According to a MarketsandMarkets report, the convergent billing market is expected to grow to $7.88 billion by 2019, at an estimated Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 22.2% from 2014 to 2019. Given the rapid growth in the telecommunications sector, particularly in the wireless subscription and smart device markets, the steady deployment of innovative services and the increase in customer base have created mounting pressure on existing network charging systems. Because a simple communication aggregate platform is no longer sufficient, Communication Service Providers (CSP) have to deploy convergent billing solutions to improve overall efficiency and enhance greater profitability. A convergent billing communication platform enables a centralized interaction and facilitates communication among the end-users.
To delve further, convergent billing is the integration of all service charges onto a single customer invoice and a unified view of the customer. Such a solution offers a host of advantages. For one, a single product and service catalogue reduces time to market and cost of implementation. Secondly, a unified bill enables cross-service discounts so that customers who order multiple services can receive preferential pricing. It also enables multi-service packaging and pricing, whereby existing customers are encouraged to add new services and new customers are attracted to purchasing innovative service bundles.Pre-paid and post-paid customers would receive centralized support under convergent billing, and companies would reduce their Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
Panamax’s BillCall, an interconnect converged billing solution, is a high-capacity, scalable and a versatile billing system that can be used to enhance any CSP’s business model, including multi-service and Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) that require a convergent real-time rating and charging system. With its modular architecture, BillCall includes extensive billing and financial management capabilities.
BillCall features a Convergent Mediation capability that normalizes usage collection across operational platforms for multiple services, including Voice, SMS and data. The Convergent Charging feature brings competitive offers to market with flexible pricing, while BillCall’s Convergent Invoicing produces a single and logical invoice that enhances cash flow and customer satisfaction for multiple services.The Service Provider Financial Management layer provides a 360-degree view of service provider financial information, providing routes to answer inquiries and dispute resolutions, and the ability to make business decisions concerning customer accounts. It also makes customer financial information rapidly searchable so that all billing-related communication can be efficient and accurate.
Finally, BillCall’s Customer Usage and Vendor Traffic Analytics feature allows CSPs to learn how pricing models, billing, and collections strategies can be adjusted for improved revenue performance.These lightning-quick, in-memory analytics help marketing, sales, customer service and financial operations teams to create competitive differentiation, enhance customer experience and improve business agility.
