Online Training & Certification
Program Guide
Introduction to Roaming Best Practices
20 Hour Roaming Best Practices Program
05-09 November 2012
The Roaming Operations & Best Practices Program provides the roaming manager, and members of the roaming team with a comprehensive guide to running a profitable, risk-contained, roaming business. This course covers the breadth and depth of operational proficiency, risk containment, and profit maximization in a highly condensed ver-sion of the standard GRAPA certification program.
Unit 1 - The Roaming Operations Framework: A Domain- and Controls-Based Methodology
Unit 2 - Voice Network Basics for Roaming
Unit 3 - Billing Operations – Postpaid and Prepaid for Roaming
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Roaming: Challenges
Roaming Hammer-Head: Program Overview
The GRAPA Online Training & Certification Program
GRAPA Virtual Campus: How it Works
GRAPA Virtual Campus: Inside the Classroom
Roaming Hammer-Head: Course at a Glance
Overview: Units 1-2
Overview: Units 3-4
Overview: Unit 5 & Course Key Concepts
The Revenue Assurance Academy
About GRAPA
Roaming
is one of the newest and most profitable lines of business for many carriers. GSM carriers around the world have quickly learned about what a business bonanza roaming can be, and the new generation of CDMA, WIMAX, Airline Roaming, VOIP, Content, WIFI and other technologies are all forging their own new and innovative business models at a breakneck pace. But as is always the case, new business opportunities that involve a heavy reliance on partnerships, bring with them new risks, new responsibilities and a new generation of challenges. Network and technology professionals can get training and go to classes on how to run the technical side of roaming. Until now, there has been no viable option available to provide roaming operations and revenue protection people with the training that they so badly need.Free Money!
Revenue Bonanza. Roaming can represent a revenue bonanza for the telecom for the simple reason that a roaming partnership accomplishes two major objectives. First - it provides you with a new market, in the form of all of your roaming partner customers who visit on your network. Second - it provides you additional revenue opportunities from your own customer base when they travel to another network.
Credit Risk Management - This is the name of the game when it comes to roaming. A roaming relationship is a credit relationship, and failure to appreciate exactly what that means, and how to manage it makes the difference between a roaming business that adds to the bottom line, and one that simply exposes the company to a myriad of new risks and costs without a justifiable revenue offset to make it worthwhile.
New Partners / New Relationships - Managing a roaming business means managing hundreds of partnership relationships (many times more than interconnect) and you have far less control over what happens with those partners than you do in other business models.
Protecting Roaming Revenues
The protection of roaming revenues is a huge job that spans almost every dimension of the telecommunications business model. Partner Management, Customer Service (Market), Margin and Profitability, Network, Signalling, Security, Fraud, Billing, Operational Integrity, Regulatory Compliance are all critical parts of the process.
DCH Issues
The roaming business requires you to deal with a new kind of partner, the DCH. Originally envisioned as a service to the telco, for most companies the DCH has turned into a major source of confusion, loss and risk.
International Roaming Fraud
Opening yourself to the opportunity for new revenues from international partners unfortunately means that international fraudsters can take advantage of the situation.
Telecoms lose billions a year to organized, professional international roaming fraudsters, and understanding who they are and how they work is critical.
End-to-End Roaming Protection
To help telecoms professionals address roaming challenges, GRAPA has developed a 20 hour Roaming Online training program. This program is designed to provide telecoms roaming professionals with an exhaustive, focused and practical exposure to all of the major roaming issues and risks to the company’s profits. This program combines structured lecture based training in the understanding, optimization and protection of roaming revenue streams with workshop exercises to enable teams to immediately and effectively apply what they learn directly to their own real world situations.
Key focus areas:
Roaming Hammer-Head: Program Overview
The Introduction to Roaming Best Practices Course:
This program is specially designed to meet the business needs of existing roaming operations teams. Despite being the most widespread wireless technology in the world, many carriers still find it difficult to learn the kind of in-depth les-sons they really want to take advantage of opportunities and solve ongoing issues. Find out how other carriers have built upon existing core competencies and successes, while mak-ing the leap to the next level, based on best practices and les-sons learned by some of the most successful roaming carriers from around the world.
