Posted: 08/1999
Making the Connection
Steps to a Better OSS--And a Better Bottom Line
By Pamela Moffitt Dodge
Network management has the potential to generate revenue for service providers by enabling the linkages between provisioning and billing services. To date, however, that potential has largely gone unrealized. But that's starting to change.
"If service providers are to make good on the real opportunities network management presents in terms of next-generation differentiated services, they must change the way they do business. Traditional methods of provisioning and billing services just won't cut it in the new millennium," says industry analyst John Morency, vice president, information technology (IT) consulting services for Renaissance Worldwide Inc., Newton, Mass. "To succeed, service providers must link back-office systems with billing systems. This will enable a new breed of flexible, near-real-time billing systems that can support a whole new generation of service offerings."
Many carriers are beginning to set up procedures to facilitate the flow of management information between order and billing systems to enable the new types of billing codes necessary for services such as virtual private networks (VPNs) and quality of service (QoS), among others, as well as for new Internet protocol (IP)-based services. However, service providers will be unable to make good on any of these potential revenue opportunities until they replace legacy systems with newer, real-time systems.
A Free Flow of Information
Once information is flowing freely between order and billing systems, service providers not only can get new services on line quickly, but also can generate billing invoices as orders are placed. In contrast, earlier batch-based billing systems required a number of individual steps from the time the service was sold to the time the billing was generated.
Because provisioning services quickly is so important, service provider sales and marketing operations must involve their billing organizations early on. This will allow them to build product-billing codes into the system when the order process begins. Since services cannot be provisioned without a service order, and service orders require a billing code, this capability is critical.
Image: Usage-Based Accounting Management
Data and voice network convergence is driving a new generation of services. Some of these include Internet/800 caller ID, global roaming via credit card usage, integrated messaging, integrated asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) access and frame relay high bit-rate digital subscriber line (HDSL) integration, among others. These services use the network in new and dynamic ways that traditional billing methods cannot address. Indeed, the method of billing for these services is becoming as important as the quick provisioning of services.
Customers purchasing such services expect service levels equal to that of voice networks, including detailed billing (e.g. minutes of use, time, date, type of service) and one unified bill. This means service providers must be able to bill for data services the same way they bill for voice--based on usage rather than a flat rate. If they cannot do this, they will lose business to competitors who can.
Dynamic Billing
Service providers also must have the ability to dynamically provision and bill for services such as in-session videocast, or videoconferencing. Even customers who have outsourced their networks or do not wish to have control of their networks still want a detailed bill and a network management report to validate that they are getting what they are paying for.
Providing consistent invoices presents a particular challenge for service providers in next-generation networks. Doing so requires operations support systems (OSSs) and new technology on core switches that can provide levels of detail on network utilization and QoS metrics that translate into levels of service that can be equated to different charges.
Internet billing, for instance, will require billing systems to be closely linked with network activity. Back-office management systems (including provisioning systems) now are accommodating the needs of these new services by providing tools and linkages for specialized plans that match billing to use.
Network management enables usage-based billing by gathering performance and bandwidth information. As users dynamically sign up for services, this information validates that the network is optimized to support them and the billing system can receive information in real time to properly bill for usage. The tighter linkage between billing and the network gives visibility into the network and the ability to measure usage. This opens up opportunities for service providers to offer revenue-generating value-added applications. Chief among these are service level agreements (SLAs), VPNs and customer network management (CNM).
100 Percent Visibility
SLAs provide visibility into the network to validate that users are getting what they are being charged for. Providing the level of billing detailed enough to meet the demands of SLAs requires that service providers' systems be properly updated. VPNs give customers their own "private" segment of the public network. CNM gives customers visibility into their portion of the public network, and provides an interface through which they can provision and modify their own services. Provided the proper procedures are in place to link order and billing systems, this action by customers automatically will generate a billing record. This increases revenue opportunities by making it easy for customers to buy services.
The type of flexibility the linkages enable will be an important factor in offering Internet services. By enabling differentiated billing plans, customers can pay for specific levels of service. For example, a retail catalogue store might need a guarantee of online access 100 percent of the time. Because the linkages enable systems to review the quality of the network at all times, Internet service providers (ISPs) are able to guarantee such maximum availability for the customer and charge for it accordingly. Other customers could select, and pay for, just the amount of access they need.
As telecommunications evolves into the next generation, offering new differentiated services will be a competitive necessity for service providers. The ability to offer these services will depend directly on the ability to bill for them. Network management will be an essential tool for providing the kind of detailed usage-based billing the converged data/voice networks of tomorrow will demand.
Pamela Moffitt Dodge is director of network and service management systems, InterNetworking Systems with Lucent Technologies Inc., Murray Hill, N.J. She can be reached at pdodge@lucent.com or 978-952-1211.
