What would you do if, at the end of this month, you tore open the envelope for your phone bill, fished out the paper inside and unfolded it, only to have a five-figure number next to the words “Amount Due” stare back at you? Panic? Have a heart attack? Calmly fold the bill up, put it back in the envelope and stick it in the back of the freezer or some other ridiculous place where you can lock the pain away? For most of us, it would be a combination of the three – in no particular order – with some improvisational anxiety sprinkled in.

For the CIOs of today’s connected companies, this is more than likely a monthly occurrence – the average company spends about $71,000 per month on employee mobile plans – so it (hopefully) doesn’t induce the same kind of panic. Well, and it’s not his or her money either.

One thing that most certainly makes those who hold the purse strings see red, though, is bad spend, or overages in individual plans that companies pay for, say a $35,000 bill for international roaming. It’s happened. In fact, it’s the business world’s dirty little secret: The average company pays more than $51,000 per year in international roaming charges, and more than $34,000 per year in fees like data, text and voice overages.

This dirty little secret is also the subject of a nifty little infographic we’ve put together using our own data from 450 different companies across 21 different industries, covering more than 480,000 employees to craft it. The graphic takes a look at the different – and sometimes ridiculous – ways that employees at all level contribute to bad spends. For example, here are three examples – all real – of people (who’s names have been changed, obviously) who through willful neglect, or sheer obliviousness racked up huge charges on their mobile phones.

Jerry the Chatty Analyst: Racked up $2634 in voice overages in one month. Businesses pay an average of $9,444 for voice overages.

Linda the YouTube-Loving Strategist: Amassed $12,771 in data overages in one month. Data overages cost an average of $8,724 annually.

Florence the Bleeding Heart Admin: Gave $3,000 in text donations to Haiti relief efforts. Companies pay an average of $14,568 per year for SMS overages and charges.

Barry, the Jetsetting VP: Without the right plan, had $35,000 in roaming charges over six months. International calls without proper plans cost an average of $51,384 per year.

The bottom line is that companies need to think about their mobile strategy holistically and as a major factor against their bottom line. As we’ve talked about before, data costs for businesses will only keep climbing in the next few years, and as technologies advance and devices become more data intensive, companies will have to spend more and more. We’ve explained the concept of mobility intelligence – thinking about how people use mobile devices to work, rather than just the devices or plans by themselves – and talked about why companies should think big about mobility and how they can plan for and kick off new mobility programs.

Find out how to dig up your company’s dirty little secrets at 10 a.m. on Thursday, July 12 during a webinar presented by Visage Mobile. Click here for more information and registration details.