Prevent Revenue Losses by Setting up a True Real Time Charging System

To say that the telecom sector is full of competition is quite an understatement. Apart from the prominent service providers, you also have a plethora of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) that offer their services at highly affordable rates.

If you run one such network, you would know how difficult it is to meet your bottom line in this environment. Unhappy customers can switch to a different provider at a moment’s notice. But happier clients are just as tricky when it comes to maintaining brand loyalty. You need to keep offering state of the art solutions that excite your customers and keep them from leaving your service for a competitor.

An essential service such as real time charging can prove quite handy in appealing to your clients. With its transparent billing, minimal errors, and faster service, a real-time charging system is precisely what you need to bring your services to the forefront in your customer’s minds.

What is Real Time Charging?

Real-time charging solutions help you actively charge your customers for the services they use. As the name suggests, these charges will incur in real-time, which in other words means that your customers are billed as they use any services, as opposed to being billed after they have used a service.

It might seem like a small difference at first, but real time charging can revolutionize your billing for the better. Among other advantages, it provides benefits such as a smarter network, accurate billing, and efficient services.

However, as a MVNO, it isn’t always easy to set up a real-time charging system that successfully delivers on all expectations. You need to be careful about what kind of real-time charging solutions are you enabling for your network. That’s why it is essential to keep the following points in mind while setting up real time charging systems.

Check If It Supports Convergent Billing

The first thing that should be on your mind is to set up a real-time charging system that holds the latest technologies within it. While any real time charging mechanism will allow you to deduct accurate charges, some variations are more effective than others.

For instance, a convergent real time billing system doesn’t only help you automate your charges. It also consolidates them for better management and accounting.

Through a convergent real time billing system, your customers don’t have to pay for different services or accounts on an individual basis. While they still get charged in real time, their charges come consolidated in a single bill.

This makes it easier for customers to pay for different subscriptions and even accounts. It also sets your service apart from operators who do not offer this feature.

Learn the End Charges for Yourself

Before you enter into a contract for real-time charging solutions, make sure that their actual charges do not cost you a fortune.

This is highly important if you are looking at long term growth for your network while also providing efficient billing services to customers.

Make sure that you are comparing different providers’ charges and services side by side before making a decision. Those who are confident in their services will also be able to answer any questions you have, so don’t shy away from having your team gather the answers that you require.

This method helps you find a real-time charging system that can serve as a long-term solution for business. It goes a long way by managing your costs while providing state of the art services to your customers.

Obtain Your Services From a Reliable Provider

Another elementary yet very crucial aspect is to obtain your real time charging services from a reliable provider.

You should look for a provider that has been operating in the industry for a while, has a track record of serving other networks and MVNOs, and holds a credible reputation for using the latest technologies.

This makes sure that you are not handing your network’s fate into the hands of a sub-par infrastructure. Rather, you are paying for services that make a difference for your network’s service. This approach also gives you the confidence that you are setting up your real-time charging solutions with the latest advancements.

At (v)WeCare, we offer state of the art, cloud-based online charging solutions that are built to scale any network’s services to the next level. With automated billing, access-based controls, and native CRM, we can provide you and your customers with the level of service that you are looking for today.

Whether you are ready to move to our real-time charging system right away or if you have any questions regarding the efficacy of our services, don’t hesitate to reach out to us today. We will be glad to answer your inquiries and provide you with solutions that fit your needs the best.

Source : http://www.techpublishnow.com/real-time-charging-system/

Prevent Revenue Losses with Reliable Convergent Real Time Billing Solutions

In this age of excessive competition, Vcare OCS provides and efficient and flexible way to charge and bill subscribers in real-time. Its true real-time performance ensures that all the services are monetized and there is no revenue leakage. Equipped with event based and session based functions, the OCS serves as a centralized platform for charging nearly all modern services. It uses CDRs (Call Data Records) for calculating all charges and at the same time loads the results to the billing database. At Vcare OCS, we understand our clients’ requirements and create customized telecom billing solutions to meet their exigent needs.

Convergent Real Time Billing System

The Long and Hard Journey of Telecom Billing

The commercial success of the Online Charging System (OCS) deployed by telcos is a testament to the ever-evolving telecom billing technology. Not so long ago, it was hard to fathom how telcos will be able to accommodate so many new offerings (like 2G, 3G,4G, VAS, OTT etc.) as part of their service. But with consistent development, we are at a juncture where we see convergent billing and real-time charging making things simpler than ever before for both customers and the operators. But the work of telcos has not ended yet. With 5G and even 6G beckoning; and IoT becoming the next big thing in the market, the time to evolve has only just started.

The Age-Old Formula of Success

efore we go any further and analyze what the future holds for the telecom industry, it is best to first look at the basic formula that has worked so well for telcos. It has always being the ability to adapt one’s billing according to the services that need to be offered, which has driven MNOs (Mobile Network Operators) to success. In other words, it is how fast and how well you can adapt to the ever-changing telecom charging system architecture that dictates your success over competitors. Therefore, it has become imperative that you keep yourself armed with a competent OCS System, which can adjust to the future requirements. Flexibility, versatility, multi-tenancy and convergence are the key ingredients for a worthwhile telecom billing system.

The Evolution of Billing Systems

In the latter part of the 20^th century, telcos realized that their offline charging system was causing revenue leakage as it was not able to provide charging information before a service was delivered. This was causing problems, especially in prepaid billing. To fix this problem, an IN-based system was conceptualized that was able to authenticate users and check their account balances before delivering services. It worked well but it had some restrictions in terms of creating flexible plans. After that, OCS was conceptualized, which could not only charge customers in real time but also allowed telcos to launch attractive bundles of services with great flexibility. In 2010, we saw our first glimpse of convergent billing. The convergent billing system allowed for the integration of several service charges onto a single customer invoice, which provided more transparency in telecom billing.

What The Future Holds for the Telecom Industry?

As AI (Artificial Intelligence) becomes the new trans-formative technology, we are more than likely to see a shift towards data sciences dictating the telecom operations of the future. The vast amount of data crunching would require you to have access to state-of-the-art quantum computers and probably an OCS version 2 for getting the job done. Also, we are expected to see the erstwhile OSS/BSS model (which assigns computer systems for pre-designated tasks and is highly inefficient) become obsolete and phased out. Instead, we will have technologies like NFV (Network Function Virtualization) and SDN (Software Defined Network) that will drive a new OSS/BSS model with better utilization of resources.