Communications Crossroads - Winter 2007 - (Page 11)

least needs to be on the front burner. We have to be, and already are, prepared to offer products that meet those needs. Offering self-care, EBPP (electronic bill payment) with both switch and billing integration, gives the consumer what they want and gives the telco new revenue streams and increased operating efﬁciency. Automated check remittance processing with billing integration and electronic imaging/Check21 deposits is taking off. This is the cornerstone of a telecom ofﬁce-effectiveness solution. Fred Brott, Intec: The demand for EBPP functionality, often in an outsourced model, is increasing as it signiﬁcantly lowers the cost for the telco in terms of print and mail, shortens the time to cash and improves the customer experience by providing instant access to account information. EBPP is increasingly a requirement from carriers. Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, Comarch: We are observing changing trends of how customers pay for the services they use. A few years ago, we focused on invoices and prepaid services. Currently, we are seeing that customers pay for certain services through activities such as watching advertisements. We can’t say that these services are free—customers pay for these services—however not with invoices, but by buying advertised goods. Finally, we are having more complex charging scenarios between partners for revenue sharing calculations, for example, between an advertiser and a service provider. So some payment methods migrate from retail to wholesale. Are there other business trends that will affect the telecom industry? The billing industry? Bob LaBonté, CDG: Billing providers and telecoms alike need to be sensitive to the demands of customers who are constantly looking to ﬁnd easier ways to acquire, understand and utilize all of the changes in technology. With such issues as VOIP, competition from outside the traditional telecom arena, wireless and industry consolidations, telecoms will be looking for us to lead the way with innovative products to expand the customer experience, drive more efﬁciency and capture valuable customer usage data. Fred Brott, Intec: A signiﬁcant number of carriers outsource their billing operations, and as these existing commitments approach their end, carriers are looking for partners that will allow ﬂexibility in outsourcing agreement terms, the option to move billing functionality in-house in the future and support of emerging trends. Carriers too often have been constrained by outsourcing agreements and the aging technology used to support them. Carriers will look for vendors that use leading technologies and ﬂexible modern solutions, backed by adaptable agreements that can easily accommodate change in business strategy that will enable them to remain nimble in today’s dynamic business environment. Lane Nordquist, HickoryTech: I think ﬁrst and foremost you have to look at the wireless world and VOIP. That’s pretty much the standard thing that everybody is in competition with. At some point and time, I personally hold the old TDF technology is going to be gone. How quickly that happens is anybody’s guess. For billing, I think that means we have to be fully capable of accurately billing for those types of services to begin with. Secondly, we need be able to provide functionality that allows traditional telcos to market competitively against those threats with innovative plans and pricing. So everything keeps coming back to enabling the traditional telco to be more competitive through data pricing and practices. MODEMS & GATEWAYS FOR VOICE, VIDEO & DATA SERVICES FOR MORE INFORMATION , CONTACT Sales@bectechnologies.net EAST COAST SALES: (603) 773-9739 WEST COAST SALES: (714) 890-0201 CENTRAL REGION SALES: (626) 823-1509 What are other industries doing that telecom should emulate? Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, Comarch: Internet, Internet, Internet. In the future, we may have two network types: an unmanaged network, the Internet, and managed networks, operated by future operators. The difference will be in the security, mobility and quality of Winter 350150_BEC.indd 1 2007 COMMUNICATIONS CROSSROADS 2:39:40 PM 10/2/07 11

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Communications Crossroads - Winter 2007

Communications Crossroads Winter 2007 Up Front Contents Cover Story: Billing Redux Business Advantages: Reaching Consumers with Special Needs Technology Today: Femtocells: The Jury’s Still Out Industry Calendar Index to Advertisers TELECOMPAC

Communications Crossroads - Winter 2007

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