Revenue Assurance: Expert Opinions for Communications Providers

Description

This cutting-edge reference represents a new phase in the talkRA project—an initiative dedicated to improving the discipline of revenue assurance (RA) for communication providers. From blog to podcasts and now a book, the project offers a platform for a select group of RA experts to share ideas and best practices in revenue assurance, revenue management, business intelligence, and fraud... Read more

This cutting-edge reference represents a new phase in the talkRA project—an initiative dedicated to improving the discipline of revenue assurance (RA) for communication providers. From blog to podcasts and now a book, the project offers a platform for a select group of RA experts to share ideas and best practices in revenue assurance, revenue management, business intelligence, and fraud prevention in telecommunications and other industries.

Drawing on the expertise and insights of some of the leading minds in RA, Revenue Assurance: Expert Opinions for Communications Providers supplies high-powered ideas and techniques for the effective management, planning, strategy formulation, and measurement of RA performance. Presented as a series of articles on current and emerging topics of interest, it provides extensive and multi-faceted guidance to help readers move up the scale from basic checks to optimizing performance.

Covers the fundamentals of revenue assurance
Explains the relationship between revenue assurance and fraud management and how revenue assurance sits within the wider context of enterprise risk management and the control environment
Provokes readers to think of creative ways to adapt RA to the needs of their business, whether they are initiating the RA process or seeking to take an established RA function to the next level
Shows how to measure the financial benefits delivered by the RA team and how to appraise the RA maturity of the whole business
Illustrates how to perform root cause analysis through Q&A discussion of how top experts deal with a variety of leakages
Identifies trends in how RA techniques are changing, and links these to developments in tools and technology
Entertains through sympathetic and sometimes irreverently humorous observations about the working life of an RA practitioner

The book provides an analysis of the drivers for RA products and services, enabling RA suppliers and consultants to compare their competitive offerings with what customers really want and need. Complete with real-world tips and case examples, it supplies the well-rounded understanding that will enable you to best fit the needs of your business and best support its objectives. This book will give you the confidence to determine the most effective and efficient methods to achieve and maintain healthy revenue streams in the ever-changing landscape of electronic communications.

Praise for:

... draws upon the actual experience of a number of RA professionals—those who have actually lived through the journey, learned from setbacks, and adapted their approaches to determine best practices in the field.
—Julian Hebden, Director of Enterprise Information Management, Telstra

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Revisiting the Foundations of Revenue Assurance
Revenue Assurance at the Crossroads; Hugh Roberts
What Makes for a Successful Revenue Assurance Team? Mike Willett
Dollars and Cents, Pounds and Pence; Eric Priezkalns
Never Say "No New Leakage"; Mike Willett
How Democracy Stops Leakage; Eric Priezkalns
Recognizing the Value of Revenue; Eric Priezkalns
How Big Should a Revenue Assurance Department Be? Eric Priezkalns

Linking Revenue Assurance to Fraud Management
Synergy of Billing Verifi cation and Fraud Management; David Leshem
When Fraud Belongs with Revenue Assurance; Eric Priezkalns
Greatest Internal Fraud Risk? Eric Priezkalns

Strategy, Scope, and Synergy
Five Dimensions of Revenue Assurance; Mark Yelland
Exploring the Concept of Maturity in the Performance of Revenue Assurance; Eric Priezkalns
Revenue Assurance Is a Silo! Ashwin Menon
Using Variances to Set the Scope for Assurance; Eric Priezkalns
Import and Export of Responsibilities as a Tactic to Support the Revenue Assurance Strategy; Eric Priezkalns
Revenue Assurance versus Revenue Maximization; Eric Priezkalns
Billing Assurance and the Ends; Eric Priezkalns
Conflicts between Revenue Reporting and Revenue Assurance; Eric Priezkalns
Sarbanes–Oxley + Making Money = Confusion; Eric Priezkalns
Macrodiagnosis versus Atomic Checks; Ashwin Menon
The Zoom; Eric Priezkalns
Being Proactive; Eric Priezkalns

