Telecom management.

• Position: Technology TOOLS - InfoCall 5.0

Info Group has released InfoCall[TM] 5.0, the new version of the company's suite of Telecommunications Financial Management (TFM) applications. TFM applications are designed to help companies take control of their voice and data network costs and better align IT with business objectives.

New applications and modules added to the Web-enabled InfoCall TFM solution include: Invoice Management, Data Inventory, General Accounting, and Enterprise Application Interface Tools. These enhancements give telecommunications and IT managers a fully integrated solution for telecom usage measurement and chargeback, asset and resource tracking, invoice processing, and information analysis.

Info Group Senior Vice President John Dretler said in an interview that telecom voice and data networks may represent the largest single IT expense for a large company--as much as $120 million a year for Fortune 500 firm. At very large and very decentralized operations, getting a handle on telecom costs can be extremely difficult, he adds.

TFM technology, he says, brings six key results by enabling:

* Automation of vendor invoices, which can eliminate overbilling.

* The ability to provide accountability and determine charge-backs.

* Tracking of assets and resources, which can improve utilization and eliminate unnecessary buying.

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