Gary, You Inspired me, Interested in knowing what Billing Is all about and Exactly WHY FTEL is going to succeed? Read this article:
soundingboardmag.com
"Net" 30 Days
Internet Billing Systems Facing New Obstacles, Opportunities
By Fred Dawson
Internet protocol (IP) telephony is driving a
revolution in billing system architectures that has
profound implications for service providers extending well beyond traditional voice applications.
While some suppliers of telecommunications billing
systems contend that accommodating the
requirements of IP telephony entails the merest
tweaking of software widely used in the
circuit-switched voice services environment, others
say the only way to handle the billing needs of IP
voice service providers is to use web-specific
systems that have been built from the ground up.
Not surprisingly, many newcomers to the billing
business who are seeking new niches for their
innovative software ideas can be found in the latter
category, while suppliers long tuned to the needs of
circuit-switched voice providers tend to make up the
other group. Figuring out whose perspective is right
for a specific business strategy could mean the
difference between success and failure in the
marketplace for service providers who are
attempting to make their way in the chaotic,
multifaceted IP voice business.
IP Telephony, Part II
"During the first phase of IP telephony now
underway--where the driving market force is low
cost, especially on international routes--the
off-the-shelf billing systems created for the prepaid
and international callback markets are adequate to
many ITSPs' [IP telephony service providers']
needs," says consultant Dave Bernstein, whose
Silicon Valley firm, Vergent Communications Inc.
(www.vergent.com), advises service and equipment
suppliers in the field. "But the second phase, where
enhanced features enabled by packet technology
begin to drive the market, will require much more
sophisticated approaches to billing."
While billing systems designed for today's fully
featured circuit switched networks might allow
ITSPs to interoperate in accord with call termination,
quality of service and other parameters required for
this second phase of evolution, ITSPs will have to
design their networks to "look like the PSTN [public
switched telephone network]" if they want to exploit
such systems, Bernstein says.
Otherwise, "they'll have to rewrite the billing
software to hook into an infrastructure that doesn't
look like the PTSN," he says.
One company devoted to giving ITSPs the software
suited to exploit the benefits of a pure IP architecture
is Cambridge, Mass.-based Kenan Systems Corp.
(www.kenan.com). The company's Arbor Billing
Platform has been designed with a table of billing
feature components which customers can tap into
with the click of a mouse to create and revise their
own customized billing system, notes Paul Varley,
Internet products manager at Kenan.
"The system supports telephony rating by time of
day, destination and other traditional parameters," he
says, "but it also has components supporting other
features, such as quality of service, where you might
want to charge 8 cents a minute when the network is
operating at latency below, say, 200 milliseconds,
and discount the charge to 6 cents when it's
overloaded."
But there's even more to the challenge as IP
telephony moves to new levels of features and
popular acceptance.
Today, while feature-rich capabilities described by
Varley are beginning to migrate into networks of
ITSPs such as Kenan customers Verio Inc.
(www.verio.net) and AT&T Worldnet
(www.att.com/worldnet), the billing systems tend to
be proprietary to the needs of specific service
providers, making it difficult for them to accomplish
the interconnection with each other that is vital to
creating a larger market for IP telephony and related
services. Accomplishing interconnection among these
disparate systems has become the first order of
business in the evolving scenario at the cutting edge
of IP telephony.
"There are as many billing solutions as there are
companies in the business," says Lior Haramaty, vice
president of technical marketing at
VocalTecCommunications
Ltd.(www.vocaltec.com). "We see a huge variety of
different needs, from systems with no billing elements
that simply monitor usage to full-scale
telecommunications-type billing systems capable of
accommodating very large numbers of users."
Enter the Gatekeeper
The new step taken by VocalTec and other IP
telephony gateway vendors is to introduce
high-octane "gatekeepers." Also known as
comanagement agents, these server-based software
platforms provide the addressing, directory and
other intelligent network-like administrative features
that not only link with gateways within a given IP
operating environment, but also serve to share such
information with other ITSPs' gatekeepers and
independent settlement houses, relying on
standardized protocols within the H.323 regime of
the International Telecommunications Union.
"The gatekeeper enables complex intranetworking
billing solutions with support for roaming, handling
load balance, least-cost routing and fulfilling call
termination agreements," Haramaty says. Where
fulfilling roaming requirements are concerned, this
means being able to keep track of dynamically
assigned IP addresses and to find a user "whether
he's on an office phone, using his PC or at home."
