Revenue leakages and fraud consistently impact the top line revenue and bottom line profitability of every telecom service provider, with annual losses typically ranging from 3 to 15 percent of gross revenue. 

The root cause can lie anywhere in the service delivery chain – provisioning errors, subscriber data inconsistencies, lost and corrupted usage records, billing faults, internal and external fraud, poor integration between systems and incomplete business processes – and be further complicated by today’s ever-changing multi-partner network and business environments, new technologies and complex operational and business support systems infrastructure. Operators and service providers need a structured and proactive approach to meet this challenge, so they receive payment for all services delivered and provide the charging accuracy and security that users demand.

Utilizing Ericsson’s end-to-end capabilities, operators can not only improve and automate their revenue assurance monitoring and detection processes, but efficiently stop leakages, correct and prevent their root causes and maximize the recovery of lost revenue.

Ericsson can confidently cover the full scope of operator revenue assurance transformation – including the specific challenges involved in evolving networks – and provide specific support in line with individual customer needs, through its unique combination of flexible solutions and broad experience and expertise, including:

• Best practices gained from a wide range of business consulting and systems integration projects
• Extensive knowledge of network technology and operation and business support systems
• Revenue assurance management solutions based on leading products from approved third-party product suppliers
• Internal leakage controls based on core systems capabilities
• Revenue assurance correction and revenue recovery solutions (customized developments and expert rule-based automation).
  
  Ericsson follows industry standards and uses a step-by-step delivery approach focusing on the operator’s financial outcome at each phase of the revenue assurance program, to: 
  
  
• Analyze the business to identify risks, quantify loss and set recovery targets, to recommend a solution, quick-wins and prioritized projects
• Design processes, measures, activities and solutions to detect leaks and address their root causes
• Develop and integrate "turn-key" revenue assurance management and correction solutions tailored to customer needs, optimally combining core systems capabilities and best-in-class revenue assurance tools
• Provide solution support and life-cycle management for low total cost of ownership
• Take responsibility, through a managed services agreement, for revenue assurance operations and hosting

Ericsson has delivered more than 30 revenue assurance and fraud management projects as a prime integrator, including a landmark deal for Telefónica’s entire Latin American operations.Ericsson experts in this area have also delivered consultancy, corrections and improvements for operational and business support systems and networks worldwide, efficiently stopping leaks and recovering revenue.

By promptly detecting, correcting and preventing revenue leakages, data inconsistencies and fraud, an effective Revenue Assurance solution helps operators to get paid for what they deliver, increasing revenue and improving cash flow.

Revenue assurance contributes to accurate charging and data security, which prevents the user dissatisfaction that leads to churn and a negative brand image.

Ericsson’s world-class Revenue Assurance offering and best-practice methodology provide organizational and process improvements, technology optimization and automation that drive down operating costs through increased efficiency – both people and infrastructure. The near real-time visibility of the revenue flow supports business reporting, analysis and compliance with legal requirements such as SOX.