This program is designed to help telcos manage and profit from their roaming operations. This class will provide stu-dents with an end-to-end understanding of the roaming line of business, and teach them to protect against the many in-herent partner, fraud, and margin risks.
New Generation of Fraud Risks
This new generation of telecoms business has resulted in a new generation of fraud professionals. These experts often understand your partnerships, technology and vulnerabilities better than you do, and they are willing and able to hire the technical staff and international expertise to take advantage of the openings in your coverage.
Dealing with the Clearing House
Under roaming, you have a new kind of partner, the DCH. DCHs represent their own form of value, and their own set of unique risks to your profit and your operational integrity.
Partners with the Wrong Incentives
Roaming agreements are credit arrangements, not operational partnerships. It is therefore usually of limited value to a roaming partner to make it easy for you to manage your credit risks efficiently. Creating productive and cooperative partnerships that are also defensive is key to roaming partnership success.
IREG, TADIG,TAP, IOT, HUR and NRTDE
The roaming business brings with it its own vocabulary, keyword and acronyms, and the vast majority of roaming operations personnel have only one way to learn it, by trial and error.
The Online Environment:
Best Practices, World-Class Curriculum –The best organized, best presented and most effective training available in the telecoms risk management arena
One-on-One Exchange of Ideas with a World-Class Industry Expert – Stu-dents will always have the opportunity to hold one-on-one review sessions with a GRAPA faculty member
Exposure to the Experiences and Input of other Industry Professionals –
Interactive class activities allow students to master the material through multiple real-world examples
Collegial-Style Training Approach –Fostering a sense of community and developing shared vision and values
Face-to-Face Exchanges –Teacher to students and student-to-student
Student-focused Learning Environment –Students with specific questions and concerns are addressed quickly and effectively
Instant Curriculum Adjustment –Online training is adaptable to changing student problem-areas and learning objetctives
Assurance Material is Mastered –Instructors verify that the student has mas-tered the material and knows how to apply it to management
Certification Standard Integrity –We employ the highest standard possible for certification-level training.
Non-Disclosure –We provide and require signed nondisclosure agreements, verification of student identity and creden-tials; we enforce non-disclosure policies for all intellectual property and company information
Since 2007, GRAPA is the industry’s best resource for the training and certification for:
With over 800 certified students, dozens of organizations world-wide are committed to the ongoing practice of the GRAPA Standards. Our “Hammerhead” series are problem-solving workshops in the areas of:
The GRAPA Online Training & Certification Program
The GRAPA Online Training Initiative
Over the past five years, the GRAPA Team developed an intense, personal and focused online certification training that creates an engaging and effective learning environment for telecoms professionals.
GRAPA Online Training Provides:
• Revenue Assurance
Professionals • Fraud Management Professionals • Finance Professioanals
• Roaming • Bypass/Simbox • Interconnect • UMTS • LTE • Cloud • Leased Line • Cable and more
• More than “Just Training” • World-Class Instructors • Testing & Certification
• Customized, Workshop-Based Training
• Face-To-Face Collaboration
• Practical – Tactical – Immediate Value • Online Convenience
• Cost Savings
GRAPA: The Benchmark in World-Class Training & Certification for
Telecommunications Risk Management Professionals
Choose Your Pace: Slow - Medium - Fast
At GRAPA, we understand that different people need to take on materials at a different pace. Some students only need a quick review, a refresher for things they have already mastered. Others need the time to digest and review the information. Our unique Three-Track training approach allows students to set their own pace, spend as much time or as little time as they need, while still making sure that they cover everything that is important.
Choose Your Space
GRAPA provides maximum flexibility and maximum value with our unique Three-Track training approach. Students can sign-up for a course or three parallel training sessions at the same time. All
students agree that this choice makes the GRAPA Virtual Campus such a helpful and efficient learning environment.
Take classes in one, two or all three tracks, or jump between the tracks. Jump between tracks depending on how well you understand the material, or how much help you need to master each key area.
GRAPA Virtual Campus: How it Works
Proven ©GRAPA Virtual Campus 3-Track Approach:
A convenient and focused training environment for student and manager
Live Track
Sessions are scheduled live, just like a real classroom. Live sessions are organized into four-hour lecture units and students can schedule the time, and attend the session. This is the best way for people to cover the material quickly, and to interact with the teacher and other students along the way.
