What Is an Internet of Things (IoT) Service Provider and How Can They Benefit Your Business?

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of devices equipped with sensors, software, and other technologies to connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the internet.

Internet of Things (IoT) Service Provider

The Internet of Things has recently been a popular topic in the media. The concept of millions of different gadgets operating automatically inside a worldwide network is around three decades old.

The Internet of Things has numerous undeniable advantages which are discussed further in this article.

Internet of Things Service Providers: A Definition & Explanation

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of devices equipped with sensors, software, and other technologies to connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the internet.

It's all about streamlining internal operations. Manufacturers can make better judgments and build more efficient processes by combining all of their data in one location.

Internet of Things (IoT) services is a set of end-to-end services in which organizations hire outside companies to design, build, install, and run IoT solutions, as well as provide advisory services for IoT planning. One such IoT service provider that can serve for your business is Telgoo5. It’s a SaaS based end-to-end telecom platform that meets all your BSS and OCS needs.

7 Crucial Benefits of IoT Services for Your Organization

Here are the 7 benefits of IoT services that can be very crucial and significant for your organization:

1.        Simple jobs can be automated with IoT, reducing the number of workers and lowering business costs.

2.        Control can be automated across multiple operating areas to track the location of equipment and goods.

3.        Smart technologies limit the possibility of human error at many stages of business operation.

4.        IoT supports businesses by collecting large amounts of user-specific data that may be used to develop business strategies.

5.        IoT increases customer service by allowing for post-sale follow-ups like automatic tracking.

6.        IoT technology provides businesses with more insights, fewer downtime, and more capacity to detect loss to give users a better experience.

How to Choose a Reliable IoT Service Provider for your Business

There are several variables to consider while selecting an IoT service provider.

1.        Your IoT service provider must offer scalable services.

2.        Your IoT solution provider should engage with you to assess your company’s needs and choose the best connectivity service.

3.        The IoT platform must be able to deliver data to any application quickly.

4.        To accommodate additional devices and reduce latency, the IoT service provider must accommodate a protocol with expanded capabilities.

5.        The provider of IoT solutions must make use of comprehensive security measures

6.        Compare the prices provided by different companies and choose the one that best meets your needs.

7.        The dashboard should allow you to manage how different IoT devices communicate with one another.

A good option that covers all of them is Telgoo5. It will serve as a reliable IoT service provider for your business.

4 Crucial Mistakes to Avoid When Searching for an IoT Service Provider Online

If you're considering an IoT solution, here are four mistakes to avoid:

1.        The implementation of technology raises security problems.

2.        Not putting the interests of the company first.

3.        Not having a backup plan for outages.

4.        Not having a strategy for updating and replacing devices.

Conclusion

IoT systems have tremendous capabilities, and their benefits are appealing. However, it is important to recognize that integrating IoT into a company requires a significant amount of effort and talent in order to reap the benefits while avoiding the drawbacks. Telgoo5 enables you to do to that all at one place. It’s a hassle-free tool for all the IoT services required for your business.

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Harness Power of Innovative Next-Gen Telecom Billing Services to Succeed in 2021

To overcome the numerous challenges, it is vital that a modern-day telecom operator uses telecom billing systems that have the necessary functionalities.

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In this age of technology, you need to be one step ahead of your competitors at all time. When it comes to the telecom industry, the competitive struggle is more intense because there are different types of operators in the industry. MNOs, MVNOs, ISPs and OTT service providers collectively form the entire telecom domain. Every player in the industry needs to be competent when it comes to telecom billing solutions, if it really wants to make a mark.

The Challenges for Telcos in 2021

2021 is expected to be extremely challenging for telcos, especially for the smaller players like MVNOs. Have a look at some challenges for telcos in the present times:

Revenue assurance

You simply have to deliver services as per your contract with the customers. Therefore, it is important to have complete revenue assurance. Considering the number of telecom services delivered these days, it is quite a challenge to be 100% accurate with revenue assurance.

Quick monetization of innovative plans

To break away from the crowd and provide unique telecom services, you need to have a billing system that allows flexibility in monetization. As a telecom operator, you should be able to combine disparate services and deliver them in an attractive manner. Also, the monetization needs to be quick if you want to exploit the trends prevailing in the market. For example, in the times of lockdown, you can provide conference calling as part of the package as more and more professionals are looking to connect remotely with their peers.