This is where even small ITSPs begin to have an
advantage over their switched-circuit counterparts,
Haramaty notes. "In the traditional IN [intelligent
network] environment these things are very difficult
to implement, requiring very expensive proprietary
systems running on big switches with data used as an
overlay to the circuit voice signal," he says. "It's
much easier to do these things with gatekeeper
technology."
Gatekeeper technology is, indeed, making it easier to
interconnect disparate providers while ensuring each
has in place billing systems that are appropriate to
their needs, says Barbara Frank, marketing
coordinator for MIND CTI Ltd. (www.mind.co.il),
supplier of the iPhonEX IP telephony billing system.
But the billing system still must be specially adapted
to interface with legacy telecommunications billing
systems, and the software piece that sits on an
ITSP's gateway also must be customized to
accommodate the various gateways' means of
handing off CDRs (call detail records), she says. The
firm has adapted its billing system to a wide range of
gateways, including those supplied by VocalTec,
Lucent Technologies Inc. (www.lucent.com), Vienna
Systems Corp. (www.viennasys.com) and Clarent
Corp. (www.clarent.com), Frank says. But, so far,
full integration with legacy systems "has only come
up in one or two cases," she adds, noting that "this is
a very technically sophisticated area."
Cracking this nut could become the key to drawing
traditional voice carriers into IP telephony, Bernstein
notes. "There's a hidden opportunity in the creation
of billing systems customized for more richly featured
IP voice services," Bernstein adds. "People will
figure out that the ability to keep track of IP
telephony opens effective ways of billing for Internet
use across a wide range of applications and for
integrating those applications into the PSTN as well."
Some observers expect traditional carriers to move
aggressively into IP telephony in the not-too-distant
future. Cost benefits associated with increasingly high
IP voice quality at low bit rates of 8 kilobits per
second (kbps) vs. 64kbps for digital circuit voice,
plus the ability to add features quickly and flexibly
over routers as opposed to using traditional IN
techniques, will be major incentives for incumbent
and competitive local exchange and long distance
carriers, says Mark Winther, International Data
Corp. (www.idcresearch.com) analyst. "Those with
a vision will act on the opportunities rather than
waiting to be forced to act because of the
competitive inroads of ITSPs," he says.
Old World, New World
But, so far, suppliers of billing systems to traditional
carriers are not being driven to develop the
extensions to their systems that would allow carriers
to integrate traditional and IP services
administratively.
"Some of our customers are running tests at this
point, but they're doing so more out of a defensive
need to be prepared than from any sense of strategic
vision," says John Hart, vice president of marketing
at Saville Systems Co. (www.savillesys.com), a
Burlington, Mass.-based company that has
developed a flexible advanced billing system
supporting quick feature enhancements in an
integrated billing environment that might include local,
long distance, personal communications service
(PCS) and other types of services.
While Saville's convergence-friendly architecture
could be readily adapted to meet requirements for
adding IP telephony, it is not being pushed to do so
by traditional carriers, Hart says.
"Our focus is on bringing the flexibility of our system
into the ITSP market, where there's a real need for
value-adds capabilities," Hart says.
Working with traditional carriers around the world in
conjunction with using IP backbones to carry
international traffic cheaply is stock and trade for
ITSPs such as VIP Calling Inc.
(www.vipcalling.com). The Burlington, Mass.-based
provider has a booming international business
connecting carriers in Asia with each other and with
VIP's interfaces with the PTSN in the United States.
But, at this point, says Gordon VanderBrug,
executive vice president at VIP, there's no need to
interface directly with those carriers' billing systems,
since VIP's billing server--using MIND CTI's
system--collects the CDRs from its gateway
interfaces with its circuit carrier partners and parcels
out bills based on those records.
Instead, the integration step now on VIP's mind is in
the direction of tying together multiple ITSPs. "We
worked with MIND CTI to develop a system that
can do settlements of multiple Internet telephony
carriers," VanderBrug says. "This allows us to
expand our business across a much broader
geographic base."
The Billing Web
Probably no one has spent more time on the
question of IP voice billing than the executives who
manage Delta Three Inc. (www.deltathree.com),
which began as a provider of low-cost international
calling connections over IP networks two years ago
and has evolved to being a global presence with
billings in excess of a million minutes per month.
