Verizon Business Continues Push for eBonding and EDI

In each view, users can drill down to city-, street-, or device-level detail through rich topology maps. The maps help create detailed diagnostic reports that give customers a better chance of noting what is a one-time versus a chronic problem or trend anywhere they operate in the world.

Reports can be keyed up according to voice, data, IP, hosting or other product. Users can either use the predetermined reports, or they can customize views for ad hoc reports that cater to their own key performance indicators (KPIs), such as subsidiary, department or telephone number level.

“We really wanted to give multiple views of the same data, since each department within an enterprise has its own interests,” says Chodoronek. For that reason, views are tailored according to user profile. A head administrator at corporate can access a financial perspective of billing data, whereas IT and NOC can access data necessary for network management and monitoring. Procurement can access yet another view to see ordering information.

From Reactive to Proactive Communications Management

The ability for users to drill down according to their roles and according to the products and services will improve their decision-making abilities. Rather than react to problems after-the-fact, Verizon Business hopes the application engenders a mindset change.

“The elimination of the three- to five-day mail cycle means CFOs can regulate expenses based on an understanding of where they are at the present time. They can manipulate data and generate remittances and reports based on real-time trends,” says Chodoronek. That, he believes, will translate into mark-ups or discounts that can immediately reflect trends in voice, data, and IP, not to mention expediting fraud and abuse detection.

Another plus to the automation is the fact more and more enterprises want to be environmentally conscious. eBonding and EDI of course reduce waste — something Verizon Business is getting increasingly serious about. Verizon Business hopes its work with the Environmental Protection Agency will further bolster its reputation among its customers, not to mention Mother Nature.

Just how strong an effect this type of application will have on the enterprises, and the environment, remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: enterprises' IT managers are tired of wading through boxes of bills. Perhaps the time for pervasive eBonding and EDI applications is here, especially now that corporations and associations feel more pressure to analyze the profitability of products and services, and to detect fraud and misconduct.