Billing and OSS
Billing - change remains constant April/May 2002 By Hugh Roberts

Everything changes, nothing changes... this seems to be the appropriate mantra for communications billing and operational support systems in 2002.

On the one hand we are faced with a completely new set of challenges to support new services in interactive broadband and always-on 3G environments, whilst on the other, the need for old fashioned business common sense has never been greater than when addressing the issues surrounding the development of profitable business models for next generation operations.

The one thing which is virtually certain is that we will be living within a hybrid network environment of one sort or another for the foreseeable future.

Billing Systems 2002 is Europe's largest and most important billing and OSS event, taking place from 22 - 25 April 2002 at London's Earls Court Conference & Exhibition Centre, and aims to help you get to grips with what the future holds, and answer the mission critical questions you need to solve.

So what will Billing Systems 2002 help you discover:
What sort of new services will I have to provide to stay competitive and maximise my ROI, and what are the implications for billing?
How can I deliver and bill for £next generation' services using my current network and support infrastructure?
What are the financial and human resources required to keep my billing and customer care competitive?
How much of my customers' service consumption am I actually turning into Euros? How do I measure it and what do I do to recover and assure the revenue flows?
What billing products and services are available that will be flexible and scalable enough to meet my changing business needs?
When will I need to upgrade my billing & OSS systems to allow me to fully capitalise on next generation services?

Perhaps the most important new challenge for the telecoms industry is to recognise that with the advent of broadband fixed and mobile content delivery they are no longer just competing with each other, they are now competing with almost every other industry for a slice of the consumer's disposable income and the corporate's physical and cultural infrastructure spend. If these challenges are going to be addressed profitably, it must be recognised that the need for all departments and disciplines within the telecoms sector to talk to each other has never been greater.

And that's what Billing Systems 2002 aims to give you the opportunity to do! There are as many optimum billing solutions as there are business entities who require them. The show is a shop window, but not just for products and services. Of equal importance are the ideas and suppositions which when discussed will offer practical methods to overcome current dilemmas.

Billing Systems 2002, the annual industry meeting point is almost upon us, but it's not too late to register for your free exhibition pass. You can register online by clicking on www.iir.co.uk/billing. Your exhibition pass will entitle you to free access to the exhibition, as well as a special 'use-once' pass, to attend any one of the streamed conference presentations running during exhibition hours - for FREE!

The Billing Systems Exhibition features 70+ exhibitors and over 5200 sqm of exhibition space. You can talk to the leading customer care and billing vendors presenting their 'real-world' practical billing solutions. See dozens of new products, all being launched at the Billing Systems Exhibition, as well as take part in almost 80 FREE exhibitor hosted product briefings.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Hugh Roberts
Consultant Director, CCB & OSS Events
IIR Telecoms & Technology LONDON


Venue Address: Earls Court Conference & Exhibition Centre, West Brompton Entrance, London
Exhibition Hours: Tuesday 23rd & Wednesday 24th April 10.30 - 19.00, Thursday 25th April 10.30 - 16.30
IIR Customer Services: +44 (0)20 7915 5600 Fax: +44 (0)20 7915 5056
E-Mail: billing@telecoms.iir.co.uk www: www.iir.co.uk/billing