Convergent billing and personalization

By Andrey Morozov, President & CEO, CBOSS Association

http://www.connect-world.com, June 08, 2006

Andrey Morozov is the President and CEO of CBOSS Association, a transnational company and the largest software vendor in Eastern Europe. His career in IT and telecommunications spans nearly 20 years and includes extensive experience in virtually all aspects of CBOSS’s operations from product development to implementation project management. Mr Morozov has been in charge of CBOSS since its inception at the end of 1996. Prior to CBOSS, he worked with Moscow’s first cellular operator as lead programmer, as Project Manager and, finally, as the Head of Software Development. He began his career as an analyst at a governmental agency. Andrey Morozov earned his degree in Applied Mathematics.

Abstract

Billing solutions, once simple administrative systems, are now an essential piece of the telecommunications industry's revolution. Competitive pressures, new technologies, the convergence of mobile and fixed services and new forms of pre- and post-paid payment have multiplied options that operators must offer. Billing complexity has grown accordingly. Today's 'converged' billing solutions quickly and flexibly handle new, sophisticated, service options and make it possible for operating companies to quickly offer - and bill - new services; they make a vital competitive difference.

Article

Billing systems were once just that, systems for billing, for rating or determining the cost of a particular call. There were no customer surveys, customer support, inventory support, or any of the features that we expect in modern systems. Today, billing, like OSS – operational support systems – information, is essential and should be available on the desktop of every employee who needs it.

What does convergence mean?

The term ‘convergence’ is widely used but widely misunderstood. The word stands for the ability of a system to process heterogeneous streams of information in a uniform manner, such as the ability to charge and bill for different services in one system. For a thorough understanding, though, one needs to look at this from a carrier’s point of view. The telco focuses on revenues and broadening its subscriber base via personalized services. Looking at contemporary subscriber choices will help give a customer-centric, personalized definition to ‘convergence’.