End-to-End, Convergent Services Billing
BillWise's Connect:CSP is an Industry Specific Version of BillWise’s Connect:SM Billing Platform that incorporates capabilities that are specific to communication service providers delivering voice, broadband, wireless, and/or video services to their customers. Connect:CSP supports both residential and commercial service offerings, as well as partner/reseller relationships.
Target audiences include cable companies, voice application providers, wireless application providers, SMS providers, broadband access providers, aggregators and resellers, and traditional telecom service providers. Connect:CSP capabilities can be bundled into Essentials, Professional, or Enterprise editions of Connect:SM based on your complexity and volume requirements.
As in Industry-specific extension of the Connect:SM Billing Platform, Connect:CSP provides all the subscription billing and recurring payment capabilities found in Connect:SM with functionality tailored to the needs of communication service providers (CSPs).
Enhancements found in the core billing application include product, pricing and billing support for convergent communications services, order processing and provisioning for communications devices and services, taxation and regulatory fee support for communications services, customer premise equipment (CPE) inventory control, workforce and trouble ticket management, wholesale service reconciliation and settlement, and usage presentment for customer invoices and self-service web portals.
Enhancements found in the core billing application include product, pricing and billing support for convergent communications services, order processing and provisioning for communications devices and services, taxation and regulatory fee support for communications services, customer premise equipment (CPE) inventory control, workforce and trouble ticket management, wholesale service reconciliation and settlement, and usage presentment for customer invoices and self-service web portals.
Extending the core billing application - the convergent billing mediation, convergent rating, and usage datamart provide a tightly integrated solution for convergent billing of voice, data, and video usage and subscription plans, across wired, wireless, and mobile networks.
The Billing Mediation, Rating, Usage Data Mart, and Usage/Self Service Web Portal can be used independently of the Connect:CSP Billing Solution in deployments where only usage-based billing capabilities are needed and an existing flat-rate billing system already is in production.
Access IM™ is BillWise’s convergent service billing mediation solution that shields downstream business systems from complexity and change in the network infrastructure. Access IM collects, formats, aggregates, correlates, enriches, and routes individual usage records in real-time or batch mode from any network device or computing platform to Connect:CSP or other downstream business systems.
Access IM provides a centralized accounting interface to and from multiple systems. With a carrier-grade design and field-proven scalability for processing billions of recurring transactions for tens of millions of individual subscriber accounts on a monthly basis, Access IM delivers the performance, scalability, high availability, failover and load balancing capabilities expected for both small and high-volume, real-time recurring transaction environments.
With broad adoption of IP networks, CSPs are enhancing networks that initially supported a single service with flat rate monthly recurring billing. Multiple System Operators (MSOs), Internet service providers, and Internet Telephone Service providers (ITSPs) are now implementing strategic converged solutions. These include IP networks supporting an array of enhanced services such as Virtual Private Networks, enhanced telephony, IP conferencing, tiered broadband, and content-driven services. But enhancing existing networks is only one part of the solution; CSPs also need to integrate a usage-based billing model into their existing business. These new usage-based billing services must be smoothly deployed to minimize the impact on existing operations, while allowing CSPs to get the most out of their current business systems.
Connect RTR™, BillWise's real time rating engine helps carriers of all sizes overcome these obstacles by providing an advanced, event-rating engine for providers of IP communications services. This engine matches each usage event to a customer and a rate plan, allowing the service provider to associate monetary value to each customer’s network usage.
Connect RTR accomplishes all this with its advanced, high speed, expandable IP services rating system. It allows for unlimited flexibility in defining and updating rate plans, discounts, and various features with any combination of usage event elements. This includes rating based upon user-definable triggers such as seconds, minutes, packets, bytes, and content. You can rate new services the moment they appear – all you do is add new rate information. It can be implemented rapidly as a standalone solution, enabling CSPs to move from flat rate to event-based billing, without replacing existing systems and without burdening your support staff.
CSP's are under increasing pressure to differentiate their data and voice services, including high speed data (HSD), voice over IP (VoIP), wireless , and eventually IPTV services. A key challenge for CSPs is the lack of comprehensive visibility into how subscribers use their voice and data services.
