Converged Charging System
The strategies for telecoms monetization are changing quickly. 5G, eSIM, B2C, B2B and IoT use cases have introduced new business models and opportunities. Your charging system is more important than ever.
Meet LotusFlare’s Converged Charging System (CCS), a cloud-native, 5G-ready solution that lets subscribers manage their spending, customize their plan, and even sell back unused balance. The LotusFlare CCS is at the heart of the Digital Network Operator IT platform for Telecom Operators.
The LotusFlare CCS is a cloud-native and 3GPP compliant converged charging system. It supports all 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G online and offline charging functions, and gives Telecom Operators a real-time engine for rating, balance management and charging for all services, payment methods and business segments.
Evolution of the Converged Charging System (CCS)
Comparison of Standard Charging System and LotusFlare CCS
STANDARD
The LotusFlare CCS is digital and cloud native from the ground up, with dramatically lower cost than traditional charging systems. It provides a Telecom Operator many opportunities to monetize the network including ‘network slices’ in 5G, digital content, and speed-based tariffs.
USE CASES
With LotusFlare Converged Charging System, Telecom Operators are able to charge their customers by time duration and by product type (voice, data, SMS).
Example Use Cases
For example, if a customer has a $5.00 budget the various options could include:
- 1 60 minute call duration
- 2 Unlimited number of text messages for 1 hour
- 3 Daily limit of 500 MB for 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G
- 4 Unlimited voice, data, SMS from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am
Customers can choose the service they want, for the period of time they wish and their available budget.
BENEFITS OF THE CONVERGED CHARGING SYSTEM
Top-notch digital customer interaction
Customers will find the same realtime and personalized buy, manage and inquiry flows they have come to expect from Internet company products. Increased self-care and simplified processes increase customer satisfaction.
Customize plans and usage
Customization of plans, spending control and even sell-back unused balances. The improved experiences will attract new customers and maximize the satisfaction and retention of existing ones.
More than just “rate plans”
Customers can purchase connectivity plus exciting 3rd party content and personalized offers.
New revenues
Let customers build their own plan, launch contextual offers and promotions to up-sell relevant products through personalized digital channels that are proven to drive up customer ARPU.
Easy to deploy and manage
LotusFlare CCS can be deployed in just weeks in a public cloud environment without requiring manual steps. Specific configuration and integration parameters are accessible via the configuration management system.
Large CAPEX and OPEX savings
LotusFlare CCS is designed to run on commodity hardware in public or private cloud. Compared with traditional charging solutions it is a fraction of the total cost with much greater functionality. It has been designed using state-of-the-art OTT technology and operated using DevOps methodologies which significantly reduce CAPEX and OPEX expenditure vs legacy charging systems.
Speed to market
Once deployed commercial teams can launch targeted offers and advanced propositions for B2C, B2B, eSIM and IoT in minutes. No need for time consuming and costly IT configuration changes required with many legacy systems.
Multi-brand / multi-network
The LotusFlare CCS allows Telecom Operators to launch multiple brands on the same CCS instance. It also allows Telecom Operators to integrate a single CCS on top of multiple networks - a use case for large MVNOs that roam on several MNO networks.
Features that drive growth:
- 5G Ready Convergent Charging Highly scalable and reliable real-time charging for wireless and non-wireless service.
- Event and Session Management Session control and integration with the following network interfaces: DIAMETER, CAMEL and SBA gateways, circuit-switched voice, VoLTE charging, and 5G policy.
- Unified Product Catalog A single unified product catalog that powers the charging / billing function and connects to customer self-service and assisted channels.
- Subscription Manager OTT-like subscription based plan concept. Subscription model takes advantage of the predictable revenue stream of postpaid, while having the flexibility and simplified onboarding of prepaid.
- Flexible Account Hierarchy The CCS supports having multiple customers in one account and a single customer with multiple devices - a plan is shared at the customer level or the device level.
- Multi-network Support Deployed on top of multiple networks, where an MVNO can create a single plan to work across all networks as a customer roams. A customer with the plan can consume services on any network and the balance is seamlessly tracked back to the plan.
- Contextual Engagement The contextual engagement engine engages the right customer at the right time with the right message via the right channel (in app push, SMS, e-mail). All campaigns are configured and tracked via self-service portal by specifying the customer segment, trigger, condition and call to action or next best offer.