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GRAPA Standards: Ratification
Process
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In order to be effective, it is critical that the standards promoted
by the GRAPA organization have undergone as
comprehensive a verification process as possible in order to provide
members with an assurance that the standards promoted here will be
accepted and enforced by the majority of the carriers in the
industry. There will always be differences in the way that
individual Telco's perform their operations, indeed, this is one of
the competitive advantages that a carrier must capitalize on to
succeed.
In order to accomplish a maximum level of consensus, the GRAPA
standards have been complied in a manner which leaves
flexibility for interpretation and implementation by individual
carriers. At the heart of this inherent flexibility is the
commitment to the principle of "Management Tolerance for Risk". It
is our overriding belief that the individual management team is the
ultimate designator of exactly how much risk to revenue they are
willing to accept across each of the lines of business, and that the
job of the revenue assurance professional is to assess, report and
accomplish the maximum benefit at the minimum cost based upon those
designations.
GRAPA organization has spent the past 2 years working diligently
on the definition of a set of standards for the telecommunications
industry that truly represents an industry wide , consensual
definition of the practice of REVENUE ASSURANCE. In the 4th quarter
of 2008 , this definition was submitted to the entire membership of
over 1600 revenue assurance professionals and will be ratified Jan
1, 2009.
The ratification process has included:
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Benchmark Surveys - GRAPA has been sponsoring a "perpetual" benchmark survey with over 175 members responding. This survey has served as the foundation for the standards.
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Workshops - Ten (10) "live" workshops sessions have been held at venues around the world including (Cape town, Lagos, Abidjan, Dubai, Amsterdam, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Buenos Aires, Miami and Chicago).
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On Line "Town Hall Meetings" - A series of 4 live webinars have been conducted by the GRAPA National Chairpersons in several countries around the world. These sessions allow the members in local regions to review and discuss the standard in depth and vote on the proposals.
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Committees - Over the past 1 1/2 years, a number of ad hoc committees have been assembled to discuss and contribute to the standards.
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Forum and individual submissions - A number of members have submitted suggestions, and recommended modifications to the standards via phone call, email and forum postings.
and finally -
A ratification vote submitted to the entire membership - During the 4th quarter of 2008, the GRAPA standards are being submitted to the membership for a full ratification vote. To participate in the voting... Click Here.