science

Real-time charging

Real-time charging is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Real-time charging rather than just read about it. In short: Real-time charging is an extension of call accounting that enables communications service providers (CSPs) to apply customer-specific rules for rating, discounting, promotions and settlements to better personalize the telecom experience. As CSPs begin to roll out advanced networks and services, offering and making money on these services requires the ability to do real-time charging.

Key takeaways

Real-time charging belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Real-time charging to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Real-time charging from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Real-time charging is an extension of call accounting that enables communications service providers (CSPs) to apply customer-specific rules for rating, discounting, promotions and settlements to better personalize the telecom experience. As CSPs begin to roll out advanced networks and services, offering and making money on these services requires the ability to do real-time charging. Real-time charging came into existence to serve the needs of prepaid mobile phone carriers as they sought to enter market segments where the traditional subscription model was no longer applicable, Pre-paid offers required instant evaluation of both the cost and the ability to pay for a telecommunications service, followed by in-call decrementing of the balance. These real-time attributes began to be demanded for service offers other than pre-paid. For instance, to create a spend limit in a post-paid account the account balance must be continuously monitored to detect when the limit is reached and take the appropriate action e.g. suspend calling or send a warning SMS. Real time charging has been in place within the enterprise market for a number of years, most notably in the hospitality industry where transient guest required real time resolution of charges and payments. Enterprise markets are not centered on subscribers but as components of a broader employee or customer relationship or transaction. While enterprises may have long possessed real time capabilities, CSPs are replacing or augmenting their existing, offline billing systems with real-time systems, that are capable of supporting pre-paid and post-paid services, as well as wired services. In the process, these real-time systems are creating new revenue opportunities for CSPs. Real-time charging systems are part of the telecom industry trend toward convergence. For example, CSPs that offer triple play and quadruple play packages can use real-time systems to charge for services that span disparate networks and technologies, such as wireline, wireless, circuit-switched and Internet Protocol (IP). Transforming subscriber experiences CSPs are using real-time charging to create customer-centric charging models based on lifestyle, profession, age, interests or other segmentation by creating packages with virtually any mix of video, fixed voice, high-speed Internet, and mobile services to boost usage, loyalty, and market share. Examples of this include:

Offering affinity charging plans and promotions based on any group relationships, like businesses, clubs, and families; Sweetening plans with volume discounts, cross-product promotions, and bundles — like free movies or music downloads for loyal users of any service; Setting easy-to-understand fees for services or content; Enabling simultaneous use of services; Offering hybrid prepaid/postpaid accounts; Charging by subscription, time, usage, or content type; and Triggering features, discounts, and plans in real time based on usage. Real-time charging market Analysts predict strong sales of real-time charging products over the next several years, with the worldwide market expected to grow from $2.6 billion in 2007 to more than $4.4 billion in 2012. Top market players include Telcordia, Volubill, Ericsson, HP, Openet, Oracle, Orga Systems, Nokia Networks and Redknee, according to OSS Observer. In the hospitality enterprise marketplace, the top players include SDD's JAZZ Fusion and TigerTMS' Hotel Pro and CUB

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Real-time charging

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Real-time charging claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Real-time charging before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Real-time charging ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Real-time charging

In research: Real-time charging appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Real-time charging in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Real-time charging is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Telecommunications economics, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Real-time charging outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Real-time charging in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Real-time charging means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Real-time charging out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Real-time charging in simple terms?

Why does Real-time charging matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Real-time charging?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Real-time charging.