Management of third-party partnerships

There are simply too many things that an operator has to manage these days. It is impossible to grow one’s service catalogue – horizontally and vertically – at the same time without third party partnerships. Therefore, the complexity and challenge is huge, unless you have access to pro telecom billing services that offer APIs for third-party partnerships. A flexible system can manage various third-party partnerships with suppliers, video streaming vendors, payment gateways and shipping services. You can even manage an interconnect partnership for roaming services through an intuitive telecom billing platform like Telgoo5.

To overcome the numerous challenges, it is vital that a modern-day telecom operator uses telecom billing systems that have the necessary functionalities. Telgoo5 is an outstanding telecom support platform that simplifies day-to-day tasks and makes the challenge in 2021 simpler. The system comes with cutting-edge APIs that add new functionality and help in the evolution of telecom businesses.

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What Is Next For The Telecommunications Industry In A Post-COVID World

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a widespread impact on people, communities, and businesses around the world. The fast-paced outbreak has already rendered a lot of business contingency plans null and void due to its unexpected and unpredictable nature

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a widespread impact on people, communities, and businesses around the world. The fast-paced outbreak has already rendered a lot of business contingency plans null and void due to its unexpected and unpredictable nature.

Telecommunication companies have also been caught in the crossfire. Companies relying on store footfall to enhance their revenue and subscriber base have had to hustle to come up with other plans. On the flip side, the need to stay connected and social has skyrocketed with people having to stay at home. This can be a good opportunity for businesses implementing the MVNO model to find success.

In fact, both for consumers and businesses, there has been a massive surge in voice calls, data use, and streaming. A lot of telecom companies have already tried to help by removing data caps and introducing new packages. For the telecom industry, this situation can be an opportunity to build a much more loyal and dedicated customer base and to emerge from the other side of the pandemic with a much more established business presence. For those offering or considering offering MVNO solutions, working with a reputed service provider like Telgoo5 can be a smart, insightful option.

Important Focus Points

Businesses in the telecom industry would be best served to focus on specific short-term goals to survive and grow in these conditions. Some important focus points can include:

  • Efforts to expand the customer base

  • Bringing together customer data from all relevant channels

  • Reducing support costs by dramatically improving customer experience

  • Developing new strategies to enhance ARPU (Average Revenue Per User)

Unifying Customer Data

As things get back to normal, customers are more likely to start engaging with telecom companies over different channels. Implementing a CDP or Customer Data Platform can help companies merge all this data and provide a seamless and consistent experience to customers.

This can be a salient way to provide cohesive solutions to customers in online and offline environments alike. Contextual experiences can enhance the value companies offer to customers.

Expanding the Customer Base

A deep understanding of how customers can use your services during these times can be a key component in being able to expand your customer base. For example, you can analyze exit intent on your business website to find product and service offerings that really resonate with new customers during the pandemic and its restrictions.

Simple changes in your acquisition strategy, like free home delivery of SIM cards or driving the installation and use of your mobile apps can be a great way to enhance customer lock-in and engagement. MVNO companies can take advantage of streamlined MVNO billing solutions and other features from a provider like Telgoo5 to leverage customer acquisition efforts.

Increasing ARPU

Providing new, unique, and varied user experiences can be an excellent way to engage existing customers and drive revenue while people continue to largely stay at home. You can use social proof displays to drive and expedite purchasing decisions, provide a fun, gamified experience across your website and apps to enhance the lead collection, and focus on time-appropriate messaging to provide customized, tailored solutions to customers who are staying at home or working from home.

Looking Ahead

The Wuhan virus or COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the notion that being connected is a highly prized commodity. Keeping this in mind, it can be a good time for the telecommunication industry to embrace innovation and cater to a rising need for more customized experiences. In this environment, reacting to changes in customer expectations can be the most important element for telecommunication companies to keep growing and thriving. Forging partnerships with a company like Telgoo5 can prove to be decisive in such situations.

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Transition From Legacy Systems To Modern Infrastructure with Telgoo5

We at Telgoo5 know that the ability to scale despite challenges and adapt to changes is crucial to your success in the telecom sector. This notion is especially true when it comes to online charging technologies – and dealing with the issues of legacy charging systems.

