Phone Plus Prepaid: Products

Posted: 9/2003

Products

SIMPLIFIED RELEASES SIMPLIFIED VENTANA 2.0

Simplified has released Simplified Ventana 2.0, an upgrade to its flagship communication services platform that integrates real-time financial, network and services management capabilities for prepaid and postpaid voice and data services.

The platform comprises several tool sets that enable carriers to configure and modify rate tables, route plans, hardware devices, DNIS and PIN information, and customer service and setup.

Version 2.0 offers new tools and advanced applications for account management and profitability analysis, including options for creating traffic incentive plans for distributors, securing new customers, limiting financial risk and liability, and analyzing network profitability. It also adds billing, provisioning, data import/export, reporting and financial analysis capabilities.

Upgrade highlights:

 Credit Limit Manager automates the process of setting credit limits for distributors, informing them of a pending suspension, suspending a distributor if credit issues are not resolved and reinstating to good standing, when appropriate. Flexible usage options enable users to adopt policies that best reflect their customer relationships.

 Customer Incentive Manager automates the wholesale process of discount billing for traffic volume goals agreed upon by the wholesaler and its customers. If the retail service provider or calling card distributor surpasses its goal of 1 million minutes per month, for example, the invoice from Simplified Ventana automatically reflects a percentage or flat-rate discount. Traffic volume goals and incentive discounts are flexible and user-defined.

 PIN Importer gives telecom service bureaus an easy way to move prepaid PINs from any prepaid calling card platform to Simplified Ventana. All information related to each batch-imported PIN is automatically populated in the Simplified Ventana PIN database.

 Simplified Ventana ViewPoint combines customer service and reporting tools in a single Web-based interface for faster and more flexible data management. It includes about 30 configurable real-time reports, including profit/traffic analysis, cost comparisons, trunk group usage, service bureau and distributor traffic, and other financial and operational reports.

 PINs In-Use Monitor enables users to view all PINs in use in real time, find and release hung PINs, investigate attempted fraud and resolve end-user issues.

 Dynamic Audit Logging records and tracks every modification to platform configuration and data by matching usernames and IP addresses.

 Hardware Manager supports additional switching devices and enables remote device and trunk group provisioning.

 Customer Service Manager improves customer data lookup, enabling faster end-user transactions and support with new menu and Web-based navigation.

SIMPLIFIED
11100 Metric Blvd., Suite. 770
Austin, TX 78758
+1 512 425 9700
www.simplified.com

BCGI LAUNCHES PAYMENT AGENT SERVICES

Boston Communications Group Inc. has rolled out bcgi Payment Agent Services, an end-to-end integrated solution for real-time, assisted and self-serve payment transactions.

For these solutions, bcgi unites wireless operators with multiple financial partners and takes complete responsibility for the transactions, including reconciliation, cash settlement and remittance. By deploying bcgis real-time payment services, carriers can offer a choice of convenient payment options  cash, debit or credit cards  that can be used via the Internet, from the handset, at ATMs and at self-serve kiosks.

Payment Agent Services may be employed as a standalone service or as a complement to other bcgi solutions, such as bcgi Prepaid Wireless and bcgi Prepaid Connection. Payment Agent Services is deployed using bcgis TOTALsource implementation model in which bcgi provides all aspects of the solution, including implementation and ongoing support.

BOSTON COMMUNICATIONS GROUP INC.
100 Sylvan Road, Suite 100
Woburn, MA 01801
+1 781 904 5000
www.bcgi.net

CSG INTEGRATES BILLING SYSTEM WITH HP OPENCALL

CSG Systems Inc. unveiled a seamless integration point between its CSG Kenan Prepaid billing solution and Hewlett- Packard Co.s OpenCall Service Controller for voice networks.

The HP OpenCall Service Controller resides within a service providers circuit-switched network to control network traffic and feed transaction-based information to the CSG Kenan Prepaid billing engine. CSG and HP integrated the two software platforms to deliver an open, prepaid solution that leverages standards specifically designed for 2G, 2.5G and 3G networks.

CSG Kenan Prepaid works in combination with the CSG Kenan/BP billing engine to provide converged prepaid and postpaid billing capabilities based on an open architecture. CSG Kenan Prepaid delivers functionality for both voice and data, from realtime transaction processing to dynamic balance management that enables customers to manage multiple wallets and transfer money from one balance to another.

CSG SYSTEMS INC.
7887 E. Belleview Ave., Suite 1000
Englewood, CO 80111
+1 303 796 2850, +1 800 366 2744
www.csgsystems.com

BILLSOFT, TRANSDECISIONS TEAM UP TO CREATE EZGEO

BillSoft Inc., a telecommunications taxation software company, and TransDecisions Inc., a geocoding and routing/scheduling software company, have agreed to integrate their software, creating EZGeo. The new product will be offered through BillSoft.

