Amdocs 7 Focuses on Media Convergence Support

Amdocs has overhauled the functionality in its flagship CRM-billing suite with the release of Amdocs 7 on Tuesday.

Providing telcos with support for new convergence technology and services is chief among the new capabilities in the application.

The system does not exclude any providers or service offerings; it can support both traditional and next-generation video, voice and data services as well as any access method, device or network over which the service is delivered, such as IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS).

Competitive Requirements

“We have taken the business requirements of cable and combined that with the business requirements of voice and content providers and put it all in one platform,” Mike Couture, vice president of product and solutions marketing, told CRM Buyer.

This is the first application in which a vendor has integrated the billing and CRM requirements of these various technologies in one system, he added.

Convergence services — which can include any combination of voice, video, data, content and/or entertainment — will be fueling growth in the telecom industry over the next several years, Couture claimed, pointing to a recent survey conducted by Amdocs, which found that telecom providers expect revenues from convergent services to grow more than 20 percent by 2009.

“This application will make it easier for established players to introduce these new services and compete with new providers,” he said.

The Platform

The following is included in Amdocs 7:

• Amdocs Foundation — a service-oriented architecture (SOA)-based set of open frameworks for unified information, operation, integration and application management across the suite, which complies with industry standards enhanced telecom operations map (eTOM) and shared information/data model (TMF/SID). Its components include a common catalog across Amdocs CRM, billing and ordering products, a customer information hub and an integration framework to facilitate interoperability with third-party applications.
• Amdocs Enterprise Product Catalog — can be deployed as a standalone application, centralizes theproduct life cycle management process using specific user interfaces and by applying master data management (MDM) principles to link the enterprise systems.
• Amdocs B/OSS Manager — a single, integrated platform used for managing order and fulfillment activities.
• Customer Management Optimized for Convergence — allows users to create connectors to third-party business intelligence and marketing automation platforms. It also allows customers to manage their own accounts, order new convergent services or content on demand.
• Revenue Management for “Any-Play” Services — a product set for convergent, real time servicemediation, billing and settlements for mobile and fixed telecom and cable and satellite providers,including multi-affiliate and intercontinental providers.