CSG Provides Standalone Roaming Module

Customer care and billing provider CSG Systems has released a standalone Roaming Module for mobile operators.

CSG has offered roaming as part of its billing engine, Kenan/BP, but by un-coupling it the module now can be updated quickly as new standards become available. It also includes built-in rating capabilities and the ability to configure the product to support business rules for partnerships with various operators. It can pass information to downstream applications for additional rating, billing or data warehousing and can apply the proper format to call records for each downstream application.

We’ve leveraged our strength in billing, rating, roaming and mediation to create a solution designed to support evolving standards and the changing needs of the mobile industry,” says Darla Thompson, vice president of product management for CSG’s Global Software and Services Division. As operators sign more roaming agreements and leverage advanced networks to allow customers to access music, video and more as they roam, we believe that the design of this product will help our customers leverage their investment over time.

The GSM Association estimates that more than 20,000 individual roaming agreements are in place among its operators, to share revenue made from calls that cross disparate networks. Each includes specific rules as to how much revenue each operator should earn. Operators need to manage the terms of each agreement and keep up with standards that offer a process for the exchange of call information.

When customers use their mobile phones when visiting another country or wireless network, the Roaming Module gathers information about each call and caller, and applies a charge based on operator agreements. It also can process call information based on the latest Transferred Account Procedure standard, which specifies the exchange of information required for billing and accounting purposes among operators. It also supports the Returned Accounts Procedure standard, which enables operators to manage erroneous call event records that are rejected, resulting in lost revenue.

CSG’s Roaming Module works with any billing system and is available as part of the company’s Kenan FX suite of products and with CSG’s ICMS billing and customer care solution. The solution is compatible with hardware platforms from both Hewlett-Packard Co. and Sun Microsystems Inc.