Revenue management systems and methods

• US 8,223,935 B2
• Filed: 05/01/2006
• Issued: 07/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Krishnamoorthy, Jayaprakash, Labuda, David S., Haddock, James R.
• Primary Examiner(s): TRAN, QUOC DUC
• Application Number:
  US11/415,759
• Publication Number:
  US 20060248010A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,269 Days
• Field of Search: 379/114.01, 379/114.03, 379/114.05, 379/126, 379/133, 705/52, 705/1, 705/10
• US Class Current: 379/114.03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes

Abstract

A revenue management system for telecommunication systems is disclosed. The revenue management system can have multiple integrated modules. The modules can include a revenue generation module, a revenue capture module, a revenue collection module, a revenue intelligence module, and others. The revenue management system can also be configured to simultaneously manage revenue for prepaid, postpaid, now-paid payment models.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a network layer including a telecommunications network adapted to deliver communication services to an end user of a plurality of end users, the plurality of end users comprising at least one user accessing telecommunication services under each of a plurality of payment models including a prepaid model, a post-paid model, and a now-paid model;

a gateway layer communicatively coupled with the network layer and adapted to receive a request for service from the end user via the network layer and request authentication of the end user and authorization of the service requested;

a revenue capture layer communicatively coupled with the gateway layer and adapted to receive the request for authentication of the end user and authorization of the service requested from the gateway layer and perform authentication of the end user and authorization of the service requested; and

a revenue management layer communicatively coupled with the revenue capture layer and adapted to maintain one or more data stores of information including customer account information for the end user and pricing information for the communication services, wherein the revenue capture layer performs authentication of the end user based on the customer account information and performs authorization of the service requested based on the customer account information and the pricing information for the communication services, wherein the revenue management layer further comprises a revenue analysis module adapted to provide real time verification, reporting, analysis, and control of events within the system and wherein the revenue analysis module further comprises a revenue intelligence module adapted to perform real-time revenue simulations for each of the plurality of payment models during delivery of the communications services to the end user.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the revenue capture layer further comprises a revenue capture module adapted to provide one or more Application Program Interfaces (APIs).

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the gateway layer is further adapted to translate the request for service from the end user from a protocol of the network layer to one or more API calls to the revenue capture layer.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the revenue capture module performs authentication of the end user and authorization of the service requested.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the customer account information includes account balance information and authorization of the service requested is based on the account balance information and the pricing information for the service requested.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the account balance information is maintained in real time and authorization of the service requested is performed in real time.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the revenue capture module is further adapted to reserve a portion of a balance indicated by the account balance information for the requested service.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the portion of the balance reserved for the requested service is based on one or more service provider rules.

9. The system of claim 5, wherein the revenue capture module is further adapted to charge the customer account for a service provided in response to the request.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the revenue management layer further comprises a revenue generation module adapted to provide real time access to the customer account information.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the revenue generation module is further adapted to provide a user interface for defining pricing.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the revenue generation module is further adapted to provide a user interface for defining service bundles.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the revenue generation module is further adapted to provide a user interface for defining promotions.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the revenue generation module is further adapted to provide the end user access to the customer account information.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the revenue generation module is further adapted to calculate revenue sharing with one or more partner services.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein calculating revenue sharing with one or more partner services is based on one or more partner rules, wherein each partner service has separate rules for calculating revenue sharing.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the revenue management layer further comprises a revenue collection module adapted to perform one or more accounting functions.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the one or more accounting functions include generating invoices.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the one or more accounting functions include handling payments.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the one or more accounting functions include performing a cycle-end billing process.

21. The system of claim 17, wherein the one or more accounting functions include performing a non-cyclical billing process.

22. The system of claim 17, wherein the one or more accounting functions include updating one or more ledgers.

23. The system of claim 17, wherein the revenue collection module is further adapted to provide an interface to a financial system.

24. The system of claim 1, wherein the revenue analysis module is further adapted to perform error analysis on one or more subscriber accounts.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the revenue analysis module is further adapted to generate a real time audit trail.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the revenue analysis module is further adapted to review and edit erroneous or fraudulent event records.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the revenue analysis module is further adapted to review and edit erroneous or fraudulent event records automatically.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the revenue simulations include calculating an effect of a new product pricing.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the revenue simulations include calculating a profitability of a new service.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the revenue simulations include calculating an individual customer'"'"'s impact on profitability.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the revenue simulations include calculating a cost per-customer of various price plans.

32. The system of claim 1, wherein the revenue intelligence module further provides multiple re-ratings for the communication services based on the real-time revenue simulations.

33. The system of claim 1, wherein the revenue intelligence module further provides churn prediction data based on the real-time revenue simulations.

34. The system of claim 1, wherein the revenue intelligence module further provides revenue data based on the real-time revenue simulations.

35. The system of claim 1, wherein the revenue intelligence module further provides margin data based on the real-time revenue simulations.

36. The system of claim 1, wherein the revenue intelligence module further provides customer lifetime value data based on the real-time revenue simulations.