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We at Telgoo5 know that the ability to scale despite challenges and adapt to changes is crucial to your success in the telecom sector. This notion is especially true when it comes to online charging technologies – and dealing with the issues of legacy charging systems.

With new requirements and technologies at every corner, you have to be quick on your feet in meeting customer demands. Further, you must keep an open mind to making changes at a moment’s notice. Additionally, you must stay on top of the latest advancements.

In essence, we at Telgoo5 know that you must be ready for everything that your legacy charging system will not allow you to do.

Legacy Charging Systems Set You Up for Failure

If you have made it this far with a legacy charging system, the first thing you require is substantial applause. The next thing you need is to instantly look for a better Online Charging System (OCS) such as Telgoo5.

Remember that if you stick with the limitations of a legacy charging system, you introduce your customers to a world of trouble. In a day and age where customer experience reigns supreme, your consumers will find themselves stuck with tolerating problems from the past.

Standing by your legacy Charging System even in the face of better alternatives can expose your service to a host of issues. The following examples highlight the most glaring of these problems.

Latency Problems

You can face high-latency issues frequently if your network infrastructure is not set up for modern communication.

This can be quite a problem for data-savvy customers, which describes every customer segment in today’s day and age.

Charging Delays

Apart from overall latency, you can also face online charging delays.

This causes massive headaches for your customers and your billing department alike. Inaccuracies in billing could very well cause your whole operations to crumble with their consequences.

Poor Customer Experience

When performance issues become an everyday instance for your customers, they take pride in describing their overall experience as a bad nightmare.

Customers don’t know, and they frankly don’t care what is going on behind the scenes with your OCS. What they need is a better service, and failure to deliver on this promise can affect your overall brand.

Loss of Consumers

With better OCS services being offered at other providers like Telgoo5, it is not long before your customers start looking for a change for the better. Switching providers proves easier than sticking with your service. As a result, your customers decide to leave in favor of better service experiences.

Sticking with your legacy charging system drives your operation into the ground faster than you can think. It is absolutely necessary to get your ducks in a row and proceed towards better Online Charging Services.

The Ability to Scale and Adapt to Better Systems is Crucial Here

Fortunately, upgrading from your legacy charging system is not that difficult. All you need is an efficient online charging system provider. The rest falls in line if you know what you are doing. Most importantly, it gets easier when you show the ability to scale and adapt in the face of change.

Telgoo5 offers new technologies such as real-time charging and allows you to better serve your customers better. Along with improved customer experience, it also helps you cut unnecessary costs that come with the upkeep of legacy charging systems.

That is the reason why most companies are actively looking into upgrading their legacy charging systems.

Adapting to Change Doesn’t Cost You Much, But Provides a World of Benefits

We at Telgoo5 know that with the right Online Charging System Provider, proper upgrades will not cost you an arm and a leg. It doesn’t require you to pay a fortune in upkeep costs. And it will not ask your customers to start dealing with higher tariff prices.

Also, with that, you still receive smoother service delivery, timely modification features, and a better overall customer experience for your target market. This strategy effectively resolves any issues caused by your legacy charging system.

To understand the improvement process and its effects on your specific network, don’t hesitate to reach out to Telgoo5 today. We at Telgoo5 will be glad to answer any questions you may have and set you up with improved online charging services right away.

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5 Key Aspects of a Billing System

While operating a business it is important to have a great billing system. If the bills are paid on time, then it ensures that the business is running smoothly. Lateness when it comes to the release of funds will not help in keeping the business afloat. Depending on the options that you have available,

While operating a business it is important to have a great billing system. If the bills are paid on time, then it ensures that the business is running smoothly. Lateness when it comes to the release of funds will not help in keeping the business afloat. Depending on the options that you have available, which may include payments via small installments or monthly payments, it is important to keep track of the funds coming in and out of the business. A good billing system needs to have certain key qualities that will help you keep track of payments. Cellular network operators need to consider the kind the elements the billing system that they will decide to implement possesses. A billing system is key to running a good business. Here are some of the important components of a good billing system.