"What we discovered in our search for the right
billing tools is that nothing was available off the shelf
offering all the functions we required," says Noam
Bardin, vice president of technology and operations
at Jerusalem-based Delta Three, which became a
subsidiary of RSL Communications Ltd.
(www.rslcom.com) last summer.
In deciding to build its own billing system, Delta
Three discovered that, as Bardin puts it, "At the end
of the day, billing is at the core of commercial
development of the Internet. The whole industry is
about billing."
In essence, Bardin says, IP telephony--as a point of
rapid expansion in commercial use of IP
networks--is driving development of billing systems
that offer an online administrative framework for all
commercial business that might follow.
"We're building a community of people who are used
to being billed from the web," he says.
The generation of CDRs and other capabilities in
conjunction with billing for access to specific
websites will apply to "everything from electronic
commerce, to video conferencing, to services
making use of video and audio streaming."
Enabling commercial traffic along these lines entails
use of billing systems that go beyond registering call
destination and minutes of use, which are the
parameters that underlie today's IP telephony cost
structure, Bardin notes. Service providers also will
have to be able to bill by the amount of data
transmitted and by user-selected levels of service
quality, wherein different latencies and performance
characteristics can be dynamically assigned and
billed for on a moment-by-moment basis.
At press time Delta Three was a few weeks away
from announcing affiliation with a billing vendor that
would be able to develop and market a
next-generation IP billing system using the
technology developed in-house by Delta Three.
"We're moving to commercialize our billing system
not just to make a pile of money, but because there's
a real need in the marketplace for such a system if
we are to be able to interconnect with other service
providers on the scale we desire," Bardin says.
Now Couple that article with these two Releases from Franklin:
biz.yahoo.com
uesday May 19, 8:07 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Franklin Telecom Announces Addition of Billing Authorization Server for
Tempest System
Company is First to Incorporate Invoice Technology With Internet Telephony Hardware, Will
Debut at CTI Expo This Week
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 19, 1998-- Franklin Telecom (OTC BB:FTEL - news) today
announced the addition of a Billing & Authorization Server to its Tempest(R) IP Telephony System.
The Server provides a centralized, easily managed invoicing facility for a network of Tempest Data/Voice Gateways. The new
product will be demonstrated for the first time in booth No. 443 at CTI Expo Spring '98, being held this week in Baltimore.
''The addition of the Billing & Authorization Server enables real time customer tracking. The easy-to-access yet still
comprehensive accounting reports which this system generates, will provide the information necessary to maximize revenues,''
said Peter Thornton, Vice President of Product Marketing. ''Franklin Telecom is now the only Internet Telephony vendor that
has incorporated invoicing technology with the VoIP hardware.''
''The feedback from our customers has been nothing but positive,'' said LDNet's president, Mitchell Marks. ''Franklin's
software is comprehensive and user friendly. Their software authenticates instantaneously and automatically utilizes least cost
routing. The standard invoice includes multiple reports which are easy to understand and can be readily Web interfaced.''
LDNet, which provides Internet service to eight midwestern cities using the Tempest System, was among the first to beta test
the Billing & Authorization Server. With the Tempest, a call can be placed from any ordinary touch tone phone to any other
ordinary phone throughout the world. The infrastructure which supports this call is completely invisible to the caller.
The Billing & Authorization Server within the Tempest System tracks and manages the database of subscribers. When a call is
placed the Billing & Authorization Server has two primary functions: it authenticates the user code (PIN number) and verifies
that the account has sufficient credit; then it sorts through the available options to route the call by the timeliest and most cost
efficient means possible.
Credit, debit, pre-paid and other account types are supported by the Billing & Authorization Server. Once a call is completed,
the Gateway sends Call Detail Record (CDR) information to the Billing & Authorization Server. The Server is informed of the
subscriber update and makes the necessary changes to the database to reflect a new account balance.
The Tempest Billing & Authorization Server runs on Windows NT with SQL Server, and is scalable. It can support a very
large network of VoIP Gateways, using a state-of-the-art client/server architecture.
