TEMIA Gathers Industry Leaders With Dynamic Agenda and Affirms Top Priorities

Nov. 6, 2012 - PRLog -- The Telecom Expense Management Industry Association, (http://www.temia.org/) TEMIA, the authoritative voice for the Telecommunications Management, Telecom Expense Management (TEM), Wireless Expense Management (WEM), Mobile Device Management (MDM) and Solutions Providers in related areas hosted a meeting for its members in Washington, D.C. In total, 41 people attended the meeting from 25 different companies. In addition TEMIA hosted Jennifer L. Richter and Michael E. Drobac from Patton Boggs, LLP; W. Joss Nichols from Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans and Figel, PLLC; and Jay Kovalcik from AT&T.

The meeting provided an opportunity for members to network, develop new partnerships, discuss ways to overcome industry challenges, exchange different views and learn about industry developments.

"TEMIA has come a long way over the past few years. It was exciting to see such a large and diverse number of industry leaders at the dinner, and the agenda for the next day was filled with compelling topics," said Michael Bodetti, Head of Global Operations for Vodafone Global Enterprise (http://enterprise.vodafone.com/home/), which includes Quickcomm (http://www.quickcomm.com).

Jay Kovalcik, NBS Program Manager for Specialized Care Program Management from AT&T (http://www.att.com) said, “I was very excited to speak at the TEMIA Association conference in Washington DC this past week. It was an outstanding opportunity to share with so many companies in the Telecom Expense Management industry and highlight the “benefits and ease of doing business with AT&T’s National Business Services.” He added, “Productive dialogue on topics that proactively streamline care related transactions for our AT&T Telecom Manager and Authorized Order Placer community have a tremendous upside.

“In light of the continued rise in patent litigation and the recent passage of the America Invents Act, technology firms are seeing a need to understand the benefits of patent protection and the risks of patent infringement at a deeper level,” stated W. Joss Nichols from Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel, PLLC (http://www.khhte.com).

“Every company needs to be aware of the regulatory and legislative environment and how changes in leadership might impact the technology and communications industries,” stated Jennifer L. Richter Co-Chair, Technology and Communications Group at Patton Boggs, LLP (http://www.pattonboggs.com). “Of particular concern for TEMIA members are  evolving regulations related to employee privacy for mobile devices, data security, carrier data caps and tiered pricing, universal service reforms, foreign ownership restrictions for domestic communications networks, cloud computing and taxation of communications services including taxation of e-commerce.  We are watching these developments closely in Washington and recommend that TEMIA members do the same.”  

“There is something magical that occurs at TEMIA meetings we see the depth of thought-leadership within the association, the diversity of solutions providers (large and small, comprehensive and niche) and gauge the overall health of our industry,” said James Price TEMIA executive board president, and president of ICOMM (http://www.prlog.org/pub/ICOMM), (http://www.icomm.co/). “It is amazing to see competitors meet and work to establish best practices and industry standards. This was a first step on an important journey,” added Price.

TEMIA meets three times a year with two meeting in the U.S. and one meeting in Europe. Its Executive Board and committees, which manage the work of the association, also meet once a month by phone and web conference to advance the goals of the association through collaboration and dialog. This meeting had a comprehensive agenda with new action items that will enable it to build on its past success and help its member companies maximize their investments in the association.  There is work to do on industry standards, best practices and promotion of Telecommunications Management as a new industry term.

About TEMIA

TEMIA's ongoing mission is to raise awareness, to improve the quality and value of solutions and to cultivate shared industry knowledge for Telecommunications Management, Telecom Expense Management, TEM, Wireless Expense Management WEM, and Mobile Device Management MDM solutions. TEMIA seeks to do this through the development and promotion of open industry standards, and industry knowledge among solutions providers, business partners, telecom service providers, and enterprise clients. Further, TEMIA members subscribe to a Code of Ethics, which clearly differentiates their level of commitment to their clients.

For more information about TEMIA (http://www.temia.org/), visit http://www.temia.org.