Epistemology and Metrics
Epistemology, Icebergs, and Titanics; Eric Priezkalns
Two Dimensions of Leakage Knowledge; Eric Priezkalns
How Cable & Wireless Built a Reporting Framework around a Checklist of Leakage Points; Eric Priezkalns and Lee Scargall
Metrics for Leakages and Benefits: Making the Key FIT; David Stuart
A Strategy for Measuring Charging Integrity Based on the Three "C’s"; Eric Priezkalns
Measuring the Fourth "C": Cash Collection; Eric Priezkalns
Transition from the Indicator to the Director; Ashwin Menon
Performance Management; Güera Romo
Benchmarking; Güera Romo
What Happened to the Subex–Analysys Survey?; Eric Priezkalns
When $25 billion Is not Worth $25 billion; Eric Priezkalns
Global Revenue Leakage to Fall; Eric Priezkalns
Cost of Nada; David Leshem
Myth of Average Intercarrier Leakage; Eric Priezkalns
Raw Data, Workfl ows, and Mr. RA Analyst; Ashwin Menon
On Analytics, Dashboards, and Revenue Assurance; Mike Willett
Progress Key Performance Indicators; Ashwin Menon
Using Analytics to Enhance Sales and Marketing; Eric Priezkalns
Double-Edged Saw; Eric Priezkalns
Hammer and Tongs: The Tools of Revenue Assurance Tools Overview; Eric Priezkalns
What Revenue Assurance Tools Get Wrong; David Stuart
Anyone Want a Revenue Assurance Tool? Mike Willett
Automating Resolution; Eric Priezkalns
Proof Before You Buy; Eric Priezkalns
Duplicate Data, Duplicate Costs; Eric Priezkalns

Managing Risk
Fundamentals of Risk for Revenue Assurance Managers; Eric Priezkalns
Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management within the Context of Enterprise Risk Management; Eric Priezkalns
Linking Revenue Assurance, Risk, and Maturity; Eric Priezkalns
Understanding Controls Control Frameworks and Their Purpose; Eric Priezkalns
Control Objectives and Priorities; Eric Priezkalns
Understanding the Parameters and Choices for Business Assurance Controls; Eric Priezkalns

Serving the Retail Customer
Billing Accuracy Complaints and the Value-Visibility Curve; Eric Priezkalns
Using the Three "C’s" to Tell When Customers Can and Cannot Protect Themselves; Eric Priezkalns

Advanced Themes in Revenue Assurance
Strength of an Argument; Güera Romo
Testing the Accuracy of Recorded Durations; Eric Priezkalns
Use of "Forensic" in the Context of Revenue Assurance; Güera Romo
IPDR-Based Usage Meter Accuracy; Eric Priezkalns
GSM Gateways: The Quiet Crime; Eric Priezkalns
Suffering a Crisis in Confidence? Mark Yelland
A Worked Example for Using Statistics in Precision Assurance Testing; Eric Priezkalns
Is Revenue Assurance CAT or CAVT? Eric Priezkalns
North American Revenue Assurance: Got Your Number? David Leshem
Theory of Symmetrical Error; Eric Priezkalns
Research Found Revenue Assurance to Be Responsible for Insanity; Güera Romo
An Entity-Relationship Model for Revenue Assurance Controls; Eric Priezkalns
Transdisciplinary Approach to Problem Solving; Güera Romo
Minimize the Risks with Voice over WiMAX; Eric Priezkalns

The Business of Revenue Assurance
Revenue Assurance Caterpillar; Eric Priezkalns
Horizontal and Vertical Expansion of Revenue Assurance; Eric Priezkalns
Spicing up the Market; Eric Priezkalns
Listening to a Market Leader; Eric Priezkalns

