Being able to analyse revenue flow - in as close to real time as possible - is a big benefit for telecom companies. Demands for speed increase continuously, especially with the 3G technology.
"Our revenue assurance concept enables operators to maximise and regulate revenue during billing. At the same time, it's a tool for tracing leaks," says Håkan Gillman, Cybercom.
Today, telecom operators offer their customers several different payment services. To ensure that revenue isn't lost unnecessarily, a smart system is required - a system that can control huge amounts of data that move through telecom operators' networks. Because data traffic is so considerable, there's risk that telecom operators can miss getting paid for certain transactions.
With a reliable system that collects, measures, and compiles all traffic in the network, this risk is diminished, and operators can maximise their revenues.
Cybercom, along with its customers, developed a solution that takes care of these problems. This solution consists of a server process and a user component. The server process collects and aggregates data from all parts of the network. Data are compiled in a database, and information is displayed on a simple, readable user interface.
When Cybercom's revenue assurance solution identifies abnormal data streams or indications of traffic that has not been billed, the operator is automatically notified and can then take measures to analyse discrepancies.
The challenge lies in identifying, gauging, and analysing large amounts of data that are transported, often in several different sub-systems and networks. Compiling data and displaying information in a useful way for product managers and comptrollers requires business operations expertise. It's crucial that information is displayed in a simple way so that even persons who are not technicians can understand and use it. Graphs and charts are often used in Cybercom's solution to make information accessible and understandable.
"We developed an application that's simple to use - an application, which ensures that the operators actually get paid for all the traffic in their networks," says Gillman. This requires thorough knowledge of the operators' business models."
Here are just a few benefits from revenue assurance solutions:
- Control over traffic in the entire network.
- Decreased risk for lost revenue.
- Rapid data analysis (near real time), which enables operators to push out new, profitable offers to customers.
Cybercom developed several business support solutions for different telecom operators and thus has the necessary experience to customise an application for each customer's specific needs.
Secured revenues
Revenue assurance is all about visualising the data stream (i.e., revenues) in a telecom operator's network and ensuring that all network traffic is invoiced (or at least identified). The revenue assurance concept sometimes includes follow-up of previously invoiced traffic; this is commonly called credit collection. |