Telecom billing requirements go hand-in-hand with the emergence of new technologies in the telecom industry. Depending on the complexity of the technology, the complexity of the billing system also rises. This is why; most telcos feel the need to overhaul or amend their current telecom billing software solution whenever a new technology is launched. New techs like OTT and IoT have befuddled telcos with their sheer magnitude and resource requirements. To track and monetize these services, the traditional telecom billing and payment software solutions are found to be useless. The need for modern cloud-based solutions is becoming more pressing than ever before.
The Importance of a Quality Telecom Billing Service Provider
As most telcos are too busy in performing their core competencies, they have to rely on a telecom billing service provider for their billing tasks. Therefore, the selection of a billing provider should be done with great care.
Considering the current state of affairs in the telecom industry, APIs have become extremely important. A good API can help you perform a complex task in an instant without resorting to drastic steps. For example, if you do not have a particular payment gateway partnership e.g. PayPal is not on your list but your customers are insisting on using it, you can add it through an API without changing or purchasing a new telecom billing and payment software solution. But for this to happen, you need a capable telecom billing service provider.
Key Functions of Telecom Billing and Payment Software
Apart from APIs, there are many other operations a billing solution has to perform for it to be effective. 4 vitally important functions of a telecom billing system are listed below:
- Convergence in billing– With an increase in the number of services provided by telecom operators, the complexity in billing has increased considerably. Every customer wants a fully-itemized bill that has charges of every service they are using reflected on a single invoice. Therefore, you should always invest in a telecom billing system that has a centralized charging system like an OCS (Online Charging System), which can charge all service at the same place.
- Comprehensive financial analysis– Today’s businesses are so competitive that you simply cannot afford to relax. Even when everything appears to be going smoothly, you should strive for more. Financial analysis ability integrated into telecom billing and payment software solutions can help you gain insights through subscriber behavior, which can ultimately help you form better future strategies.
- Safety and security– A cloud-based telecom billing solution stores subscribers’ billing and charging information at multiple datacenters. So, when there is a natural disaster or manmade calamity at one particular location, you can always access the subscriber information from another location. Apart from safety against disasters, you should also look for security. Always invest in a billing solution that encrypts the billing data with strong encryption.
Scalability – The requirements of a telecom operation can grow manifold in a short span of time. This could be due to the launch of a new technology or addition of new subscribers in the database. Hence, you should always employ services from a vendor that can scale its services according to your ever-evolving requirements.
Capturing millenial’s interest is not an easy thing to do. Although they are loyal to the brands they prefer, their trust for a brand is not built overnight. It takes repeated delivery of quality services over a period of time to forge a relationship of trust. And, it is not easy to make that happen, unless you are utilizing the latest telecom billing solutions that offer complete flexibility. As of now, the most versatile and flexible telecom solutions are the ones that are made for the cloud environment.
