Cloud-based charging system has become a major requirement for telcos due to frequent disruptions in the telecom industry. The biggest reason for you to choose cloud-based telecom charging system architecture over traditional systems is the unmatched flexibility that it offers.
Of late, telecom billing has become a battlefield filled with landmines. The frequent launch of new technologies coupled with a rise in competition has stretched telcos to their wits end. Emerging technologies like IoT have posed new requirements, which simply cannot be fulfilled with traditional telecom charging system architecture.
An internet charging framework (OCS) is a product stage that
encourages continuous client charging dependent on the substance and volume of services
rendered. Here are a portion of the top advantages that an OCS stage will give:
A superior endorser experience: An OCS System will enable your clients to get to their record from an assortment of cell phones. Endorsers can access rates and charges, and deal with their record continuously with an OCS. Putting resources into an OCS will in this way improve the general nature of service and make fulfilled clients.
Charge for service
progressively: Waiting until after a service is rendered to charge for
information utilization could bring about a major income misfortune for your organization
as certain clients probably won’t pay their bills. Streamline the charging
gathering process by charging your endorsers as they get to the data you give.
Procure more pieces of the overall industry and importance: One of the main approaches to grow your business as a specialist organization is to offer new and tempting services for your clients. Accomplish this with the adaptable and effective charging service of an OCS. This will expand piece of the overall industry and separate your business from your rivals.
Telgoo5’s stage is advanced and coordinated; ready to deal with a lot of interest. Despite the fact that we have a lot of fulfilled customers, we ensure that every one of them can pick a tweaked arrangement that fits them superbly. We comprehend that each business has various needs and will go along with us at different phases of their advancement. Thusly, we treat every single business as a novel accomplice that we are focused on serving. This dedication from us keeps your business allowed to do the significant work of pulling in new clients, constructing your image, and making your business as well as can be expected be. Consider Telgoo5 a strong stage that enables you to concentrate on the urgent work developing your business.
connectivity
MVNE’s are the center of your business; pick Telgoo5 which is related with the greatest MVNO’s and best aggregators.
Not so long ago, voice calls and SMS were the staples of the telecom industry. Subscribers were happy as long as they could make high-fidelity voice calls and telecom operators were content with the profits they were making. However, nothing in this world stays stagnant, especially not when technology in the industry is moving at a rapid rate. With the launch of newer technologies and features, the competition between telcos sky-rocketed. As more and more operators got into the mix, the profits started receding. Right now, the race is to launch newer services and better plans. And, to win this race, telecom operators need a telecom charging system that can help them bring their offerings quickly to the market.
Increasing Complexity in Modern-Day Telecom Charging
Telecom charging systems of yesteryears did exactly what they were devised to do. They kept track of calls and SMS along with charging, rating and billing for the services. But, with the launch of newer services like VoIP, IPTV, multi-speed data services e.g. 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G etc., the playing field for telecom operators has changed considerably. Now, the same process of charging, rating and billing has become a lot more complex than it was ever before. Handling large amount of data that comes with modern billing is something that is unachievable for legacy billing systems.
In case, you are still using a legacy charging system, it is time to move onto a cutting-edge system that helps you bring your new plans into the market, quicker than ever before. And, any good telecom operator knows that launching the right product at the right time is the recipe for success. Some major attributes that you should look for before procuring your next telecom charging system are listed below:
1. Backward compatibility – It is hard to make a switch to a new billing system instantly. Hence, you need a telecom charging system that is backward compatible with all your applications, so you can make a move to the new system at your own pace. This prevents you from suffering financial losses while you make the transition to your new telecom charging system.
2. Event/Session-based charging – For an online charging system to be successful in the modern billing tasks, it should be flexible enough to perform both event-based and session-based charging. Event-based charging is required for services like SMS and session-based charging is needed for services like voice calls.
3.Provision for OTT partnerships – One of the biggest reasons why telcos are experiencing diminishing returns is OTT platforms. OTT services like Skype and Whatsapp offer free calls and messaging to users, which eats into the profits earned by telecom operators. However, when you have a telecom charging system that allows you to charge OTT services, you can expand your business by increasing the number of your partnerships.
4.Cloud-based charging system – A cloud-based charging system provides great scalability and flexibility to any telecom business model. It allows for the use of redundancy that prevents the loss of crucial charging information, in case of a disaster. A cloud-based charging system also helps in making a complete switch to the digital platform.
Nowadays, telecom industry is in a state of flux. Every telco is looking to venture into new territories to compensate for the money lost to competition and OTT (Over the top) services. In the past, telecom operators used to thrive on revenue generated via voice calls and SMS. However, in the present times, the range of services that they need to deliver has widened considerably. The legacy systems employed by telcos no longer do justice to the modern innovative telecom services that need to be delivered. Moreover, telcos require most services to be delivered in real time, which is why; a flexible and real time charging system is needed for timely tracking and accurate billing.
Online Charging System: The Backbone of a Successful Telecom Billing System
An online charging system is a must-have for any modern telecom billing system. An OCS is essential for telecom operators as it lets them:
Charge on the basis of events e.g. SMS
Charge on the basis of sessions e.g. calls
OCS is a real time charging system that allows the telecom operators to control credit. At the same time, it also allows users to control what they spend. Although an OCS is a vital part of any present-day billing operation, it can only be of true value if it works with the applications of past and is designed with an eye on the future requirements.
Importance of a Future Proof and Backward Compatible OCS
There are many attributes of an OCS that make it stand out. However, the most important aspect of an OCS is how well it works with your legacy solutions. The compatibility of an OCS with your pre-existing equipment and applications allow you to introduce it into your workflow without hampering your current billing tasks. Also, an OCS should be flexible enough to accommodate the requirements of near future like 5G offerings, so you do not have to change your billing systems frequently to meet constantly changing technology.
