Revenue Assurance: Expert Opinions for Communications Providers

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

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 exception, including those provided using the then-new 3G network.

David Stuart is the assistant director of revenue assurance and fraud management at Qtel International. A revenue assurance expert with over 10 years of practical experience within telecoms revenue assurance, David graduated from Brunel University with a degree in mathematics and statistics, after which he moved into the financial services sector.David started his revenue assurance career at MCI WorldCom, where he designed and project-managed the development of a traffic assurance tool covering a dozen business units’ fixed line traffic. From here, David moved to One2One/T-Mobile, where he provided architectural assurance for all of the company’s developments. David’s expertise in the company’s architecture led him to be made test manager for UK’s first 2.5G launch.

From T-Mobile, David moved to a specialist RA consultancy, 2Helix, where he held the position of senior RA consultant. He worked on numerous projects, all delivering revenue assurance software, often custom-designed for the client’s needs. After 2Helix, David moved to Cable & Wireless International, where he was again responsible for delivering revenue assurance tools, this time to CWI’s 33 business units.

Mike Willett currently works as a consultant. He has over 12 years of experience specific to the telecommunications industry in the field of fraud and revenue assurance. Until November 2009, Mike was the director for fraud and revenue assurance at Telstra Corporation, Ltd., Australia. Mike was at Telstra for 6.5 years and led the fraud and revenue assurance function in times of great organizational change as Telstra underwent its massive transformation program. His interest is in understanding theoretical approaches to improve revenue assurance outcomes and, more importantly, in how these can be practically implemented to provide tangible and recognizable business value.

Mike started his