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Billing for Convergent Prepaid-Postpaid Services
Traditionally, prepaid billing is a function managed by an operators Network Management Division with systems supplied by Network Equipment Providers. Postpaid billing is traditionally a back-office function managed by the IT division, with systems supplied by BSS vendors. Both areas generally run independently of each other, requiring different expertise, knowledge, systems and focus.
However, BSS solution vendors with limited knowledge of prepaid systems and solution designs are actively promoting and marketing convergent solutions to operators and service providers.
Creating products which encourage customers to add additional subscribers to their account can reduce churn and increase revenue. Cheap/free intra-network calls have successfully increased subscriber numbers; providers' ability to offer parental controls, pre-pay gifts and post pay control is likely to do the same. Post-paid balance limits can be imposed, how calls are paid for can be decided and accepting promotions are all benefits of a converged environment.
These features can be realised using the existing pre-pay platform integrated into our Convergent Prepaid-Postpaid (CPP) billing product; thus reducing the need to invest in new pre-pay/real-time solutions.
Convergence of the two payment methods has been an aspiration for some years and we have been at the forefront, culminating in our CPP billing & CRM product. Combining our experience in the postpaid communications industry with our MVNO expertise we have been able to design and build a converged product that is open and meets the demands of the industry.
The solution encompasses all service provider requirements covering all customer segments regardless of the payment method:
- Prepaid customers
- Postpaid customers
- Private closed user groups (eg families)
- SME customers
- Corporate customers
- Convergent service customers (Fixed/Mobile/IP)
Our solution allows operators to truly converge systems for all customer types and services, allowing operators to streamline processes, initiate sales and marketing campaigns (products, service and tariffs) and enhance customer support, resulting in substantial business, financial, and operational gains.
To meet this demand and keep the options of this solution open we have developed a generic interface into our post-pay billing solution to support any pre-pay environment. High level integration of the two environments can offer advanced converged services such as "do not call lists"; in low level integration the interaction may be to merely to top-up the pre-pay environment using the billing from a post-pay account.
With this functionality we can now work with network operators, MVNEs and MVNOs to launch into the mobile industry products and services on a pre-pay platform with a roadmap to move into the post-pay market, thus offering fully converged products and services.
Combining the pre-pay and post-pay environments opens up the possibility of offering new services and features to the marketplace, for example:
- Family and business billing accounts can consist of both pre-pay and post-pay subscribers with the latter topping-up spend on the pre-pay service. For example the grown-up pays the phone bill and the children receive credits on their pre-pay phones.
- Each month an automatic amount can be reloaded from the pre-pay account into the post-pay accounts. For example, an employer pays for all calls within their business and the employee is provided with 100 minutes each month to make personal calls.
- High cost content can be paid for on a pre-pay basis while voice calls are post-pay; allowing for the expected increase in services anticipated for the next generation networks.
Bills can include statements of the pre-paid calls attached to the account and with the on-line services it would be possible to monitor the usage of children's / employee's usage.
- Using the current top-up facilities it would be possible for friends and family to credit accounts of other people in the form of gifts.
Benefits for the operators of the environment include:
- The ability to hold a real-time credit limit for post-pay services which has the potential to reduce fraud and assist customers with their first usage of a post-pay environment.
- Only one real-time rating engine is required, simplifying configuration and reducing time to market.
- Continued use of existing pre-pay environment without the costly process of replacing it.
Deployment of the solution will provide a whole host of benefits across an operators business, including:
- A single system
- One customer database
- A single product catalogue
- One unified usage repository
- Common interface for new services
- Enable a full IN/real-time system for pre and postpaid billing
- Single interface to HLR for provisioning
- Pre-integrated and proven solution design
- Streamlined systems and processes
- Rapid launch and promotion of next generation services to all customers
- Offer all services, products and tariffs to all customer types - regardless of payment method
- Ability to offer hybrid accounts
- Up-sell and Cross-sell potential
- Bundles services and tariffs
- Cross product discounting
- Reduced customer anonymity
- Increased reporting and profiling
- Ease of migration from prepaid to postpaid customer type and vice versa
- Single view of the customer
- Improved prepaid customer care
- Reduced churn
- Reduced system maintenance, development and ultimately total cost of ownership
- Real-time capability for postpaid thus reducing potential for revenue leakage
- Reduced investment for new services
- Reduced marketing and sales promotion costs
Our billing and CRM solution protects the investment that the operator has made in the OSS network pre-pay infrastructure by using it to perform the pre-pay functions without the need to replace it.
The features and functions being offered by this converged solution will allow for innovative tariff's and market driven products to be quickly deployed.
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