Aspects of a billing system

1. Does your billing system have billing codes?

It is important for cellular networks to have billing codes since they offer an array of services. They include; data, voice calls, and message among others. When you have a code for each of the services that your business provides you can be able to keep track of the payments. Codes will also help you to be able to determine which services clients prefer most since they will purchase them more than the others. You should have billing codes which are in line with your business and which can help your subscribers pick out product and services easily.

2. A billing system should be able to track payments

Tracking the payment of your clients is a very important aspect of a billing system. If the billing system is operated from a computer whereby all the details are available it will be easy to keep track of the payments. The billing system should have an option which will enable you to send reminders to users a few days to the payment so they can remember to make payments on time. Employees will be able to keep track of clients who do not pay on time and send them reminders to make their payments. If the defaulters have gone past an agreed period the employees can be able to keep track of that and they will be able to impose an extra fee. The system should be able to allow the provider to contact the subscribers who have not made their payments and remind them to pay. This can be done by sending a message or via a phone call conversation.

3. It should be able to verify the users’ information and store their data

A network provider should have the data of its providers in their database. That includes their names, their address, their payment terms as well as any other information that is necessary. After collecting the information of their subscribers, they should also collect information that pertains to the product and services that the subscriber is using. Entering this data will help with easy retrieval of information where necessary.

4. It should be secure

Information entered into the database of any network provider about a subscriber is sensitive. The information should not be shared with anyone else and it should not be easily retrieved by any third parties. It is important for a billing system to be regularly updated in order to avoid access by hackers.  The information should only be accessed by users who have permission to access it. What payment methods are you accepting? If you are accepting payment methods such as credit cards you will have to ensure that you adhere to the standards which have been set by the industry.

5. Affordability

When you invest in a billing system that seems to cost less you are likely to incur technical hitches which involve disconnections. However, thinking long term and investing in a solution that is integrated will cost you less in the long run.

A billing system will help you keep your business on track and you will be able to retrieve information easily when you need it. You should list down some of the concerns that you have as a business providing communication services so you can understand what is most important when you are considering a billing system for your business.

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Billing for MVNOs and MNOs

Both MVNOs and MNOs offer communication services to their subscribers even through MVNO have to buy bulk minutes and data from MNOs in order to cater to their users. MVNOs and MNOs perform similar functions such that most users do not know that MVNOs needs to purchase bulk packages from MNOs in order to cater to them.

Both MVNOs and MNOs offer communication services to their subscribers even though MVNO have to buy bulk minutes and data from MNOs in order to cater to their users. MVNOs and MNOs perform similar functions such that most users do not know that MVNOs need to purchase bulk packages from MNOs in order to cater to them.  They perform functions such as;

  • Issuing and activation of Sim cards

  • Have branding and marketing

  • Billing

  • They set their own tariffs

  • Offer customer care and support to subscribers

Due to the services offered by the two network providers to their subscribers, it is important for them to have a billing system. MVNOs rely on MNOs interconnect billing services.

Interconnect billing system for MVNOs

A majority of the MVNOs depend on the MNOs Interconnect billing system because they do not have their own. The interconnect billing system keeps track of income and spending as well as the demand in the price for airtime. Since the MNO will have a part in the operations of the MVNO, they can outsource an independent vendor. The vendor who will keep track of how data is being processed will help to ensure that both the MNOs and MVNOs get a fair share of their earnings.

When MVNOs receive incoming calls they charge the MNOs an amount of money that is less compared to the airtime charge. The fee charged can be termed as an interconnect termination fee. The termination fee of both the MNO and the MVNO is similar to the fee which the operator is charged.

In case of an outgoing call, the MNO will receive an imposed payment that is less than the airtime charge by the terminating operator.

MNOs

In the present day for any business to be able to maximize the profits that it is making day in and out, they need to have a billing system that will help in the charging of prepaid services. More and more people are purchasing smartphones and using them for data. Previously, a lot of mobile users would spend a big amount of their funds on voice calls as well as messages; however, there has been a change. In the era whereby everyone is on their laptops, tablets, smartphones as well as other internet devices, data is likely to be what most users are highly spending on.

That is why network operators put up good billing systems that help them in keeping track of their earnings and as well keep a record of their client’s information. Cloud-based systems and the Internet of things help when it comes to billing operations.

