ISP Billing:
Regain Control of business Models
Focal Point: ISP Billing
TorreyPoint’s ISP billing solution helps service providers of all types establish usage limits, roll out tiered billing systems, and understand customer behavior. Designed primarily for ISPs, it is also appropriate for hotels and other hospitality companies that provide media services. Uses of the TorreyPoint solution include:
- Notify customers of excess bandwidth usage
- Throttle heavy users dynamically
- Institute customer self-provisioning
- Support tiered billing models
TorreyPoint works with service management systems from best-in-class partners such as Juniper Networks, Aptilo Networks, and BroadHop.
Find alternatives to the “all you can eat” ISP business model.
The most common ISP billing model for broadband service in North America is fixed price, unlimited usage. Consumers take advantage of the model by increasing their bandwidth usage dramatically, for example, streaming movies and downloading music using peer-to-peer file sharing. In many markets, bandwidth demand is outstripping the available capacity.
Service providers are struggling to generate enough revenue to build out their networks to feed this insatiable demand— and looking at alternative billing models. Most ISPs are considering usage-based models and some are now moving in that direction. However, there are problems. Providers often have a difficult time even identifying their heaviest users or a mechanism to notify them when they are nearing usage limits. If ISPs had accurate and reliable ways to monitor traffic patterns and individual usage, they could make more informed decisions about pricing plans as well as their infrastructure investments.
There are off-the-shelf tools that can manage billing and customer usage, but they require specialized expertise to deploy. TorreyPoint can help. Our consultants know how to analyze the target environment and configure a management system that puts the ISP back in control.
TorreyPoint’s ISP billing solution is flexible enough to fill the needs of the most challenging ISP environment. It provides insight into customer behavior, manages usage and billing—and puts ISPs back in charge of their businesses.
Choosing the right tool is an essential first step.
TorreyPoint starts with the tool. We have worked with a wide range of service management systems, so we rely on hands-on information, not marketing collateral, to make the best selection for the ISP. Many service management systems now in use were designed for a stable customer base and reactive billing—not the usual case today.
We recommend tools that are designed for highly dynamic environments where flexibility and reliability are vital, for example:
- Juniper Networks SRC: Dynamic network resource allocation solution that enables service providers to deliver differentiated products and services.
- Aptilo Networks Service Management Platform: Delivers carrier-grade broadband access services in large public, semi public and private access zones.
- BroadHop Quantum: Manages quotas and thresholds and interfaces to external billing systems.
TorreyPoint provides the integration services needed to deploy and configure these and other systems, as well as ongoing support.
Get control of the network business model.
The primary reason to choose TorreyPoint’s ISP Billing Solution is to get the information needed to establish usage limits, design tiered billing systems, understand customer behavior—in other words, get control of the network. This solution was designed for ISPs but is also suitable for large enterprises such as hotels, as shown in the following two use cases
Use Case: DSL Provider
TorreyPoint’s ISP Billing Solution offers a range of benefits for the DSL provider:
- Enable customer intercept and notification for abuse, contract renewal, or excess bandwidth usage
- Throttle heavy users dynamically to preserve service quality for other customers
- Provide greater flexibility in customer self-provisioning, for example, moving to higher maximum download speed
- Support tiered billing models
Use Case: Major Hotel Chain
As they add services such as pay-per-view streaming movies and wireless connectivity, hotels are increasingly looking like service providers. They can also benefit from the TorreyPoint ISP Billing Solution:
- Throttle heavy users without their knowledge
- Offer revenue-generating plans such as “pay after first hour” and other innovative business models
- Track historical usage to plan service upgrades and feature additions
ISPs face a challenging landscape in moving from unlimited usage to business models that more accurately reflect usage patterns. TorreyPoint has the expertise and knowledge to help ISPs—as well as major hotels and other hospitality enterprises—navigate this important transition.
