Top 5 crucial points you should know about interconnect billing systems

 By: Cesilia Faustina

Interconnect billing is becoming more complex with the advancements of carriers, pricing structures and increase of traffic. It is more crucial than ever for communication service providers to ensure accuracy and efficiency of their interconnect arrangements. Effective interconnect arrangements have become key to the operations of an increasingly wide range of services. 

Thanks to the increasing number of operators throughout the decade, we are also seeing more interconnect occurring as well. This is driving the competition within the telecom sector and interconnection is now a critical factor for the viability of the telecom competition. It is for this reason that proper interconnection arrangements are needed, while inadequate interconnection arrangements will only cause additional cost, technical problems, as well as inconvenience for businesses and consumers.

Our dependency on proper and efficient interconnection means arrangements need to be fully tracked and properly planned, which is why we are seeing more innovative tools to avoid any consequences of inaccurate interconnect processes. As technology is on the rise, we are seeing more CSPs use it for this reason. As this is changing the way providers and networks operate, it is best to keep up with the changing trends that are arising with interconnection technology.

Here are the top five points you should be aware of about interconnect billing systems.

The era of technology

We are at a crucial point of expansion within the telecom sector. Businesses are moving towards the technology route and we as its subjects are bound to follow in those footsteps. As telecommunications is utilizing more and more technology, this is becoming a must for interconnection and telecom providers. 

The use of operation management tools is creating a whole digital process in telecom business procedures. The rise of interconnect billing tools is no longer an option, but a necessity. By going digital you will be saving cost, time and increase efficiency.

 

Many financial companies are turning digital and it is more convenient and cost-saving for the telecom industry to take part. This is giving way to convergent billing systems of different services such as wire line, wireless and data networks. An interconnect billing system will store all activities, partnerships and billing transactions digitally, which makes it easily accessible and trackable. 

You are officially cutting down on the amount of work getting timely and accurate results by going digital. A system like this automatically calculates all the required call rates for your CDRs, revenue sharing and generate any necessary invoices.

Partner management is a key

If two operators are not interconnect partners, it would be impossible to communicate among their customers. By setting up an agreement between the two operators, customers can then communicate via the different provider, this connection is what we call an interconnection point.

In order for this to be achieved, building that relationship amongst one another is key. The core to a successful interconnection process is the organization of your interconnect partners or carriers. It is essential that there are no mishaps amongst your agreement that cause real problems for your business and customer satisfaction. Due to the pressures of maintaining that connection, more and more CSPs are turning to a digital solution, yet again.

Having the data of your interconnect partners, such as the status of your partners and their financial position, you can thoroughly ensure that all is ideal to carry out your arrangements.

 

By storing data of these partners digitally, you can have a direct and clear view of your partners and their current status, including your agreement. Many telecom providers are storing records of their partners through digital means, that way activities and processes can be recorded without wasting any time or manual efforts. All billing transactions can also be automatically calculated and recorded for easier and more direct ways of handling your billing relationship.

Price list generation

An agreement between one interconnect partner and another is blanketed by a price list or interconnection charges. This would usually include, aside from the interconnection prices, the currency in which interconnection charges will be made and the amount of exchange rates and inflation.

Such agreement and parameters will be set in an interconnect billing system, where the whole system operation will be based on those the agreement and parameters set. An interconnect billing system will also provide ready-made price list templates to help with the pricing of activities. It provides different formats of price lists that can be used accordingly based on specific needs. 

This process makes it easier and much faster when looking to manage any billing activities amongst your partners.

Interconnect invoicing

The whole point of making an interconnect agreement efficient is, aside from achieving quality results of interconnection, so that payment and any billing processes will be conducted with ease, accuracy, and timeliness. 

Interconnect invoicing is the process of producing invoices to send to an interconnect partner relating to incoming interconnect CDRs/EDRs. As discussed in the first point, we know that many CSPs are going digital, especially when it comes to their financial needs; as financial institutions are becoming digital, so are the telecom sector. Many operators are utilizing digital billing systems to directly and efficiently generate proper invoices and handle the payment processes.

A digital system, as discussed throughout, will record all past data and automatically calculate the amounts to be paid and received from each of the network operators. With clear data of the call origination and termination, it will be easy to determine the pricing of all incoming and outgoing interconnect CDRs. The billing system will then notify each partner about the invoices, ready to fulfil your payment needs.

Reconciliation needs

An interconnect billing system provides reports facilitating reconciliation of incoming and outgoing interconnect CDRs. These reports consist of important details related to the reconciliation process, such as call type, destination and duration. Periodically, interconnect partners exchange CDRs for reconciliation purpose, this is done to ensure there are no mistakes and information between you and your partner are accurate.

The system will have thorough data of all CDRs and transactions, which can then be directly generated into a clear digital report, saving time and manual arrangements.

If you are looking to utilize an interconnect billing system, then it is important to remember these points. Your billing system is made to increase efficiency and productivity and providers today need to know how to apply such systems to its fullest.

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