There are many other features that make an online charging system worthy of your business. Have a look at some of these key features of an OCS:
Analytics – Most traditional OCS solutions available in the market do not support analytics, which is why; telecom companies often struggle to understand customers’ requirements. Hence, they are unable to devise new plans to attract customers towards their services. However, there are many cutting-edge real time charging systems available in the market that come with analytic features. Using such OCS solutions not only helps you in your present tasks, it also helps you forge better business strategies for the future.
Adaptability with complex revenue management – There are so many revenue streams (for a telecom business) nowadays that keeping track of each one of them can be difficult for a telecom operator. Prepaid, postpaid, IPTV, different type of data services and OTT partnerships, there is simply too much to handle for telcos. In this complex situation, a revolutionary online charging system can simplify their work and ensure accurate completion of real time charging and billing tasks.
Although the launch of 5G is a great initiative in the race to match wired broadband speeds, its value for a telecom operator hinges upon several factors. Faster data connection may seem like a real boon for the subscribers, however, it does not automatically translates into profits for telcos. A lot was expected by telcos after the launch of 4G, which supplanted the erstwhile 3G connection. But instead of bringing in new revenue streams, it dug a hole in their pockets as subscribers were lured away by OTT (over the top) platforms like Netflix, Facetime and Skype. Hence, it is imperative for a telecom operator to be proactive in his strategy while tackling 5G. One way of ensuring that you maximize the advantages offered by 5G is by investing in a real time charging system that monetizes all your offerings.
6 Important Features of OCS
OCS (Online Charging System) is a real time charging system that is designed to match the current requirements of telecom billing. It is 3GPP release 11 compliant and works a lot better than the charging systems employed in traditional billing solutions, which lack the desired scalability and flexibility. Some key features of an online charging system and traditional charging systems are listed below:
1. Session based and event based charging for different telecom offerings like voice calls and SMS.
2. Identification of subscriber and service before offering access to a service.
3. Monitoring and tracking service usage and also maintaining records in the database.
4. Updating subscriber balance.
5. Management of important features like blacklisting, prepaid lifecycle, live balance etc.
6. Calculating charges as per CDRs (Call Data Records) and recording them in the system database
Things to Consider before Investing in a Real Time Charging System for 5G
Although OCS has immense benefits and can be a worthy upgrade for your older charging systems, there are certain things that you need to be mindful of before investing in a real time charging system.
1.Past and future compatibility — To ensure that OCS works with legacy and future applications, you should invest in a robust and backward compatible real time charging system. A good upgrade option is an OCS that can be integrated with older IN (intelligent network) along with next-gen IP, 5G, FTTH/HFC, wireless and wire line networks.
2. Postpaid/prepaid convergence — An OCS should allow for complete postpaid/prepaid convergence, so you can offer composite VAS (Value Added Services) along with video and voice services quickly.
3. Convergence between service and network — With so many different data speeds provided by different connectivity platforms e.g. CDMA 2.5G, LTE, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, 3G, IMS, 5G, broadband, it is important that an OCS should show true convergence in rating a variety of applications with different bandwidth requirements.
4. Intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) — To make operations simple, the OCS should have an easy to operate GUI that lets telcos customize their 5G offerings quickly and as per requirement.
5. Support vendor partnerships — A real time charging systemshould allow for the management of different vendor partnerships e.g. partnerships with MVNOs, MVNEs, OTT etc.
Frequent changes in the requirements of subscribers have placed tremendous pressure on the shoulders of telecom operators to come up with exciting offers. The pressure is so intense that telcos with traditional telecom billing software are finding it hard to survive in this intense competition. The main reason for this is the lack of flexibility in their billing solutions that prevents them from launching new bundles of services and innovative plans on time. Hence, they end up losing out to competition in the race to evoke a positive reaction from the market. This leads to a financial loss, which could have been easily avoided if a capable online charging system was employed in the first place.
— Online Charging System (@ChargingOnline) April 18, 2019
Most traditional charging systems in the past were incapable of charging users’ transactions in real time. Although the IN system used for prepaid services worked in real-time, it was incapable of offering flexible services and bundles. However, nowadays, there is an option to move to convergent billing solutions that have an online charging system at their heart. The many benefits of investing in an online charging system are:
1. Ability to deliver digitized services –
Digital transformation is beckoning the telecom industry. However, traditional billing systems that employ old charging systems cannot deliver these services as per expectation because they do not support virtualization and cloud deployment. But when you select a software solution like Telgoo5, you not only get the benefit of digitization but are also able to deliver exciting bundles and offers to your subscribers.
2. Customer authentication and management of features –
An OCS allows for customer, subscriber and service identification before providing access to a service. It also helps a telco manage auxiliary subscriber services like live balance, prepaid life-cycle and blacklist option.
3. Tracking services and calculating CDRs –
An OCS captures CDRs (call data record) in real-time. It also loads the result to the billing system database for rating and bill generation. An OCS also has the feature of tracking services and keeping them for records. All these features make an OCS a must-have for any telecom operator trying to boost his overall billing operation and attract new customers.
With an OCS as part of their telecom billing system, telcos not only get to enjoy the benefits of real time charging, they are also able to ensure that credit limits are implemented and resources are authorized on the basis of transactions made by the customers.
How to Make a Seamless Transition to a Modern OCS?
Most telcos are aware of the advantages offered by a new-age OCS; however, they do not make a switch to a new system as they are worried about its compatibility with their equipment and applications. Although there concerns are justifiable, there are some online charging systems in market that are actually backward compatible like the one offered by Vcare – Telgoo5. With such an OCS as part of your operation, you can digitalize your workflow, shift your business to the cloud and enjoy flexibility in telecom billing.
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