Not too long, telecom operations had a limited scope. Voice and SMS were the staple services, and they were convenient to provision, monetize and deliver to the subscribers. But with passing time, the telecom processes have increased in their intricacy and level. It has become crucial to monetize services and provision them faster than others. The back-end legacy systems i.e. B/OSS is in a need of major overhauls. Right now, we are seeing an increased use of Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Software Defined Network (SDN) in telecom operations, but it is nowhere near where it needs to be. But as a telco, it is crucial to keep on innovating and staying ahead of the competitors. Therefore, telcos require billing and provisioning software that can make a difference.
The Requirement of One-Point Telephone Billing Software
Given the complexity of modern-day telecom operations, it is very difficult to manage them by using separate prepaid, postpaid and broadband systems. There are many emerging requirements:
Need for convergence
A single-point OCS is the need of the hour. It can form an integral part of telephone billing software, and allow telcos to perform convergent billing, which will allow them to charge and rate every service at a single point. This will later help in creating a convergent invoices that reflects all service charges at a single place.
Faster provisioning of service and self-care
Telcos require the services to be provisioned as soon as an order is made. They cannot afford any delay without risking a customer turnover. The situation is significantly critical for small MVNOs who only have a small market to tap into. Therefore, a faster provisioning software is required. In today’s day and age, it is also crucial to provide a self-care interface that lets subscribers to build their own plans. Customer empowerment is the recipe to success these days.
APIs for addressing unforeseen issues
APIs allow telcos to add new functionalities into an existing billing system software without any need for customization and system overhaul. For example, a telco can add a new payment gateway, or corroborate with a new shipping vendor, and even access the entire NLAD database.
Scalability for present and future
The billing and provisioning software should be able to accommodate telecom services of the near and far future. A cloud-based platform that is made operational via a pool of datacenters is an essential requirement. Access SaaS-based solutions to stay futureproof and accommodate new services like IoT and 5G.