Cheap, fast and easy: Vendors offer component softwre for wireless billing and customer care

The days of spending two years and $50 million or more to design custom billing and customer care solutions are gone. In today's wireless and wireline markets, operators demand quicker turnaround times and cheaper solutions.

"They don't have the time or money to build from scratch-especially the start-ups," said Per Axelsson, vice president of global partner sales for LHS. As a result, customer care and billing solutions providers are offering modular software products that accept additional capabilities and are easily modified.

At Wireless '98, American Management Systems introduced Tapestry, a customer care and billing platform that comprises components that can be used individually with third-party software or integrated across multiple business functions. Available applications include a customer care manager, a real-time event rater and pricer, a billing engine and an on-line payment option.

"It's a timeless solution that users can expand to meet future needs," said Susan Culler, senior principal for AMS.

Logica also capitalizes on this demand for modular systems by partnering with companies to offer its clients complete solutions. Richard Norris, director of customer care solutions for Logica finds that his clients don't want custom solutions because they are expensive and slow to deploy, but they want distinctive solutions.

"If there is a component solution that can meet most of their needs, our customers are opting for that as opposed to taking the risk of building something from scratch," said Mike Maloney, executive vice president of Logica's communications division. In the past six to 12 months, every opportunity Maloney has seen has involved an existing software product.

Most of Logica's clients find 80% of the functionality they need from existing software solutions. "It's getting the other 20% that's difficult," Norris said. However, it's this unique 20%-which Logica achieves through combinations of "best-of-breed" products, often from other vendors-that is vital for companies to differentiate themselves in the market, Norris said.

Logica and its partner, LHS, announced a contract at Wireless '98 for an integrated billing solution with prepaid capability for France Caraibe Mobiles. The solution combines LHS' Business Support and Control Systems software product and Logica's Telepath SMSC short messaging solution. FCM hopes to increase customer subscriptions with a prepay option and improve its billing operations.

Although the demand for modular solutions has been growing in the past two to four years, companies are using them now more than ever, according to Culler and Norris.

With significant portions of their networks in place, carriers are looking to differentiate their offerings. They want to add services quickly, market them aggressively and add subscribers, Norris said.

In addition, some start-ups initially turned to service bureaus for customer care and billing so that they could focus on building out their networks. "Now carriers are getting large enough, and they're doing it in house rather than outsourcing," said Brian Murphy, analyst for The Yankee Group.

Modular systems aren't just for start-ups or small carriers, though. LHS now focuses on carriers with about one million subscribers, Axelsson said. AMS' Tapestry best fits medium to large carriers, which it defines as those with 200,000 or more subscribers.

As entrenched landline carriers prepare for competition, they have also begun buying into modular systems. The Bell companies, for example, have large legacy systems that they have invested in heavily. Rather than lose those systems to add capabilities, they can integrate new solutions with them, Norris said.

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