MVNOs

MVNOs have been in operation for several decades now and even though there have been speculations that they would be run out of the market they are still growing. In certain countries, MVNOs are dominant. MVNOs still depend on MVNEs to act as intermediaries. Those who can be able to predict the future based on their own careful analysis speculate that MVNOs are moving towards a huge digital transformation whereby they will be able to have control over their own data by owning it and being able to manage their own billing systems.

MVNOs can either choose to;

  • Buy bulk services at wholesale prices from MNOs, brand them, and then resell them to their subscribers.

  • Brand their services and make them available for users to purchase with MVNEs helping them to provide the services to end-users at a fixed commission.

  • Sell their products and services and pay the MVNE based on the profits they get from their end-users.

Regardless of the options that MVNOs choose they will still be expected to pay a deposit to MVNE followed by monthly payments.

Since both of these network operators offer a variety of services, billing is not an option but a requirement. MNOs can be able to carry out their own billing hence they can be able to keep track of the progress that their business makes. MVNOs, on the other hand, will require MVNEs to act as intermediaries between them and the end-users. MVNOs should be able to choose which option will work best for them when it comes to their billing requirements.

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Is Your Billing On Point

Billing is one of those things that businesses sometimes don’t give a lot of thought to, but smart companies in the telecom industry know that consistent and accurate customer billing is one of the cornerstones of a successful MNVO.

Billing is one of those things that businesses sometimes don’t give a lot of thought to, but smart companies in the telecom industry know that consistent and accurate customer billing is one of the cornerstones of a successful MVNO.

Some MVNOs handle billing in-house, tasking one or two staff members with what should realistically be the job of an entire department. The truth is, your if your billing is not on-point, your customers will suffer and look for other MVNO’s to get their service from. Since telecom billing is notoriously tricky, smart companies trust their billing to expert MNVEs.

Look For Flexibility

The telecom industry is always shifting and changing, which puts MVNOs in a challenging situation when it comes to billing, especially if they are poised to start scaling. As you get more end customers, your billing needs are going to adapt to different business situations. You need an MVNE that can adapt with you and offer real-time solutions to your customer’s needs. Smaller organizations simply don’t have the bandwidth to be able to support the level of growth that most MVNOs will experience, leading to customer frustration and annoyance on the part of the MNO.

At Telgoo5, we understand the importance of flexibility and ability to scale. Our sophisticated infrastructure was built to withstand shifting company demands and rapid scaling. What’s more, we can offer all of our MVNO partners CRM and BSS as well as a real-time view of business performance and trends!. Many of our long-term MVNO partners are US based companies that love working with us because they know that they will be able to scale with us and, we will be there to support their needs in a prompt and outstanding manner!

Look For Added Value

If you have an in-house billing department, or if you contract out to a smaller or less flexible MVNE, you won’t necessarily get bare-bones service, but you also won’t get all of the perks that come alongside working with a company that can address all of your needs on multiple fronts. Distribution and inventory management goes hand-in-hand with billing, and if your chosen MVNE doesn’t have the capacity to handle all three, you’ll have to find another one to attend to these services. Anyone who runs a business knows that dealing with multiple vendors can be costly and time-consuming.

Telgoo5 offers distribution and inventory as value added services to their billing plan, so you won’t need to be hopscotching between different vendors to get your customers the services that they need. With us, you can rest easy that it will all be handled in one secure, professional place!

Support Is Key

It’s hard to over-emphasize the importance of quality customer and tech support. You and your chosen MVNE are a team, and it should feel like a partnership. This is especially true if you’re scaling, taking on new customers or dealing with additional products. Customers depend on detailed, accurate and itemized bills for their telecom service, so you need to know that your MVNE has your back. That’s why you should be in regular contact with your MVNE about billing and other areas of your business.

At Telgoo5 we pride ourselves on taking our relationship with all of our MVNOs very seriously. You have an account manager who is responsible for handling your needs, and weekly calls to handle any concerns that might crop up. Additionally, we have an escalation procedure that is specifically designed to get to the root of any problem as efficiently and effectively as possible. We prioritize consistency and organization because we know that they are the cornerstones of a successful MVNO/MVNE relationship.

