A fixed line CSP in Malaysia that delivers backhaul and wholesale bandwidth to local, regional and global CSPs in Malaysia and the Asia-Pacific region has selected fraud management and revenue assurance systems from WeDo Technologies.
The wireline CSP’s rapid evolution and revenue growth, as well as the transition of fixed line services from voice to data, an influx of customer data and increasingly complex company operations led it to reassess its requirements. The CSP has found it was not possible to continue to analyse and process the customer information and stay on top of the validation of Call Detail Records (CDRs) using the existing outdated fraud management (FM) tool and revenue assurance (RA) manual procedures.
The company’s internal, manual RA mechanisms were not sufficient to treat, control, audit, and monitor revenues generated from its customer traffic. The CSP lacked automation processes and continuous monitoring capabilities and faced many inconsistencies, including the origination of multiple services across many different platforms. CRM and other parallel systems were not the focus of any type of control.
Although the CSPdid already have an FM system in place, it was ten years old and built for an industry focused on voice, not data. The legacy system was taking nearly eight hours to generate a single alarm for a fault, as well as having limited monitoring perimeters. The CSP needed quicker and more efficient processing in as near real-time as possible, with 360 degree control and autonomy.
To improve its procedures and increase control, the CSP was therefore, at the same time, looking for a new combined RA and FM solution to replace what was already in place and safeguard revenue.
The solution and implementation:
The CSP’s internal procurement procedures meant that the request for proposal (RFP) for this work needed to be sent to at least five competitors. Each was required to provide a product demonstration and detail their individual specifications and expectations for a deployment. This allowed the CSP to whittle the group down to three finalists who performed a live demo based on the operator’s requirements and call data records (CDRs).
“WeDo had a good track record compared to its competitors, and was able to call on established work with other operators, including another Malaysian player. We didn’t want to be a guinea pig or test case,” said the CSP’s head of revenue assurance.
Having been selected, WeDo supplied the company with its RAID Enterprise Business Assurance software, incorporating Usage Control (UC) and Platform Integrity (PI) as well as the Fraud Management (FM) module.
The project implementation was handled in two parts with two teams in the field at different times. Phase one, was executed in five months, and was dedicated to the implementation of RAID UC, while phase two concerned the deployment of RAID FMS was performed in six months. However, since new requirements and areas of scope have since been added, some areas are still being worked on, such as the completion of the PI module and further enhancements around controls and case management.
Results:
“From a Revenue Assurance (RA) perspective, what we have gained from RAID is more flexibility and automation levels that mean we can track data on an hourly and daily basis. The user friendly dashboard helps us to see everything end-to-end, from network to billing, while the search tools mean we can tailor and filter CDR detail as required – something we lacked previously. When areas of loss are identified, it’s much easier for us to escalate and solve the issue as the system detection has given our team more confidence. Moreover, the reporting tools are also very helpful, meaning that we no longer have to rely on IT to download the information we need,” added the CSP’s head of revenue assurance.
Since RAID’s RA implementation in Q4 2014, the CSP has made significant monetary savings while also reducing the resources previously required for manual processes thanks to the automated system, quicker loss identification and resolution times. This has in turn enabled the operator’s RA team to expand its focus and concentrate on other areas, becoming more effective and more productive.
However, RAID’s deployment has not just been about improved internal processes relating to RA controls, but also the impact that the solution has had on other processes; allowing the company to not just detect problem areas but also clean up its data – removing duplicate data and services.
From a FM perspective, the CSP’s Fraud Management team has now achieved its goal of near real-time fraud detection, reducing the previous eight hour delay by 97% to a 15 minute window. Moreover, all data can now be monitored, expanding the prior voice only solution to include broadband data.
As with the RA team, the FM team has also enjoyed access to more detailed CDR information, including customisable rules and thresholds, as well as flexible dashboard views and report generation. It has also enabled Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) monitoring.
“For us this has proved a good business case,” concluded the CSP’s fraud management manager. “Before the implementation of RAID FMS, we incurred a US$164,000 loss as a result of a hacking incident that went undetected due to our CDR manipulations. With the WeDo solution in place, a similar hacking case can be detected in near real-time.”