EZGeo allows accurate, location-sensitive taxing capability at the rooftop level. The EZGeo solution provides telecommunications, cable television, retail and other industries with an integrated and flexible solution.

EZGeo is a state-of-the-art geocoding and address verification engine supporting all major data sources and map rendering tools, says Vicki Klein, president of BillSoft. EZGeo provides address scrubbing, which includes address correction capabilities and enables precise identification of taxing jurisdictions, including identification of incorporated areas. Associated products will offer call-before-you-dig customer services, call center account setup and marketing and riskassessment applications in a variety of industries.

BILLSOFT INC.
8220 Marshall Dr.
Lenexa, KS 66214
+1 800 525 8175
www.billsoft.com

TRANSDECISIONS INC.
16 Tech Circle Natick, MA 01760
+1 508 655 8801
www.transdecisions.com

SITEGALORE LAUNCHES BLOG MODULE FOR SERVICE PROVIDERS

Akmins SiteGalore, a private-branded Web site building and publishing tool for ISPs, ASPs, Web hosting companies, telcos and other service providers, now includes a fully integrated blog module to enable integrated Web site building and blogging services.

SiteGalores BlogZone features a Postto- Blog option and a browser-based DHTML editor. There also are options to compose rich-text blog postings with images, audio, video and other files.

An advanced member-management system allows creation and administration of an online community of members who contribute to blogs. Also included is about 5,000 blog design templates, instant e-mail notification of fresh blog postings, blog moderator options, a customized module for inviting new members to join the online community of bloggers, blog re-spawning options to handle emergency situations and a blog archiving system.

BlogZone is tightly integrated with the SiteGalore Website building application, thereby eliminating the purchase and maintenance of third-party tools or plug-ins.

AKMIN TECHNOLOGIES PRIVATE LTD.
3A, III Floor, Nirupa Palace
P68, 6th Ave., Anna Nagar
Chennai - 600 040
Tamil Nadu, India
+91 (44) 26209020
www.sitegalore.com

MICROSOFT, PORTAL SOFTWARE TEAM FOR TELECOM BILLING SOLUTION

Microsoft Corp. and Portal Software Inc. have partnered to offer BillingAgility, a solution that will allow service providers to bill for new services while avoiding the recurring costs of upgrading or developing new code to enhance legacy functionality.

Utilizing Web services, BillingAgility is a scalable, high-performance solution designed to meet the billing and subscriber management needs of service providers. It combines Portals Infranet software with Microsoft Windows Server 2003, SQL Server 2000 and BizTalk Server.

The architecture of BillingAgility, utilizing Web service standards such as XML and SOAP, enables integration with other applications and legacy systems, and facilitates B2B integrations, enabling service providers to build content-partner communities. For example, the seamless connection of data from a CRM or general ledger system to BillingAgility will require less than half the previous programming effort, the companies note in a press statement.

BillingAgility is a billing and subscriber management solution built on Microsoft Windows Server 2003 (64-bit) with the SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition (64- bit). Service providers utilizing a 64-bit architecture and BillingAgility will be able to support more than 25 million subscribers and achieve faster rating and billing runs.

PORTAL SOFTWARE INC.
10200 S. De Anza Blvd.
Cupertino, CA 95014
+1 408 572 2000
www.portal.com

NEUSTAR ADDS ASREXPRESS TO OSS CLEARINGHOUSE

NeuStar Inc., a neutral third-party provider of clearinghouse services, has rolled out an access service request (ASR) clearinghouse service, ASRexpress.

ASRexpress offers access customers, CLECs, ISPs, wireless carriers and enterprise customers a simplified method for electronically processing and tracking access service requests. More specifically, ASRexpress provides customers the ability to trade with national access service providers through one single interface to the clearinghouse, instead of deploying multiple links to each trading partner.

We are very pleased to offer ASRexpress to our expanded customer base. ASRexpress dramatically improves customers ability to manage critical network infrastructure, that will result in lower capital expenditures, reduced operational costs and improved service provisioning timeliness, says John S.

Malone, senior vice president of NeuStars OSS business unit.

ASRexpress addresses the long-standing challenge of managing multiple access service orders with multiple providers, through multiple interfaces. ASRexpress streamlines the flow, tracking and management of access service requests from clearinghouse customers to national ILECs and/or major IXC access providers.

NeuStars ASRexpress supports the newest ordering guidelines, ASR Pre-Order and Unified Order Model, as well as XML standard interface methods. NeuStars ASR clearinghouse manages all ILEC Access Service Ordering Guidelines modifications, freeing customers of the need to make costly software changes.

The company says implementation is faster than alternative methods with interface options that include XML or the ASRexpress Graphical User Interface to connect to all national access service providers.

NEUSTAR INC.
2000 M St. N.W., Suite. 600
Washington, D.C. 20036
+1 202 533 2600
www.neustar.com