Reseller Metropolitan Telecommunications (MetTel) announced Monday that it has enhanced its MetOne Portal with the addition of a new Business Intelligence tool that provides multilocation enterprises the ability to manage expenditures across locations, services and carriers.

MetTel resells other carriers and provides centralized care and billing across providers and geographies, including the 48 contiguous states, Hawaii and the District of Columbia. The  MetOne Portal allows IT, accounting and telecom managers to see what equipment and services they have at all locations to identify and control costs. It provides consolidated invoicing, detailed reporting, and real-time trouble ticket submission and monitoring.

The new Business Intelligence tool mirrors each client’s internal coding conventions and can be set up to reflect billing by account code, location or store number, or any other customer-specified variable. Customizable views and permission levels enable clients to share real-time information with key stakeholders across the organization.

Stephen Budhu, director of accounting for Modell’s Sporting Goods, a family-owned and operated retailer of sporting goods, apparel and athletic footwear, uses the MetOne Portal to manage more than 1,300 voice (POTS) lines serving 146 Modell’s stores from Maine to Virginia.

“Our No. 1 reason for choosing MetTel was the tremendous cost savings … but easy billing was a close second,” Budhu said. “Our phone bills were nearly 700 pages long so the first thing we did with MetTel was go to paperless billing. The online portal is easy to navigate and lets us compare and audit store-to-store, month-to-month or any way we choose. Each store is a profit center so the portal allows managers to see exactly who in the store is using what and how much they are spending. And easy trouble reporting and guaranteed one-hour response time means managers can focus on sales, not phones.”

Budhu said an order for lines for a new store in Long Beach, N.Y., slated to open before Black Friday, was placed on a Monday and MetTel began installing wiring the very next day. “This kind of responsiveness is invaluable, especially this time of year,” he said.