Nationwide wireless plans are higher priced but do allow for in-network calls without roaming charges. An employee who never travels more than 50 miles from home office may never use this feature. Always check to determine that plans chosen for each employee are an exact fit for usage needed.

3. Paying for wireless insurance coverage, pager protection or roadside assistance coverage.

On accounts with several wireless devices, paying for insurance protection is not cost-effective. On single accounts, insurance coverage may be a good choice, especially if equipment is top-of-the-line and coverage premium is reasonable and insurance comprehensive.

Roadside assistance is one of those "peace of mind" features that can add $40 - $50 per year to each account. Let common sense be guide here. If user never travels for any length by car, eliminate it entirely.

4. Paying for wireless phones that have been lost, stolen or unused.

If a medium to large-size organization fails to properly track wireless inventories, duplication of billing for lost, stolen or even unused wireless phones may result.

Example: an employee is transferred to a new office and brings their wireless phone along. The new office provides them with a new wireless phone. The retired phone is kept inside a desk drawer only to collect dust - and in meantime bill is still being paid each and every month by previous office manager!

Establishing procedures for ordering and maintaining accurate wireless inventories should be routine for organizations that want to keep costs down.

Be sure you keep and maintain a complete inventory of handsets along with their respective bills and accounts. Paying for wireless services that are no longer being used can be huge source of unneccessary spending.

For free materials on how your company can reduce telecom spending, visit www.telconassociates.com

Recent experiences of running cultural awareness sessions for a UK team dealing on a regular basis with US proved invaluable to overcoming a number of issues which had become entrenched into operating behaviours of teams. The sessions heightened awareness within team of operating differences and helped to generate an understanding of why these differences existed within groups. It also presented teams with an opportunity to understand potential frustrations that their US colleagues may have had with their UK peers in respect to their own personal approach to managing meetings, negotiations, making decisions, resolving issues etc.

Involvement in awareness programmes across a range of diverse issues is proving invaluable in resolving numerous poor performances in international business and in enhancing day to day HR practices; for example:

•Expatriate assignments, management, training and benefits •Production of international relocation guides and related support materials •International company and office relocations •International recruitment •Corporate mergers and acquisitions •Training and development •Policy development

Clearly from an HR, and hence a business perspective, cultural awareness has been critical to success of global companies with progression of strong acceptance within businesses for need to enhance cultural awareness through diverse cultural interventions.