Power to the People of Revenue Assurance
Common Theme to Good Training; Eric Priezkalns
Training for Revenue Assurance; Mike Willett
Price of Professionalism; Eric Priezkalns
Standardization Based on Generalization; Güera Romo
Which One Are You? Eric Priezkalns
Jobs in Revenue Assurance; Eric Priezkalns

Tangents on the Theme of Revenue Assurance
What Communication Providers Can Learn From Banking; Güera Romo
If Health Means Wealth, Th en Plugs Mean Drugs; Eric Priezkalns
A Memory for Revenue Assurance; Eric Priezkalns
Can the ROC Be Lean? Eric Priezkalns

The Future(s) of Revenue Assurance
Future of Revenue Assurance? Mike Willett
Current and New Paradigms of Revenue Assurance; Eric Priezkalns
Does Revenue Assurance Have Confidence Issues? Mike Willett
Pedaling Profits; David Leshem
Content: Frontier for Revenue Assurance; Eric Priezkalns
Revenue Assurance Doublespeak; David Leshem
Evolution or Revolution; Eric Priezkalns

Anecdotes from the Edge of Revenue Assurance
How to Make Bills Confusing; Eric Priezkalns
No Carry, No Cash; Eric Priezkalns
When Revenue Assurance Stops: A Bedtime Story; David Leshem
Battlegrounds and Graveyards; Lee Scargall
Abstraction Reactions; Eric Priezkalns
Metering Not Billing; Eric Priezkalns
Saving Pennies, Saving Face; Eric Priezkalns

It Makes You Think...
Hidden Switch; David Stuart
Fraudulent Engineer; David Stuart
VAT Man; David Stuart
Faulty Transmission; David Stuart
NOC versus RA; David Stuart
Fraudulent Prepaid Top-Ups; David Stuart
Impossible Mission; David Stuart
No, No, NO!! David Stuart
Low-Hanging Fruit; David Stuart

Bibliography
Index

Author(s)

Biography

Eric Priezkalns is the founder of talkRA.com, the Web site that gave rise to this book. He is currently an assistant director at Qtel International responsible for enterprise risk management. Eric has over ten years of experience in the communications industry in the fields of risk management and revenue assurance. Eric was the original (and much imitated) revenue assurance blogger. Having built a loyal readership worldwide, Eric decided to join forces with other thought leaders by forming talkRA, which went on to establish itself as the Web site for practitioners to get insightful views and the latest news about revenue assurance.Eric has previously worked as head of controls for Cable & Wireless Group; best practice manager in the revenue assurance, billing, and carrier services function of T-Mobile, UK; and the billing integrity manager for Worldcom, UK. He first worked as a consultant in the Enterprise Risk Services division of Deloittes, where he also qualified as a chartered accountant. Eric has a master's degree in information systems and a bachelor's degree in mathematics and philosophy.Eric is very well known in international revenue assurance circles as a founding participant of the TM Forum's Revenue Assurance team, and he is now the leader of the TM Forum's Enterprise Risk Management team. He was the driving force behind the revenue assurance maturity model. He was one of the editors and contributors of the TM Forum's Revenue Assurance Overview and its Revenue Assurance Guidebook. It was in the first version of the TM Forum's Overview that Eric introduced the de facto standard definition of revenue assurance.Eric was responsible for the program that saw T-Mobile UK, become the first CSP to satisfy the UK regulator's stringent metering and billing accuracy expectations across all communication services without except

Critics' Reviews

This book draws upon the actual experience of a number of RA professionals—those who have actually lived through the journey, learned from setbacks, and adapted their approaches to determine best practices in the field. This work isn’t an academic exercise that will prove impossible to implement within your organization but one that is built upon the bedrock of actual implementation experience.
—Julian Hebden, Director of Enterprise Information Management, Telstra

Revenue Assurance Expert Opinions for Communications Providers

Description

Table of Contents

Author(s)

Biography

Critics' Reviews

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