You bought a system. Now what?
For all operators, making sure they select the right interconnect billing system is a major undertaking. But what happens next once the procurement process is finally over?
This is the point at which i-conX introduces our implementation team into the mix, jointly led by two of the most experienced and proficient specialists to be found anywhere in the world, Rob Sharp and Vincent Coessens.
It’s a vital role, according to CEO Martin Browne. “These guys are at the sharp end of the stick in more ways than one. Our customer implementations occupy the highest priority in our planning, and we jealously guard our reputation in this area : a good implementation sets the tone for a fruitful customer relationship”.
Frequently working alone, and with passport at the ready, the implementation team starts with a straightforward – albeit challenging – brief.
“Our role is to work on-site with the customer to ensure a smooth, fast and effective implementation and deliver what was promised during sales and possibly even more”, explains Vincent.
“One month I might be in the Middle East, the next in Africa, and the role is certainly one which introduces me to many different locations”.
During negotiations, the company obtains an accurate idea of customer requirements, CDR layout, Security issues, reporting requirements etc, and this is enough to estimate the amount of work and provide a quote.
Once on site, the mission is to go through every detail, analyse it, document it and feed it back to the office in order to start interfacing and modelling.
Vincent continues, “Issues are resolved as we go, and additional requests taken into account where possible. After the system has been tested and approved, I’ll train the customer on using the system and his particular set up”.
Apart from interfacing the system into the data flow, a key element of the process can be summarised as “promoting the idea of integrating Interconnect billing into the company”. With the interconnect billing system being the centerpiece of turning raw data into valuable reporting, the Interconnect billing analysts should be able to understand the very different and sometimes even opposing requirements of different departments involved (ever seen an accountant and a switch engineer at the same table?). At the same time he should be able to assess and feed back the impacts of constraints and requirements.
“My arrival on site will also create awareness amongst departments that were perhaps less involved during procurement phase, such as network operations, marketing, carrier services and cost accountants”, explains Vincent.
“As their understanding of the i-conX functionality grows, they start to realise that this ‘financial-software’ is also able to provide their business with valuable reporting”.
Working in interconnect billing operation, one of the key attractions was always to be able to escape temporarily from the billing office and provide unexpected feedback to other departments. According to Vincent, telling the switch engineers about routes being low on capacity, alarming carrier services about loss-making routes or providing product managers with geographical information to name a few illustrate the added value of a well designed interconnect billing implementation.
“With todays technology and the IconX dashboard, one can even skip the walk through the building!”, he comments.
Clearly, apart from hooking up the system into the billing chain, i-conX is dedicated to making sure Interconnect Billing operations becomes added value throughout the company.