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Until now, it has been unclear to subscribers how much
data roaming services will cost them. With news of bills
reaching up to €40,000, many consumers have under-utilised
data roaming to avoid such costs. In an attempt to better
inform consumers, the European Commission (EC) has proposed
that operators within the European Union (EU) send charging
information to their subscribers when they cross borders
within the EU. And by summer 2010, EU operators must
also put in place data roaming control features. EU
subscribers must be given the option to set cut-off
limits in order to avoid high and/or unexpected charges.
Subscribers want to gain control over their spending,
by purchasing pre-agreed bundles of traffic. Classic
CDR mediation and billing systems introduce a significant
delay (hours) and do not meet the ECs 2010 requirement.
eServGlobals ChargingMax Online Charging System
(OCS) allows operators to implement the EU directive,
while providing subscribers with cost control options
and charging advice features, to help subscribers avoid
bill shock. ChargingMax OCS, in fact, exceeds
the EC regulatory requirements, providing operators
with a vital point of difference to attract and retain
customers. Why stop at simply informing a customer how
much their data will cost them, when ChargingMax OCS
allows you to inform a user how much data they are using
in real time?
ChargingMax also enables interactive cut-off limits,
enabling prepaid and cost-conscious postpaid users to
easily set and change their own limits through their
handsets according to their needs. Designed from the
core, to support the needs of an online data network,
ChargingMax OCS provides interfaces required to determine
the data transfer cost in real-time, creating new opportunities
to increase revenue while protecting customers from
unexpected bill shock.
See also: eServGlobal
Demonstrates Pre-Paid Data Roaming at MWC
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