Systems and methods for improved billing and ordering

Abstract

A price-generation system exemplary of the present invention reduces reliance on synchronization of rating and billing information, simplifies and speeds up commercial implementation of such systems, and reduces computational costs associated with real-time cost calculations by pre-computing rating data that can be automatically applied to subscriber usage. In one embodiment, a price-generation system comprises an analysis component configured to automatically generate at least one rate cube, wherein the at least one rate cube is configured to store rate plan information, an order entry component configured to pre-compute recurring charge information associated with at least one service based on at least a first set of rules, and a billing component configured to calculate total charges based on at least the pre-computed recurring charge information and usage charge information, wherein the usage charge information is calculated using the at least one rate cube.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]The present invention generally relates to real-time charge computation and price synchronization in billing and ordering systems.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Rating and billing processes generally require synchronization between systems to allow information to be processed uniformly throughout the order and billing process. Many modern Operation Support Systems (OSS) / Business Support Systems (BSS) implementations have Order Entry and Billing platforms that are supplied by different vendors. The most common approach involves real-time requests for information between the systems every time pricing information is needed, with one system containing the master copy of pricing or rating data. Doing so, however, requires substantial implementation effort and processing time because components for placing orders and processing user activity must continually synchronize their pricing information to ensure that charges are being applied properly. Since the systems m...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0003]A price-generation system exemplary of the present invention reduces reliance on synchronization of rating and billing information by dividing rules associated with different charging types into different processing components. An order entry component may process certain rating information independently, without relying on an associated billing component. This improved system reduces the amount of information that is synchronized between processing components to generate users' billing information.

[0004]Another advantage is associated with pre-calculating information to reduce the computational costs of generating billing information in real time. For example, certain information may be generated using estimated or historical user data, which eliminates the need for manual calculations before real usage data is available for rate generation. Rate cube data structures also may be generated automatically for certain rates, which reduces reliance on manual calculations to generate billing information.

Problems solved by technology

Doing so, however, requires substantial implementation effort and processing time because components for placing orders and processing user activity must continually synchronize their pricing information to ensure that charges are being applied properly.

Since the systems may be provided by different vendors, pricing data models also may vary significantly between the systems, making pricing synchronization a challenge, especially when using complicated or extensive pricing rules.

Additionally, billing systems currently require substantial computation resources due to the magnitude of calculations required to process users' subscription and usage information as the data is generated.

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