Azure Real-Time Billing for ISPs
Solution Overview
The Azure real-time billing module for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) makes it possible to manage the accounting and session management aspects for both prepaid and post-paid customers in a single solution. Azure is a flexible, real-time accounting system. It is able to rate events, generate accounting records and post the entries to a high capacity General Ledger while maintaining account balances.
Azure Location-Based Billing
Solution Overview
The Azure Location-based Billing Processor (LBP) is a very high throughput post-processing system for Charging Data Records (CDRs). The LBP enables Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to create flexible promotion and billing packages based on the location of a specific subscriber at the time of the call. It is suitable for both short-term promotions and for longer-term implementation as a Home-Zone rebates system.
General Ledger
- Accurate and fast
- High volumes
- Support for realtime, journal-based and external accounts
- Control Accounts
- Statements
- Reconciliation
The General Ledger contains all the financial and control accounts in a system. The Azure GL supports multiple classes of accounts, used for example for dealers, prepaid subscribers or organisations. Each class has a separate chart of accounts. The GL stores all the financial records of transactions that affected the state of accounts. These changes are recorded in the journal. It also maintains the accounts for all the entities tracked and managed by Azure. The balance of each account is available in real-time, while archive entries are stored in the database.
Azure Costing Engine
- Flexible calculation options
- Automatic discount and incentive calculations
- Transaction workflow
- Validation
- Account limits
The Costing Engine is a fundamental part of any transaction processing system. It has the responsibility of calculating prices such as the VAT payable based on the input tax rate and the price of the product and quantity. The Costing Engine in Azure is particularly powerful – it uses a unique formula approach that can be compared to a spreadsheet. The system uses the formulae to calculate the value of each cost line (similar to a cell in the spreadsheet) and that is used in the next phase of the transaction processing sequence. The Costing Engine makes it possible to configure a range of solutions on the same basic platform - from a general ledger, to a rating engine and a full financial solution.
Transaction Processing Facility
- Transaction Processing
- Costing
- Rating
- Calculations
The Transaction Processing Facility is responsible for calculating costs and fees and to update the general ledger accounts using the double entry principle. The TPF is a highly scalable transaction- processing engine that maintains all the accounts for all the users of a system. This module forms the core platform for enabling any operator or bank for mobile banking. Because of the flexibility of the TPF, it is possible to create enhanced services such as flexible limits, multiple accounts, currency conversion and real-time response to customer requests. The TPF maintains real-time balances for all accounts using a flexible Chart Of Accounts. Transactions definitions can be changed on the fly with the built-in ability to calculate cost lines such as VAT, agent fees, switching fees and bonus points. These amounts affect the General Ledger in realtime – you always have a complete view of the state of your finances.
TPF Support for External Accounts
- Capturing transactions across multiple systems
- Simplifying integration
- Settling of accounts
- Transferring control totals between systems
- Interface with prepaid platforms
In many solutions there is a need to integrate with an external system based on either a reconciliation process or the transfer of amounts. Some examples are the daily capturing of sales in an ERP such as Oracle Financials or debiting a prepaid airtime account on an IN platform or even performing a credit card authorisation. In Azure and the TPF, these systems are all seen as external accounts somewhere in the basic Chart Of Accounts of the system. This means that these systems can participate in any TPF transaction as though they were native. This mechanism simplifies the difficult integration process and increases the business value of the system dramatically. The TPF takes care of the transaction and the external account is synchronised and recorded in the system journal.