Kiss My Tariff

KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid. The KISS design principle is as sound today as it was when first formulated in the 1960’s. Simple things are less likely to break, and easier to repair. That makes them cheaper to operate. It also means they spend more time being operational, instead of being broken. And yet, telco tariffs are the epitome of complexity. I once dealt with a bill that had been escalated to me following a customer complaint. It had been escalated through seven layers of management. The customer was complaining about an ‘error’ worth exactly one penny. And as I pointed out, there was no error. Neither the customer, nor the preceding layers of management, had bothered to read the complicated but precise description of the tariff, which had been correctly applied in practice. Even so, events like this do not discourage telcos from inventing complicated new tariffs. But my prediction is that telcos will make their tariffs simpler in future, whether they want to or not. To find out why, read my new article for BillingViews.

Eric Priezkalns
Eric Priezkalnshttp://revenueprotect.com

Eric is the Editor of Commsrisk. Look here for more about the history of Commsrisk and the role played by Eric.

Eric is also the Chief Executive of the Risk & Assurance Group (RAG), an association of professionals working in risk management and business assurance for communications providers. RAG was founded in 2003 and Eric was appointed CEO in 2016.

Previously Eric was Director of Risk Management for Qatar Telecom and he has worked with Cable & Wireless, T‑Mobile, Sky, Worldcom and other telcos. He was lead author of Revenue Assurance: Expert Opinions for Communications Providers, published by CRC Press.

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