BillWise's Usage Transaction Data Mart Solution provides a customizable framework for CSPs to collect and measure subscriber usage transactions to gain rich, contextual insight into voice and data usage.
Fed with real-time or batch processed transactional data from BillWise's Access IM Billing Mediation Platform and/or Connect RTR Rating Platform, and optionally, enriched with data from 3rd party systems, the Usage Data Mart Solution provides a reporting and business analytics capability that highlights important subscriber usage patterns, network resource consumption, and product & pricing performance metrics.
The Billing Mediation, Rating, Usage Data Mart, and Usage/Self Service Web Portal can be used independently of the Connect:CSP Billing Solution in deployments where only usage-based billing capabilities are needed and an existing flat-rate billing system already is in production.
Convergent Service Billing Mediation
Access IM™ is BillWise’s convergent service billing mediation solution that shields downstream business systems from complexity and change in the network infrastructure. Access IM collects, formats, aggregates, correlates, enriches, and routes individual usage records in real-time or batch mode from any network device or computing platform to Connect:CSP or other downstream business systems.
Access IM provides a centralized accounting interface to and from multiple systems. With a carrier-grade design and field-proven scalability for processing billions of recurring transactions for tens of millions of individual subscriber accounts on a monthly basis, Access IM delivers the performance, scalability, high availability, failover and load balancing capabilities expected for both small and high-volume, real-time recurring transaction environments.
Convergent Service Rating
With broad adoption of IP networks, CSPs are enhancing networks that initially supported a single service with flat rate monthly recurring billing. Multiple System Operators (MSOs), Internet service providers, and Internet Telephone Service providers (ITSPs) are now implementing strategic converged solutions. These include IP networks supporting an array of enhanced services such as Virtual Private Networks, enhanced telephony, IP conferencing, tiered broadband, and content-driven services. But enhancing existing networks is only one part of the solution; CSPs also need to integrate a usage-based billing model into their existing business. These new usage-based billing services must be smoothly deployed to minimize the impact on existing operations, while allowing CSPs to get the most out of their current business systems.
Connect RTR™, BillWise's real time rating engine helps carriers of all sizes overcome these obstacles by providing an advanced, event-rating engine for providers of IP communications services. This engine matches each usage event to a customer and a rate plan, allowing the service provider to associate monetary value to each customer’s network usage.
Connect RTR accomplishes all this with its advanced, high speed, expandable IP services rating system. It allows for unlimited flexibility in defining and updating rate plans, discounts, and various features with any combination of usage event elements. This includes rating based upon user-definable triggers such as seconds, minutes, packets, bytes, and content. You can rate new services the moment they appear – all you do is add new rate information. It can be implemented rapidly as a standalone solution, enabling CSPs to move from flat rate to event-based billing, without replacing existing systems and without burdening your support staff.
Usage Transaction Data Mart
CSP's are under increasing pressure to differentiate their data and voice services, including high speed data (HSD), voice over IP (VoIP), wireless , and eventually IPTV services. A key challenge for CSPs is the lack of comprehensive visibility into how subscribers use their voice and data services.
BillWise's Usage Transaction Data Mart Solution provides a customizable framework for CSPs to collect and measure subscriber usage transactions to gain rich, contextual insight into voice and data usage.
Fed with real-time or batch processed transactional data from BillWise's Access IM Billing Mediation Platform and/or Connect RTR Rating Platform, and optionally, enriched with data from 3rd party systems, the Usage Data Mart Solution provides a reporting and business analytics capability that highlights important subscriber usage patterns, network resource consumption, and product & pricing performance metrics.
Convergent Services & Bundling
Consumers like bundled packages that combine features together and cost less than those same features would if billed individually. Most CSPs have used this discounting model to attract new customers, increase revenue opportunities, and more importantly with increasing competition, keep their existing customers.
Bundled discounts can push the limits of traditional billing systems because of the endless combinations of services and billing options. For example, discounts may be offered based on the number of services chosen, the selection of premium services and/or usage volumes. CSPs may also want to offer short-term discounts that expire in order to attract new customers, or entice existing customers into trying new services.
To remain competitive, CSPs must make sure that their billing system is capable of dealing with the complexities of the various discounting and bundling options required by their customers.
