Blockchain Consensus Network for Automated Carrier Billing Reconciliation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Billing disputes between telecommunications carriers and resellers due to complex invoicing and tax calculations lead to time-consuming resolutions and increased overhead costs.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a blockchain-based consensus network for billing reconciliation, using a decentralized application framework that enables participants to create, validate, and resolve claims through smart contracts, thereby automating the adjustment of invoices and reducing manual interventions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional billing reconciliation processes are used between carriers and resellers, then manual review and dispute resolution can be performed, but the process becomes time-consuming and increases overhead costs
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements automated self-service through smart contracts that automatically verify service usage data, calculate billing amounts, and resolve disputes without manual intervention. The blockchain network enables all participants to autonomously validate transactions and reconcile bills, eliminating the need for time-consuming manual review processes while maintaining high billing accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary validation and verification of service usage data before billing disputes can arise. Smart contracts pre-verify the authenticity of usage reports and pre-calculate expected billing amounts, so when disputes do occur, they can be rapidly resolved by comparing against already-validated data, significantly reducing dispute resolution time
2Reliability
If complex invoicing and tax calculation processes are implemented, then comprehensive billing coverage is achieved, but overhead costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces complex mechanical billing processes with automated smart contract execution on the blockchain. Instead of manual invoicing and tax calculation systems, the patent implements self-executing contracts that automatically handle service usage verification, billing calculation, and tax computations, reducing system complexity while maintaining comprehensive billing coverage
Solution Approach 2:
The blockchain-based billing system serves multiple functions through a single unified platform: it verifies service usage, calculates billing amounts, manages tax collections, resolves disputes, and provides audit trails. This multi-functional approach consolidates what would otherwise require separate complex systems into one integrated solution, reducing overall system complexity
3Ease of operation
If manual billing reconciliation processes are used, then flexibility in handling disputes is maintained, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements dynamic dispute resolution where smart contracts automatically adapt to different dispute scenarios. The blockchain network allows participants to submit various types of disputes (usage disputes, billing disputes, tax disputes) and the system dynamically routes them to appropriate resolution mechanisms, maintaining flexibility while dramatically improving resolution speed through automated processing
Data Source
AI summary
A framework is provided for blockchain-based customer dispute management of wholesale telecommunications claims. A network device receives a telecommunication claim to dispute an invoice from a provider network. The provider network and a partner network that includes the network device are related through a wholesale telecommunications agreement. The network device validates the telecommunication claim based on information in a distributed ledger of the distributed consensus network. The distributed ledger includes transaction information generated by the provider network for the partner network under the wholesale telecommunications agreement. The network device adjudicates the telecommunication claim based on information in the distributed ledger and instructions in a contract and updates the distributed ledger with the adjudicated claim.