility management services and software that enable clients to slash direct carrier billing costs by 15%-40% within 60 days. eMOBUS' approach goes beyond delivering software, it allows clients to offload their enterprise cellular challenges, so they can focus on their core competencies. As a middleware solution, eMOBUS optimizes every transaction, protecting their client's best cellular interests. To learn more, please visit http://www.emobus.com.
Contact:
Francis Adanza
VP of Marketing & Alliances
eMOBUS, Inc.
Phone: 858.626.2155
E-mail: Email
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