Anyone in the telecom industry knows that billing can be the trickiest part of the business. When you’re dealing with multiple customers and a host of different services, getting billing down perfectly poses something of a challenge. That’s why it is imperative to make sure that your billing is on point. The best way that you can do that is linking up with a smart MVNE that has your best interests at heart. Let an MVNE like Telgoo5 take billing off your plate so that you can focus on growing your business!

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Why CDR Meditation Is an Essential Part of Telecom Billing?

Telecom billing is probably the most confusing and scrutinized task in the telecom industry. The scrutiny comes from customers who are more often than not dissatisfied with their bills. This leads to confusion amongst the telecom vendors who start looking everywhere for new telecom billing solutions. Mostly, this problem arises because the telecom billing software used by them are subpar and do not meet the high requirements of modern-day businesses.

Telecom billing is probably the most confusing and scrutinized task in the telecom industry. The scrutiny comes from customers who are more often than not dissatisfied with their bills. This leads to confusion amongst the telecom vendors who start looking everywhere for new telecom billing solutions. Mostly, this problem arises because the telecom billing software used by them are subpar and do not meet the high requirements of modern-day businesses.

Why Telecom Billing Solutions Are Important?

All the efforts made by telecom service providers in setting up a network will amount to nothing if telecom billing is not up to standards. This is why, telecom billing solutions become important as they play a crucial role in accounting for those services. Not only is the revenue generated by a telecom provider dependent on billing, customers’ trust is also directly connected with the quality of the billing services. For instance, if a customer starts receiving wrong bills, his trust in the services nosedives from that moment onwards. On the other hand, if the billing services are sound, the customer stays faithful and brings in new customers.

CDRs: The Fundamental Unit of Telecom Billing Process

CDR (Call Data Record) is the fundamental unit of telecom billing process. All interactions between the user and telecom networking elements are captured by CDRs. A CDR has the following attributes:

  1. Date and starting time of the call

  2. Duration of the call

  3. Calling party

  4. Called party

  5. Type of call e.g. voice, SMS, data etc.

  6. Unique record sequence number that is used for identification

The captured CDRs are vitally important for the proper operation of a billing system. However, these CDRs are raw in nature, which means they cannot be interpreted by a billing system.

CDR Meditation System: The Unsung Hero of Telecom Billing Solutions

To ensure the captured CDRs are converted into a format that is understood by the billing system, a CDR meditation system is employed. The meditation system receives the unformatted CDRs, converts them into the necessary format and sends them to the billing system. Besides conversion, it also performs the operation of filtering out calls that do not meet set criterion by the telecom vendor. For example, if a call with duration less than 10 second needs to be filtered out, it is done by CDR meditation system. Moreover, if some extra information needs to be provided that is crucial for billing procedure, the meditation system gathers that information based on certain attributes and then sends it to the billing system via FTP (File Transfer Protocol). FTP is required for transfer of this information as both billing software and meditation modules are installed on different systems.

After the billing system receives the formatted CDR, it is able to interpret the information and rate the services utilized by customers.

Summary

Billing system in telecom is quite complex and requires processing of data at different levels for accomplishment of billing-related tasks. Although the user is not aware of what goes on behind the scenes, the role of systems like meditation system that converts raw CDRs into formatted CDRs is extremely important. All telecom billing solutions require correct formatting of CDR for reliable and accurate completion of billing tasks.

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The One Thing You Did Not Know About Telecom Billing Software

Telecom billing is a thankless task. You can be right 99 times out of 100, but if you make a single error, all the good work you have done previously goes down the drain. Just like politics, customers have short memories when it comes to the telecom services they use. Politicians have the advantage of evoking the right emotions at the time of elections but telecom operators do not enjoy such a luxury. They have to be right all the time and then some.

Telecom billing is a thankless task. You can be right 99 times out of 100, but if you make a single error, all the good work you have done previously goes down the drain. Just like politics, customers have short memories when it comes to the telecom services they use. Politicians have the advantage of evoking the right emotions at the time of elections but telecom operators do not enjoy such a luxury. They have to be right all the time and then some.