Further, customers expect their invoice to contain all their charges regardless if they have an individual service or bundled services. Not all billing systems can provide the flexibility and power needed to consolidate charges from a variety of sources and present them in a single, seamless invoice.
Service Order Processing
Processing complex service orders has always been a workflow and integration challenge for CSPs. What looks like an individual service to the consumer might be a collection of events that all have to be orchestrated to activate, suspend, or deactivate the service from the consumer’s perspective. Interacting with multiple sources complicates the process even more.
A flexible workflow system and provisioning interface are critical components to accurately and fully automate the service order process in today’s advanced networks. Monitoring and alerting processes with associated error correction capabilities are essential features to ensure a smooth customer experience.
On the customer facing front, web-based businesses are built around the principles of customer self-service to register and manage their services and account information so service order processing must be supported as part of this self-service capability.
Less is more in this area. The fewer integration points and multiple systems involved the more reliable and auditable the process can be. This enables a better customer experience, shortens troubleshooting and problem resolution, and minimizes revenue leakage. A billing system that has extensive service provisioning and service activation experience, both with 3rd party service delivery platforms as well as directly with network elements, will provide the CSP with a tremendous return on investment and enhanced customer satisfaction.
Communications Service Taxation
Calculating the taxes for a single service can be simple enough, but gets trickier when multiple services are bundled together, particularly when each service can have unique taxation requirements. When telecom type taxes are factored in (required when offering telephone service) the process is further complicated, and may even create a tax liability situation.
CSPs must pay numerous federal, state and local taxes, depending on the service provided. Cable TV franchise fees, e911, universal service fund (USF), and use tax are some examples of taxes that must be levied.
Adding to the confusion is the complexity of understanding what is taxable and what is not. For example, Intrastate calls do not require USF tax, while Interstate calls do. Once services are bundled, the billing system must be capable of unbundling the service so that it can be accurately taxed, while ensuring that it still appears as a service bundle to the end user.
The CSP needs to have a strong understanding of the taxation capabilities of the billing system in order to be sure all appropriate services are taxed according to local, state, and federal taxation requirements regardless of multi-service bundling.
Managing Customer Premise Equipment
Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) can be managed through the integrated inventory management module. Connect:CSP tracks and manages all serialized equipment assets. This integrated function maintains an electronic accounting of all equipment required to facilitate the delivery of voice, video, or broadband services.
Devices such as set top boxes, handsets, broadband routers, and optical network terminators can be stored and tracked. Manages phone number pools, devices, and electronic identification numbers (EIDs), such as handsets, ESNs, IP addresses, MAC Addresses, SIM cards, a-keys, capcodes, as well as accessories and other serialized inventory. Inventory can be bulk-loaded and numbers can be cooled before being re-issued.
Wholesale Service Reconciliation & Settlement
The days of being a vertically oriented CSP are long gone. Cost and complexity require CSPs to align with 3rd party providers and aggregators to deliver services in today’s communications and entertainment markets.
Often centered around usage-based transactions, these relationships can provide business and technical challenges for all parties involved. When disputes arise, cash flow and service availability can be impaired.
Having a reliable collection, processing, and exception handling capability for 3rd party usage-based transactions is essential for billing systems today. Reconciliation, dispute management, and settlement services are critical capabilities to minimize revenue leakage, measure 3rd party SLAs, and shorten order-to-cash cycles.
Workforce Management and Trouble Ticketing
For CSPs whose workforce management and trouble ticketing needs do not require sophisticated point solutions, Connect:CSP's optional Workforce Management and Trouble Ticketing modules provide basic functionality tightly integrated with Connect:CSP's customer care and billing capabilities.
The integrated workforce management service order system enables creating service and change orders, tracking multiple service activities on an order, scheduling customer site visits involving truck rolls and crew dispatch, generating required forms and reports, generating charges where appropriate, and closing out orders.
The integrated trouble ticket module provides trouble call tracking capabilities including capture of problem class and description, generating charges when appropriate, optional scheduling of service crews, and ticket closure. When tickets are resolved, the problems and resolutions are made available in a knowledge base to assist in future situations.
If you are interested in learning more about BillWise, our applications, and our solutions, contact us and let's start the conversation!
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