Introduction

Telecommunication companies need an eIIective and accurate billing system to be able to assure
their revenue. Billing systems process the usage oI network equipment that is used during the
service usage into a single Call Detail Record (CDR). The billing process involves receiving
billing records Irom various networks, determining the billing rates associated with the billing
records, calculating the cost Ior each billing record, aggregating these records periodically to
generate invoices, sending invoices to the customer, and collecting payments received Irom the
customer.
Billing system is very complex starting Irom network elements that generate usage to the billing
system to usage collection, mediation, rating, and invoicing. To simpliIy the process I will
introduce a simple system usage scenario as shown in the Iollowing Iigure. The system user
navigates through the company site and views company services, and he decides to order one oI
the available services. II he has no account, he signs up Ior a new account, else he signs in. Then
the user asks to conduct an order with the selected service. The service may be prepaid where he
has to pay to have credits to use the service, or it may be postpaid, where he has to pay iI the
service has installation or setup Iees, and later on he will pay Ior his usage oI each billing cycle.

1he bllllng sysLem should provlde servlce Lo Lhe user collecL user usage records and generaLe lnvolces
of each credlL explre each bllllng cycle depends on Lhe bllllng Lype collecL paymenLs and ad[usL
cusLomers balances as ln Lhe followlng flgure

$8tem part8
Je can dlvlde Lhe sysLem lnLo seven parLs as ln Lhe followlng flgure
1. $ervices
2. Accounts
3. Ratings
4. Invoices and payments
5. Reporting
6. Help Desk
7. Devices

Service
$ervice is the entity oIIered by the company and targeted to the customers. Each service is
deIined by an engineering employee as a service catalog which includes service type, name,
billing policy, and its deIault rating proIile. All oI these attributes are described later in this
article. AIter service ordering by the customer, it takes a unique ID which is attached with the
account oI the customer, provided by the provisioning system to the customer at a certain date.
ccount
The customer account includes customer contact proIile inIormation, account type, login
inIormation, and payment method. Each customer account is linked in the system with speciIic
services oIIered to this customer, and the customer will be billed depending on his usage oI these
services. Customer account belongs to a speciIic account type, which is related to some price
plans determined by discounts and promotions.
Rating
One oI the big issues in any billing system is ow, wen, and were the companies should bill
their customers. Rating is the process oI converting usage records Irom one Iorm to another, like
converting usage units to its cost. This process is essential in the billing process as it is the point
oI conversion oI the service usage to revenue value to company, which is the target oI
telecommunication companies.
nvoices and payments
Each customer in the system has an account balance, which aIIects any invoices requested by the
customer and any payments done by the customer. Normally the invoices are generated as a
result oI service hosting or using, and payments are the customer payments as a result oI the
invoicing operation.
Involce
It is the entity generated by the billing system to inIorm the customer that he must pay Ior his
service usage or ordering. Each invoice includes the customer account, date oI payment, line
items oI the invoice, and invoice sales taxes. Invoices aIIect the account debits in the billing
system. The invoice contents are shown in the Iollowing Iigure:

Sent
It is the process oI collecting company money Irom the customers and adjusting their balances
through adjusting the account debits and credits. The customers receive receipts oI their
payments. Receipt view is shown in the next Iigure. Each customer account should include its
payment method to be used aIter generating invoices and to ask customers Ior payments.

illing tpe8
Billing types indicate whether and how the users pay to get and use the services.

oxtpSlJ bllllng
In postpaid billing the customer may pay an insurance payment in advance, and he may pay the
installation or setup Iees, and in each billing cycle he will be invoiced (receive a bill) to pay Ior
his usage oI the service.
^epSlJ bllllng
In prepaid billing the customer buys a given amount oI credits (duration, volume, number oI
events) and is then allowed to use the corresponding network resources as long as their account
is in credit. Billing system receives customer usage records Irom the network elements and
adjusts the customer credits. When their credit has been used up, network usage will be
restricted. Prepaid corresponds to a real-time process, because transactions are only allowed iI
the user account is in credit, and this has to be checked in real-time.