Not so long ago, when telecom billing systems were not as evolved as today, it was even harder to provide accurate bills to the customers. But at that time, the competition in the telecom industry was relatively low. At the sight of a wrong bill, customers used to think twice before crossing over to another provider. Not anymore! In this age of information and evolving telecom market, the playing field is a lot more competitive. Every year we see new entrants who try to lure away customers with flashy schemes and minimum tariff plans. This trend makes life difficult for established players in the market, especially for those who are still using outdated OSS telecom billing software.

“Hello! Have You Heard About Our New and Improved Telecom Billing Software?”

Do you know what most telecom operators do after hearing this line from a sales representative? They disconnect the line. It is not as if all the telecom billing software solutions made by IT companies are good and work well for every business. Not at all! However, complete disdain for something that you automatically think of as an exorbitant expense. Doesn’t make good business sense!

If till now, you have refrained from purchasing OSS telecom billing solutions because you thought they cost too much, you are in for a surprise. Most telecom entrepreneurs, in spite of their vast knowledge, do not know that telecom billing software can be procured as Software as a service (SaaS). If you are still not clear how this can help…read on.

Telecom Billing Software as SaaS

One of the least expensive ways of employing telecom billing software in your business operations is via SaaS model. With SaaS, you do not have to purchase any license or acquire any infrastructure. You can even decide on whether to host the services on your company’s cloud or employ the billing platform already operating in a cloud provided by the vendor.

This approach best suits startups and organizations with a limited budget. Enterprises that wish to integrate the billing software ASAP have to wait for only a day or two before beginning the use of billing software as part of SaaS model.

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Can Blockchain Make Telecom Billing System Better?

Ever wondered how many people have invested in bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies? As per a survey performed by Cambridge University, somewhere between 2.9 million and 5.8 million people utilized a cryptocurrency wallet in 2017. This number is staggering, especially when we look at the way governments of different countries are doing their best to stop people from using it.

Ever wondered how many people have invested in bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies? As per a survey performed by Cambridge University, somewhere between 2.9 million and 5.8 million people utilized a cryptocurrency wallet in 2017. This number is staggering, especially when we look at the way governments of different countries are doing their best to stop people from using it.

Many governments deem it illegal, others tell the people that it is unsafe for their hard-earned money and some even go as far as saying that it is downright immoral (some people use cryptocurrency for purchase of drugs and illegal video content). Right or wrong, we are not here to discuss about the virtues of cryptocurrency. We are here to analyze what makes it click. Which is that unseen force behind this phenomenon that people trust? The answer is simple: Blockchain.

Bitcoin is an unregulated and de-centralized currency, which means that there is not one single entity that controls it. The power lies in the hands of people. It is the best form of democracy when it comes to financial transactions. And, it has been made possible by the use of blockchain. For a layman, blockchain is like a ledger that is made available to all users. The data and transactions are completely transparent, which is clearly seen by all the users at all times. It won’t be wrong to think of it as a Google Doc spreadsheet, which can be edited at any time and the changes are there for all to see. Due to transparency in all transactions, people are ready to put their faith in it and hence, cryptocurrency has become so popular.

Use of Blockchain in Other Fields

Although, blockchain hasn’t been used in any other field, its promising start as part of the cryptocurrency operations makes it a wonderful option for other domains. In a field like telecom, where customers are often worried about the telecom billing system employed by their service provider, it won’t be a bad idea to give blockchain a try.

However, an immediate overhaul of the system is not advised and companies should look to integrate it slowly with their telecom billing solutions. Some of the benefits that can be extracted by its implementation in telecom are listed below:

  1. Solution to the problem of roaming – Blockchain can help overcome the major hurdle of operators that require them to integrate expensive systems, so they can offer authentication/access settings for starting roaming calls. Blockchain addresses this problem by enabling complex datasets across multiple parties, in real time and with great reliability.

  2. Better Connectivity – Use of blockchain along with telecom billing and payment software will make it easier to offer several local hotspots along with Wi-Fi accessibility based on permissions. The transparency that comes with blockchain can go a long way in fostering trust amongst customers with regards to billing for these difficult-to-track services.

  3. Telecom providers can become remittance providers – Remittance is the action of transferring money in a different country. By using blockchain, telecom providers will be able to serve their clients better by offering remittance services.

  4. Reduction in cost of operation – Last but definitely not the least, the implementation of blockchain will automatically lower the requirement of infrastructure, which will in turn lower the cost of operation.

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