First, please join us in celebrating the registration of GRAPA’s 1,000th member: Ayham Tannous. It is incredibly gratifying to see so many revenue assurance professionals from different countries, companies and situations coming together to collaborate within our organization. You can read more about our 1000th member here in this month’s issue of the Consensus.

March appears to be the month for revenue assurance in Europe. After providing some training for a systems integrator in Ankara, Turkey, and Abidjan, Ivory Coast, we turned our focus to the unique needs of carriers in Western and Eastern Europe.

Our Revenue Assurance Academy class in Amsterdam, The Netherlands was a great success with over 20 attendees from around the world. I was also honored to be asked to speak and chair at the IIR March 2008 Revenue Management event in Amsterdam. In April I will have the opportunity to address a large group of carriers from Greece and the Aegean region.

This month I have enjoyed meeting with dozens of GRAPA members from all over Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It continues to amaze me how, despite differences in culture and background, the challenges that we face as revenue assurance professionals remain consistent.

There are a few common themes that we hear from professionals time and again. Revenue assurance professionals consistently identify a need for:

1. A solid, functional set of revenue assurance industry standards;
2. Accessible training and certification in current revenue assurance practices;
3. Effective techniques for addressing a myriad of technical, organizational and operational challenges;

I am pleased to report that GRAPA is making significant progress to address each of these needs. Here’s how:

For those of you who have not yet seen it, I invite you to visit the GRAPA website (www.grapatel.com) and take a look at our new-and-improved industry standards framework. This revised framework is being developed by Standards Administrator, Teresa Shepp, Standards Committee Chairperson, Mohammad Azam, and the supporting Standards Committee members.

The Standards team has formulated a clear, functional structure for GRAPA revenue assurance standards, and is now working hard to fill in the details and prepare a completed draft of industry standards for publication. Their tireless efforts will allow GRAPA to publish a complete set of industry standards around which revenue assurance professionals will be able to form industry-wide consensus.

As GRAPA activities build momentum I am glad to see that, as an organization, we continue to maintain our focus on what is most important, namely:

1. To build a true community of revenue assurance professionals from around the world
2. To establish an environment and framework where we can collaborate and consolidate our understanding of the revenue assurance function
3. To enhance our members’ professional standing and competency through the efforts of all of our committees

GRAPA could not enjoy its current progress and success without the support of its members. There are many ways to get involved and contribute to this exciting process at a level that fits with your time and abilities. Explore this month’s newsletter for ideas and opportunities where you can get involved and help GRAPA achieve its goals.

To celebrate such an important milestone, we decided to meet our 1000th member and find out what brings him to our organization.

Our 1000th member is Ayham Tannous, an IT Billing Developer at Spacetel (MTN) in Damascus, Syria.

Welcome Ayham, thank you for joining us. How did you learn about GRAPA?

I learned about GRAPA from a Revenue Assurance engineer who was installing a new system at MTN-Syria, and he recommended becoming a member in this group. Later, I was looking for resources about revenue assurance in Telecom and thought that I would gain really useful experience and ideas for my work if I tried to communicate Revenue Assurance issues with an international group.

Why did you decide to become a GRAPA member?

Currently I am working on supporting existing Revenue Assurance systems, and on developing new ones, so it is very important for me to understand this wide area of business, and to follow up with new trends and innovations.

What challenges or successes have you encountered in the revenue assurance profession?

The challenge that I face currently is finding the possible revenue leakages in the billing department, and come up with new solutions and ideas to assure enhanced billing operations.

What do you hope to accomplish with GRAPA?

I would like to learn more about Revenue Assurance in Telecom, and apply this knowledge to enhance my work in Billing.

What would you most like to see change in the revenue assurance industry?

I would like to see a set of clear standards and procedures, with agreed-upon solutions.

Is there anything else about your career, expertise, or professional philosophy that you would like to share with the GRAPA Membership?

I would like to thank GRAPA for accepting my membership, hoping that I can add something to them with my humble experience, and gain knowledge from their expertise, which I know that I will.

We know you will add value to our organization Ayham. Thank you for joining GRAPA, and for joining us for this interview!

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Thanks also to our GRAPA membership, and to all the volunteers who keep this organization productive.

