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A joint offering for wholesale carriers has been launched by Veraz Networks and Comarch, combining real-time prepaid, service creation and credit control with the ControlSwitch interconnect VoIP platform of Veraz.

 

Right now, wholesale service providers are looking to offer pre-paid billing as an option for carrier customers. However, carrier pre-paid services require real-time billing, credit control and revenue assurance capabilities to be integrated into both the carrier’s OSS/BSS systems and their voice switching infrastructure.

 

The current voice networks of wholesale operators are a mixture of legacy TDM switches, next-generation softswitches and IMS SIP components. It is quite challenging to integrate these diverse elements into a unified pre-paid billing architecture in real time.

 

The solution from Veraz and Comarch (News - Alert) will address the cost of integration by utilizing the ControlSwitch’s ability to interwork across legacy, first-generation softswitches and IMS-based SIP control elements. It will also provide a unified interface into the carrier prepaid system and OSS/BSS environment which will reduce the cost of integrating a diverse network switching environment into the prepaid system.

 

According to Piotr Piatosa, a vice president at Comarch SA, Comarch and Veraz are reducing the cost and complexity of implementing pre-paid wholesale services. The joint solution will provide a platform to accommodate future service capabilities without requiring significant changes to the network. Comarch specializes in designing, implementing and integrating solutions and services for telecommunications operators.

 

The BSS/OSS portfolio of Comarch includes convergent billing systems for retail and wholesale carriers, telecom CRM systems and network and service assurance applications. It will provide carriers with a solution that will cover billing, rating, charging and real-time service creation and control.

 

The offering from Veraz and Comarch provides a carrier prepaid solution that will solve both the interworking complexity for carriers across multiple switching platforms and the real-time reporting and credit control that is required in this environment, says Dawn Hogh, Vice President of Marketing at Veraz Networks (News - Alert). Veraz Networks, Inc. provides application, control, and bandwidth optimization products that enable the evolution to the Multimedia Generation Network (MGN). The Veraz MGN will increase service provider operating efficiency by separating the control, media, and application layers while unifying management of the network.