Why an Online Charging System Is a Must Have for Any Telecom Business

When you think about it, the core telecom operations tend to be extremely complex. This complexity is even more evident in operations that involve billing and tracking different customers’ interactions with the system on a day to day basis. Given that the needs of the modern-day customer are very dynamic, telecom entrepreneurs are constantly faced with the challenge of streamlining the workflow which at times requires using rudimentary methods to achieve.

The solution to some of these challenges and many more is in the form of Online Charging System (OCS). Before even getting to the nitty-gritties of what an Online Charging System is, a quick preview of what this amazing-yet-underutilized software can do tells you that it is software worth investing in. Simply put, an Online Charging System handles the account balances of your subscribers and a number of additional operations without breaking a sweat.

What Does an Online Charging Solution Offer You?

In a very competitive telecom market, it would be unthinkable that there is any entrepreneur in this industry who doesn’t know what an Online Charging System is. However, there are still some businesses that have yet to integrate this tool into their business operations; often due to financial constraints or lack of information about OCS. If you fit into this category or are just looking to gain some more information about OCS capabilities, then check out some benefits of this amazing tool.

• Event and Session Based Charging

•  The services by telecom operators are not always billed in a similar manner. This is because the services telecom companies offer can vary. For example, as a telecom provider, you can either have SMS or voice call type of services. Voice calls are often charged on the basis of the length of session while SMS services are charged on an event basis. When you integrate an Online Charging System into the business, this system can account for both of these services and provide a single tracking point for billing.

• Accounts for Balance Management

• One of the greatest sources of conflict between customers and telecom service providers is related to errors made during the management of account balances. Whether intentional or not, such errors by the service providers can at times sway the customer’s decision to cancel their subscription. An OCS such as the one Telgoo5 offers can significantly minimize or eradicate these types of errors. An Online Charging System implements the account balance management function (ABMF) to track and maintain all customer balances.

How to Choose OCS for Your Telecom Operations?

For an Online Charging System (OCS) to be effective in the telecom world, it must have the following functionalities.

• AI-powered OCS

•  everyone knows just how popular Artificial Intelligence is in the world today. Always make sure that your Online Charging System is integrated with Artificial Intelligence in order to automate billing.

• An OCS with a Backing of Real-time Hosting

•  It is important that any telecom provider out there utilize a real-time charging system that is backed by a real-time hosting service. This is mostly for telecom operators who need to transfer their customer interactions to their own networks on a real-time basis.

• A Secure OCS

• for telecom service operators, customer data should never be lost. The idea is to have an Online Charging System that stores data on multiple locations to safeguard it from getting lost.

• True Real-Time OCS

• True real-time charging is the key to enforcing credit limits and ensuring customers do not exceed their assigned quota. Also, it brings in more transparency into the telecom billing process, which helps in boosting customer’s trust in the service provider.