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.
Kiss My Tariff
