OREANDA-NEWS. On August 30, 2007 IBS and OJSC Bashinformsvyaz have signed an agreement to implement an FM RAS (Fraud Management and Revenue Assurance) system. The system will be launched at the operator’s branch in the city of Ufa by the end of the year, reported the press-centre of IBS.

OJSC Bashinformsvyaz is one of the biggest alternative telecommunications operators in the Urals region. The network served has a capacity of over 1 million numbers. The company provides local, long distance and international telecommunications, radio and TV broadcasting and internet access services in the Republic of Bashkortostan.

The FM RAS system will enable more efficient control throughout the revenue generation chain and help to cut losses in providing and selling telecommunications services at the company’s biggest branch serving 380 thousand subscribers.

The decision to go forward with the implementation was made following a pilot project carried out from February till June 2007. In the pilot project, Bashinformsvyaz network historical data was imported into IBS computing facilities and analyzed by the FM RAS system. That provided Bashinformsvyaz experts with knowledge of the FM RAS solution and brought the first real benefits of using the system prior to its roll-out.

The next project phase will see a full roll-out of the FM RAS hardware and software in the city of Ufa, with the following four specialized system modules to be installed:
telecommunications operator’s traffic analysis module;
subscriber behavior analysis module;
communications equipment monitoring module;
alarm situation resolution model.
The system will be able to process up to 5 million CDRs (Call Detail Records) records daily, enabling the operator to exercise online monitoring of all network processes.

According to Analytics Research findings based on a poll of 104 companies worldwide, annual losses by operators amount up to 11.6 per cent of the annual revenue. Experience shows that losses sustained by Russian operators are mainly due to billing errors, partner and subscriber fraud, incorrect CDR files and payment errors, while the amount of such losses often depends on the volume of service use, with losses increasing as a service becomes more popular.

The FM RAS (Fraud Management and Revenue Assurance) solution was developed by IBS based on the methods of TMForum international organization and meets specific needs of Russian companies. The solution helps to detect both internal (incorrect equipment operation, rating and billing errors) and external (fraud, unauthorized access, unlawful exchange of traffic) problems. IBS provides fraud management and revenue assurance services by using the FM RAS system for the following telecommunications operators: OJSC North-West Telecom, JSC South Telecommunication Company, JSC Uralsvyazinform, JSC Sibirtelecom, JSC Dalnevostochnaya companya electrosvyazi.