To get involved with GRAPA activities, contact your Regional and/or National Chairperson, or our Membership Manager, Dustin Mattison (dustin@grapatel.com).

North America Region: Miami, Florida, U.S.A.
April 7 – April 11, 2008

The RAA will offer classes for the Africa Region in Cape Town, South Africa from May 5 – May 9, 2008. We have rescheduled our event by one week in order to accommodate local National Holidays.

These workshops promise to be extremely well attended and many have already registered. Be sure to reserve your seat now: www.ra-academy.org/UpComingEvents/Cape_Town/Cape_Town_Home.htm

We are currently seeking revenue assurance professionals to contribute their ideas and experience in a new monthly “Ask the Experts” column to be featured in the GRAPA Consensus newsletter. We are interested in articles about challenges and successes in the field, experiences with establishing or managing the revenue assurance function within an organization, and thoughts on how to help businesses make the most of revenue assurance.

If you would like to contribute to the Consensus GRAPA newsletter, please contact our Editor, Jade Blackwater, at (newsletter@grapatel.com) for consideration.

We invite our members to review the current Standards available online and prepare to contribute feedback. This is a great opportunity for revenue assurance professionals to take an active role in establishing their industry. As the Standards document evolves we expect it to become a concise, comprehensive account of revenue assurance standards. The GRAPA Practices document will follow with a set of useful tools and techniques for revenue assurance professionals.

The final GRAPA Standards document will include:

• A clear definition of the revenue assurance industry
• A description of the objectives and missions of revenue assurance
• A description of the scope of revenue assurance, both vertical and horizontal
• A clear definition of the disciplines within revenue assurance
• An operational framework of revenue assurance systems and operations
• A codified list of principles and ethics for revenue assurance professionals

Once the GRAPA Standards document is complete we will be actively seeking input from our GRAPA members to ensure that our Standards are accurate and relevant for all revenue assurance professionals.

Watch for updates in future newsletters with information for how GRAPA members can participate in the review of the Revenue Assurance Standards and Practices. This is a big effort, but one we value. We hope you will participate in shaping the GRAPA Revenue Assurance Standards and Practices this spring.

National chairpersons will begin by organizing membership in their respective nations. Once successful, the national chair can begin to recruit other chairs in their region.

Individuals from commercial companies (software vendors, consultants, etc) can volunteer for the Co-Chair position in their region. Co-chairs team up with Chairs available in their region/nation to ensure broad representation.

Currently we have 26 new volunteers who may qualify for national chair and co-chair positions.

North America: We have a Co-Chair volunteer in North America who will focus on specific sectors to be determined within tier 1 and tier 2 operators. Our North America Co-Chair is seeking a National Chair to team up with for the United States, and we are also seeking a national chair for Canada.

South Africa: We have a Co-Chair volunteer in the South Africa region who will work with the National Chairs to drive membership recruiting activities around southern Africa. We are considering three volunteers for National Chair positions and one Co-Chair volunteer. Nations covered include Zambia, South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique. We are also actively seeking a Co-Chair to represent French-Speaking Africa.

Middle East: We have one National Chair to represent Israel. We are still seeking Chairpersons to represent nations in this region, and we are considering nine possible volunteers to represent Saudi Arabia, Oman, Libya, Bahrain, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon.

Caribbean: We are considering four possible volunteers for the Caribbean Region. Some volunteers have already expressed interested in representing Barbados, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.

To volunteer to be a Chair or Co-Chair for your Region, Nation, or Industry, please contact your Regional Chairperson or our Membership Manager, Dustin Mattison (dustin@grapatel.com).

Chaitanya began his career with Reliance Telecom Ltd., working in Credit Management and later Revenue Assurance. Chaitanya then joined the new Revenue Assurance team at Tata Teleservices Ltd. where he was involved with the launching and expansion of Tata CDMA services pan-India. Before joining Tech Mahindra as a consultant, Chaitanya also worked with Bharti Airtel Ltd. where he was responsible for Revenue Assurance and Revenue & Risk Management.

Currently, Chaitanya manages global project activities as a Tech Mahindra Revenue Assurance Consultant. He is familiar with the operational and forensic aspects of revenue assurance, billing, credit and risk, having served with three of the leading service providers in India.