Billing Verification System for Telecommunications Error Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Companies face difficulties in identifying and proving billing errors in telecommunications services, leading to overpayment due to complex rate calculations and lack of resources or expertise.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that receives billing data, generates expected fees based on call details and rate information, and compares these with assessed fees to identify discrepancies, analyzing their nature to provide potential sources of errors for resolution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If customers manually verify billing rates against complex rate schedules, then they can identify billing errors, but they lack the resources and expertise to do so effectively
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary system (billing verification system) that acts as a mediator between the complex rate schedules and the customer. This system automatically retrieves rate information, performs comparisons, and generates reports, eliminating the need for customers to manually verify complex billing calculations themselves while maintaining high detection accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service by allowing customers to automatically verify their own billing accuracy through automated rate schedule retrieval and comparison. The system empowers customers to independently identify billing errors without requiring external expert intervention, thus improving detection capability while reducing resource requirements.
2Measurement precision
If customers attempt to identify billing errors manually, then they may find discrepancies, but it is difficult to prove the errors to the service provider with sufficient detail
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by automatically generating detailed verification reports that include the original billing data, the verified rate information, and the identified discrepancies. These reports provide comprehensive evidence that can be presented to service providers, ensuring that billing errors are not only detected but also properly documented for successful resolution.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary verification actions by automatically retrieving and storing rate schedule information before billing disputes arise. This pre-prepared evidence includes detailed rate comparisons and discrepancy documentation, enabling customers to immediately present well-documented proof of errors when negotiating with service providers.
3Adaptability or versatility
If service providers use complex rate schedules with many characteristics, then they can offer varied service plans, but billing errors become difficult to identify and customers overpay
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies segmentation by breaking down the complex billing verification process into distinct modular components: rate schedule retrieval, call detail extraction, fee calculation, comparison logic, and report generation. Each module handles a specific aspect of the verification, making the overall complex system manageable and maintainable while supporting diverse service plans.
Solution Approach 2:
The system achieves universality by designing a multi-functional billing verification platform that can handle various types of rate schedules, service plans, and billing scenarios through a single integrated system. The universal architecture retrieves and applies different rate information types (usage-based, flat-fee, time-based) without requiring separate verification systems for each service type.
Data Source
AI summary
A system, method, apparatus, and computer program code for identifying billing discrepancies includes receiving billing data from a billing entity, the billing data including an assessed fee and call details associated with each of a plurality of calls made by a customer, identifying, based at least in part on the call details received from the billing data, rate information associated with the customer, generating an expected fee for each of the plurality of calls, and comparing, for each of the plurality of calls, the expected fee with the assessed fee to identify discrepancies.