Network owners and their customers are able to view reports generated by the Billing & Authorization Server through the
customer support workstation or a Web browser. A sophisticated invoicing application supports additional features such as
batching, reprints (with watermarks) and fixed charges. Customized formats, user logos, graphics, and special notices, such as
holiday greetings are supported. The invoices are sized for standard window envelopes and can also be e-mailed.
The customer support user interface is a simple point-and-click for creating and maintaining the network, which includes rate
tables, subscriber rights, subscriber billing options and network management.
According to Frank Peters, CEO and president of Franklin, ''The Billing & Authorization Server on the Tempest System has
multi-level tracking capabilities. This makes it possible for the entrepreneur who is setting up his own Voice-over-IP phone
company and reselling the service to easily keep track of the orders and commissions from his resellers and their customers, as
well.''
LDNet (www.ldnet.com) is a privately held Voice over the Internet provider which currently services eight midwestern cities.
For further information, call 216-520-3358.
The primary business of Franklin Telecom, founded in 1981, is the design and manufacturing of communications devices, high
speed LAN, WAN, Telco and Satellite Systems and software. Franklin has an installed base of over 100,000 nodes
worldwide. Franklin's Internet subsidiaries, FNet and Internet Passport provide services using FTEL products.
Certain statements in this press release constitute ''forward-looking statements'' within the meaning of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of
the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements, expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements.
And now keep in mind that This AWARD for Internet Telephony Product was NOT won for Voice Quality, it was for Tempest(r) IP Telephony System, which INCLUDES the Billing System:
biz.yahoo.com
Franklin Telecom Receives Best of Show for Internet Telephony Products
Award Goes to Tempest System's Billing Authorization Server
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 3, 1998--Franklin Telecom (OTC:FTEL - news) today
announced its Tempest(r) IP Telephony System won the ''Best of CTI(TM) EXPO'' award for outstanding products and
services demonstrated at the Spring '98 Expo, which just concluded in Baltimore.
CTI Expo, sponsored by Technology Marketing Corp.'s (TMC) CTI, Internet Telephony(TM), and C@ll Center
Solutions(TM) magazines, is the leading educational forum on the emerging field of Computer-Telephony Integration.
According to TMC editors and engineers, ''Nominations were judged based on technological innovation. An emphasis was
placed on a product's feature set, ability to work with existing standards, and the degree to which it contributed to the
development of future CTI, Internet telephony and call center products and services.''
Franklin is the first and only Internet Telephony company to incorporate invoicing technology with Voice over Internet
Protocol (VoIP) hardware. The Billing & Authorization Server, which supports credit, debit, pre-paid and other account
types, enables real time Web based customer tracking as well as managing the subscriber database. As a call is placed, the
Server has two primary functions: it authenticates the user code (PIN number) and verifies that the account has sufficient credit;
it then routes the call by the timeliest and most cost efficient means possible.
The Tempest Billing & Authorization Server runs on Windows NT with SQL Server, and is highly scalable. It can support a
very large network of VoIP Gateways, using a state-of-the-art client/server architecture.
Frank Peters, president and CEO of Franklin, said, ''Two hundred of the world's most technologically advanced companies,
including Lucent, AT&T, Natural Microsystems and Ericsson, participated in the CTI Expo. To be judged among these
companies and come away with a best of show award makes us feel enormously proud. This is the third time in the last eight
months that the Tempest system has won a best of show award.''
The primary business of Franklin Telecom, founded in 1981, is the design and manufacturing of communications devices, high
speed LAN, WAN, Telco and Satellite Systems and software. Franklin has an installed base of over 100,000 nodes
worldwide. Franklin's Internet subsidiaries, FNet and Internet Passport provide services using FTEL products.
Certain statements in this press release constitute ''forward-looking statements'' within the meaning of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of
the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements, expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements.
No one else does it, and No One does it the way we do, Buying at 2.71, is shooting fish in a barrel. Even WorldCom does not have one Billing system. I wonder how much Frank will charge Bernie to do their IT Billing down the road?<GGGGGGGGGG>
But some people are still waiting for 3.25 to buy, and thats understandable. Me I like to maximize my purchase dollar. If I can get it .35 cheaper now, and let it sit dormant for a few more weeks, oh shucks!<G> I will only be able to buy 15% more for the same money. Doesn't seem like much now, but come 18 months, I will be 15% happier!
To each their own!
Billin'Elk
|
