Log in
Your Local Ericsson site
  1. 2004 /

News Archive

Real-time charging gives operators the edge

April 26, 2004

Charging is at the heart of operator business. Using Ericsson's solutions, operators can gain significant competitive advantages by charging in real time for content, data and voice services.

Consumers want to know the exact cost of a mobile service as they use it - without having to wait for the bill to appear. Operators who give them this ability offer real added value. Ericsson's charging solutions make this possible.

 

The multitude of new mobile services being introduced is rapidly changing operator business environments and make charging functions more important than ever.

 

To meet consumer demands for controlling spending and operator demands for controlling credit, Ericsson offers a solution that centers charging and business support around the account. The solution, which consists of a two-layered architecture with a telecommunications-specific charging control layer, and an industry-generic business-horizontal layer, replaces traditional post- and pre-paid charging.

 

The charging control layer is based on an account-centric architecture - the traditional architecture in prepaid systems. As a service is delivered, the consumer's account balance is updated in real-time. Each ongoing session is monitored and actions are taken either to request additional funds from the user's account or to grant bonuses. Other functions retrieve information from the account for customer care or reporting purposes.

 

Real-time charging means that money is reserved before a service is granted. This gives consumers greater control over their spending. It also helps operators to prevent credit overruns and to launch new services that can be used by all their subscribers.

 

The business-horizontal layer consists of customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, which take care of all aspects of customer handling, including analytic, operational and collaborative CRM. It also handles financial aspects, such as invoicing, accounts receivable, bill production, payment collection, management accounting and legal accounting. The CRM and ERP environments are connected over open interfaces to a telecommunications-specific and network-adjacent environment that contains charging control.

 

Niclas Melin, product marketing manager, Ericsson Product Area Service Layer, explains that operators need to establish a single account-centric charging environment that is capable of handling all user segments and charging as an integral part of the service delivery. "A convergent charging and business-support solution that enables end-to-end revenue management processes will be a cornerstone of success for the operator, both in relation to its subscribers and its business partners," he says.

 

Using an account-centric approach can give significant competitive advantages in several key areas because charging is carried out in real time. One such areas is marketing capability - operators can more easily manage and target the right segments with the right products, promotions and prices. "Because users feel in control of their spending, their usage increases," Melin explains.

 

Another area is greater cost-effectiveness, because the architecture removes legacy billing systems. It offers a single way of managing all users, regardless of payment options and financial risk management. This reduces operational and capital expenditures.

 

Ericsson's charging solutions also give operators greater flexibility in their pricing and business models. "They enable operators to offer the right product, at the right price, to the right people, and at the right time," Melin explains.