How can bad debt impact your telecom business?

 By: Omar Abdul-Hafiz

 Vector created by pikisuperstar - Freepik

In telecom, as in any other business, bad debt can become a very dangerous matter if not dealt with in a systematic and effective fashion. The image gets even darker if we learn that some cases of bad debt may actually be cases of disguised fraud. In fact, according to statistics, about 5-20% of bad debt is, in essence, fraud. Furthermore, according to Gartner, research showed that bad debt has increased by 26% in 2020 alone amid the height of the COVID pandemic.

But what exactly does bad debt do to your business if left untreated? In this article, we will focus on 3 major effects bad debt can have on your telecom business.

Key Business Concepts 101: Porter’s Five Forces

By: Lotfi Al-Sarori

Continuing our topic on tools for strategic business planning from our previous article, today we further our discussion on the topic and discuss performing competitive analysis using Porter’s Five Forces framework.

To perform competitive analysis for your business, you would need to evaluate the market, and study the competition. A good start would be to explore market reports related to your industry. These are things like market size, key players, industry trends, etc., which can provide you with valuable insights. Understanding the different aspects of your industry and knowing your competitors is crucial to the success of your business. One particular model that is very useful in this area is by Michael E. Porter. It can provide you with a holistic view of where you stand relative to your competition and the industry in general.

Key Business Concepts 101: Strategic Planning Tools- PESTLE and SWOT

By: Lotfi Al-Sarori

In a previous article about Key Business Concepts 101, we covered the topics of business process and how to improve their quality. The article was an introduction into the world of business management and its concepts, and it was planned to be the first article in a series about business management and planning topics. Continuing our discussion on the topic, in this article, we take a look at strategic business management aspects and the common techniques used in strategic planning.

Establishing and running a business requires careful planning. Strategic planning is the first step in strategic business management. It requires thorough analysis and proper preparations to make sure that the work to be done is based on careful study and a justified approach.

How a powerful CRM system can enhance your collection process

By: Omar Abdul-Hafiz

In a previous article, we talked about the 6 components of resilient collections management system. In particular, we discussed the 3 main systems: the dunning and collection system, the dispute management system, and the legal management system. We also touched upon three essential elements in powerful collections management: personalized collections scenarios, automatic action reversal, and the ability to integrate easily with 3rd party systems.

In this article, we will discuss in some detail the question: How does the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system help in enhancing your collection process?

4 promising trends in the 2022 Cloud landscape

By: Omar Abdul-Hafiz

In a previous article, we discussed 3 major trends in telecom that are likely to make some noise in 2022. Of these trends, we touched upon Cloud-based systems. And truth be told, the Cloud industry has made a name for itself as a big player on the tech scene in recent years. Its numerous advantages compared to in-house systems cannot be overlooked.

Thus, it would be interesting to have a look at some of the hottest topics on the Cloud landscape. In this article, we will discuss 4 rising Cloud trends for 2022.

How telecommunications have become inherently integral to our lives

By: Lana Bawaneh

The word telecommunications comes from the Greek prefix tele-, which means "distant," combined with the Latin word communicare, which means "to share."

From the beginning of time, people tried to figure out many ways to communicate remotely with each other. Starting with the primitive methods of communication to deliver some kind of messages, such as drums and smoke signals to mechanical communication devices such as the telegraph. Back then, the telegraph helped a lot in shortening the communications from days, weeks, and even months to only hours.

The technology also extended with new inventions such as the telephone, the radio, television, and later, video telephony, satellites, mobile phones, and the Internet. All of these technological advances changed how people live and communicate.

6 essential components of a resilient telecom collection management system

By: Omar Abdul-Hafiz

In the business world, there’s a general rule that must be obeyed for any company to survive and grow. It is quite simple. As a business, just as it is important for you to produce high-quality products and offer customers a great user experience and support, so should your customers pay their dues so you can continue to make them happy!

Failing to collect customers’ payments is what is generally known as bad debt.

Bad debt is a very major problem in business at large. According to Gartner’s finance research, the year 2020 witnessed a 26% increase in bad debt cases. This should give you an idea of how this is a very serious matter.

The telecom industry is no exception from this serious dilemma. And to overcome it, you should look for a powerful collections management system. Therefore, in this article, we will take a detailed look at the major components that you should look for in a resilient collections management system.

So, here we go!

3 trends to look out for in the telecom sector by 2022

By: Omar Abdul-Hafiz

As the world continues to witness radical changes on the economic and technological landscapes, we can see a lot of rapidly trending changes in how we do business. For example, Deloitte, the multinational professional services network, told its staff earlier this year that they can work from home, forever! This tendency of many companies around the world to include working from home into their normal business policies thus leaves a lot of pressure on providing them with better, more reliable communication tools. After all, a remote work environment is simply futile without a reliable Internet connection and handy voice and video conferencing tools.

As such, the race towards better, more advanced telecommunication technologies will only continue to intensify. In light of this, here are a few of the most trending communications technologies to look out for in the next couple of years.

Once upon a pandemic: Reflections on Crisis Management and Disaster Recovery

By: Omar Abdul-Hafiz

Around this time last year, the world was still freshly coping with the sudden and forceful impact of the COVID pandemic. Lockdowns were still strictly applied in many parts of the world and the vaccines were still in their early research stages.

Numerous studies and articles were written about the different aspects of the pandemic and lessons that we can pick up from it for the future. All these studies, however, point in one direction:

In order for businesses to survive through perilous circumstances, they need a strong ability to adapt, make well-informed on-spot decisions, and also learn from mistakes and improve accordingly.

In light of that, this article sheds the light on some of the core elements that need to be in place for successful crisis navigation.

Key Business Benefits of Dashboard Software Systems

By: Lana Bawaneh & Omar Abdulhafiz

In the past, business people could spend a lot of effort collecting, monitoring, and analyzing data from different data sources in order to generate reports that help them in making decisions. This process requires a lot of time that could otherwise be better utilized in managing business and making business improvements.

The past is behind us now, however, or so it should be. Today, there’s a need for a digitalized tool that can get this job done automatically with minimal time and effort. In fact, businesses nowadays need more than a tool that processes and aggregates large sums of data quickly and efficiently. What they need, in addition to that, is a tool that produces elaborate visual representations of data related to business operations, performance, and other sophisticated industry-specific metrics.

But there’s no need to worry, as this has become possible now with the invention of the advanced business dashboard system!