Recorded Track
For students who don’t need as much interaction, or cannot attend a live session, the recorded track allows them to watch a recording of sessions they missed. It is the same Instructor and fellow students, but recorded and viewable at their own convenience. (Students must still spend some one-on one time with Instructors.)
Mentoring Track
For the student that needs special, personal attention or just wants to look at the materials and “test out” for a specific unit, a one-on-one mentoring time can be scheduled.
Engage with Others
Interaction is critical, but only when you want it. The GRAPA Three-Track training program allows students to decide how much interaction they want with Instructors and peers.
Comfortably Structured
Our curriculum is comfortably structured for easy consumption. Students can readily absorb the information, keep pace and progress competently. The GRAPA Virtual Campus training delivers clear objectives, deadlines and deliverables - easy for students to know how they are doing.
Instant Tracking
The online grading and progress reports keep managers and students up-to-date on progress and any issues that might need to be addressed.
Too Busy to Attend a Class? We Help Students “Find the Time”
We realize that Telecom Risk Management Professionals are incredibly busy, and getting managers to allow them to “sit and think” is a challenge. Best intentions alone don’t always get the job done. Many students have complained that one of the reasons that they need to go to a ‘live” training event, is that they can never find the time to concentrate on the material that they need to learn, because they are too busy.
The GRAPA Virtual Campus creates an environment that holds students, and their managers, accountable for timetables and deadlines. Our set timings for classes and the availability of recordings helps managers and students create and respect the time that they need to really LEARN this intense material.
The Curriculum
GRAPA’s Online Training Programs were developed over years of
experimentation and benchmarking. These exclusive programs have proven to be highly successful at notably increasing student’s mastery of the curriculum’s key concepts.
Our unique style of teaching and the way courses are organized and presented
evolved through much trial and error, but mainly through the experiences shared by our 7000+ members. The Classroom Experience
The key to GRAPA Online Training Programs is the learning environment. This is not a passive training video. Our classes are as close as possible to a one-on-one experience between the student and the teacher and interactions and observations of other students. Each session is effectively engineered to make the material both engaging and digestible.
The Primary Goal
GRAPA training courses cover an incredible amount of material with many complex and multidimensional topics. Student will learn the material and complete the program with a clear understanding of the concepts addressed and real-life solutions for resolving related issues on the job.
Security & Integrity
The GRAPA training programs provide professionals with an in-depth, insider’s view of the workings of a telecommunications company. This powerful information is useful not only to telecoms employees, but to vendors and fraudsters as well. For this reason, GRAPA maintains a high standard of security and integrity regarding who may attend their programs. Students will be asked to review and comply with the following policies:
Non-Disclosure Agreement
Students are required to sign a GRAPA Confidentiality Agreement which binds them and their companies to our non-disclosure policies. As most of our courses require additional security clearance, a background checks and use of both random and scheduled facial recognition of students will be implemented.
Student & Computer Usage
Student: A “student” is defined as one person and identified through an image procured via their webcam at the time of registration. A GRAPA student must also prove their employment at a legitimate telecommunication company and sign a GRAPA Confidentiality Agreement.
Computer Usage: A student computer is to be used solely by that registered student throughout the training program. Sharing of a student computer (allowing others to “watch along with you”), sharing GRAPA passwords or substituting another person in place of the student is not allowed. These policies are verified through random spot checks of facial recognition via the student’s webcam. Facial recognition is authenticated against student images acquired during registration.
Student Authentication & Verification
GRAPA’s security measures include and require that the student’s image be acquired at registration via their computer webcam. That student image will be matched daily with live webcam checks (scheduled and random) to verify daily attendance. IP reverse trace and webcam facilities checks will be used for location verification. Student computer must have a webcam active and available for viewing of their face and environment at all times during the training event.
Class Recordings
It is illegal to record, recreate or redistribute any GRAPA class recordings or training material. GRAPA materials are intended for registered student viewing only. Any duplication or distribution is subject to legal prosecution.
GRAPA Statements and Policies are designed to obtain the security clearance necessary to provide training for many of our larger telecoms customers while protecting the integrity of our programs for our regulators and audit firms, who both attend and certify our training environment.
Objective:The objective of this program is to ensure that all of the parties involved in the management and protection of roaming revenues understand their role and possess a clear framework and understanding of how they are to work with others to accomplish mutual objectives while assuring there are no gaps or missed vulnerabilities.
