Products

[Download “Ascertain ® - Cartesian’s automated solution for continuous Revenue Assurance”]

The scope of Cartesian’s work using the Ascertain ® software solution suite ranges from assessments and specific, detailed investigations through project support such as complex system migrations to the implementation of complete revenue assurance systems and solutions as licensed installations or as a managed service.  To date there have been over thirty successful Ascertain implementations with major fixed line, mobile and triple play operators across Europe encompassing the following areas:

Why Revenue Assurance Needs Automated Solutions

Strong and effective revenue management is now more essential than ever.

• telco operations are complex – millions of customers and transactions, hundreds of tiered tariff tables and business processes…  Change and innovation are paramount due to the evolving marketplace, technological advances, intense competition and various industry regulations and standards
• expectations are high – the telco’s customers expect prompt bills calculated correctly, whilst shareholders and financial investors look for improving revenues and margins
• the telco’s core systems – network elements, OSS (provisioning and mediation) and BSS (rating, billing and collection) – grow in complexity but do not grow closer together.  Departments deepen their application-specific expertise, but companies frequently fail to create a faultless end-to-end revenue chain

In this challenging context Revenue Assurance has responsibility for the integrity of the complete revenue stream.  To fulfill this responsibility on a continuous basis requires automated tools.   Without such tools, Revenue Assurance staff can easily find that they spend their time on acquiring, manipulating and comparing data.  The goal should be to spend that time working with the business to improve the overall effectiveness of the revenue chain.

The Ascertain ® Software Solution Suite

Ascertain ® is Cartesian’s market-leading Revenue Assurance product and solution suite. It allows easy and cost-effective implementation of telco-specific Revenue Assurance processes that work seamlessly across network elements, core operational and business support systems.

Ascertain ® takes the effort out of collecting and reconciling data, and monitoring activities and trends.  This allows staff to focus on the results, ensuring revenue is recovered and preventative actions are taken.  The suite provides Revenue Assurance with:

• a comprehensive analytical framework to monitor all aspects of revenue operations, from creation of the chargeable records to their complete and timely delivery to their destination
• checking of critical reference data and reconciliation across diverse systems and platforms
• quantification and prioritisation of identified issues
• workflow for managing issues that arise
• the ability for users to handle business queries and perform complex data analysis
• dashboards to present both operational and management level KPIs on an interactive basis

Ascertain ® is built on an open, industry standard architecture that enables wide-ranging user configuration and operating facilities.

The Ascertain ® product suite is developed and maintained by Cartesian’s highly experienced Software Engineers.  There is a full product roadmap for each Ascertain ® module which specifies the planned future functionality. This is based on feedback from Cartesian’s implementation and support teams and planned functional enhancements.

Cartesian’s implementation and support teams work closely with the operators to deliver and maintain the solution to the highest standards.

Ascertain ® - The Foundation To Enable Best Revenue Assurance Practice

Since Cartesian’s inception in 1996, our specialists have worked with the telcos’ Revenue Assurance professionals in:

• developing and documenting best practice in Revenue Assurance
• undertaking Revenue Assurance Healthchecks covering:
  • risk assessment and mapping of controls
  • complex data analysis and reconciliations
  • organisational reviews and strategic advice
• selecting, implementing and supporting a wide range of OSS and BSS solutions that meet the telcos’ current and future needs
• undertaking the migration of business operations – data and processes – from legacy core systems to new platforms and architectures
• developing point solutions to meet specific Revenue Assurance needs

The initial design for Ascertain ® was based directly on this experience and since has evolved and strengthened through numerous successful implementations.  From fixed to mobile, from voice to content, our automated solutions provide on-going reassurance over key revenue flows.

The Ascertain ® suite is designed to be highly flexible to meet the different demands that operators have.  Appropriate configuration is therefore the key to delivering an effective solution.  A critical differentiator for Cartesian is that our solutions are implemented by our Revenue Assurance professionals who understand the intricacies of the job.  We recognise that the team implementing the solution is as important as the software itself.