Coverage Areas: The program examines the protection of roaming revenues from the perspectives of operational integrity, network integrity, billing integrity, partner contracts, terms and DCH assurance, GSMA IREG and TADIG, DCH-IOT Industry Standard Controls, fraud protection (IRSF), Postpaid, Prepaid, CAMEL and USSD Roaming, along with logical and physical security, pricing and market share and margins.
Business Lines: The program can be customized to include all forms of Voice Roaming (GSM and CDMA), as well as Data
Roaming (GSM-GPRS, WiFi, WiMax, EVDO and ITU-Home Agent Based IP Roaming).
Who Should Attend:To be successful it is required that the following professionals who are involved in the running of the roaming business attend and certify as a team:
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Course at a Glance
• MSC Engineer • SS7 Engineer
• Signaling Partner Manager • IREG Engineer
• TADIG Administrator
• I/T Mediation Team • I/T Billing Team
• I/T TAP Processing Team • DCH Relationship Management • Roaming Financial Controller
• Roaming Operational Administration • Roaming Business Manger
• Fraud Management Team • Security Management Team • Roaming Marketing Team
The Intro to Roaming Best Practices Curriculum Outline
Day 1(4 Hours) (4 Hours)Day 2 (4 Hours)Day 3 (4 Hours)Day 4 (4 Hours)Day 5
Tr
aining Unit - 4 hours
The Roaming Operations Framework :
A Domain & Controls-Based Methodology
Voice Network Basics for Roaming
Billing Operations – Postpaid and Prepaid for Roaming Roaming Operations Lifecycles (Signaling, Postpaid, CAMEL, USSD) The Roaming Manager’s Field Guide
Unit 1: The Roaming Operations
Framework: A Domain- and Controls-Based
Methodology
The GRAPA Roaming Operations Framework is about ensur-ing that the Roamensur-ing Line of Business is a well-defined, con-sistently profitable, reliable and measureable environment, in line with an exhaustive end-to-end framework for its in-dustry standard operation. This framework breaks down the messy tangle of systems, processes and departments in-volved into clearly understandable and controllable roam-ing domains.
This introduction to the roaming curriculum includes a de-tailed inventory of known exploits for the roaming line of business, and the role of the fraud management system or fraud data warehouse in combating these frauds, as well as the limitations of these systems and the need for operation-al controls beyond the FMS.
Practical Applications:
• Students will learn about the GRAPA Standard Risk Universes (systematic, proven and ratified approach
to the containment of roaming risks).
• Student will learn about the different roles and responsibilities of the people involved in the provisioning
and delivery of roaming services to customers and their responsibilities for making roaming profitable.
Overview: Units 1-2
Unit 2: Voice Network Basics for Roaming
Overview of the roaming OSS/Network environment spe-cifically designed to meet the needs of business users, fi-nance professionals and IT specialists. Dealing with the tech-nical environment from a business perspective, focusing on Authentication, Authorization and Accounting - specifically the production of transaction records and CDRs, as well as guarding/ securing against exposures in the physical and logical architectures
Practical Applications:
• Students will learn how to make sure they are not losing revenue
because of network issues
• Students will learn how to put controls in place to make sure
voice and data roaming transactions are recorded properly
• Students will learn how to protect their network environment
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Overview: Units 3-4
Unit 3: Billing Operations – Postpaid
and Prepaid for Roaming
Operational view of the roaming billing and charg-ing of telecoms customers, focuscharg-ing on the two main billing and credit models, postpaid and pre-paid, detailing the standard operational models for running of both environments. Review of the sys-tems, processes and operational procedures that have become the industry standard method for billing, accounting and charging in telecoms.
Practical Applications:
• Implementing industry standard controls over
the network and billing environments
• Ensuring the end-to-end integrity of the entire
TAP file lifecycle from mediation to DCH
• Understand the similarities and differences in managing prepaid and postpaid roaming billing
environ-ment
Unit 4: Roaming Operations Lifecycles
(Signaling, Postpaid, USSD, CAMEL)
Operational standard practice for the various roaming en-vironments, in particular the use of roaming signaling for authentication and authorization, the postpaid business model and various means of credit management (HUR and NRTDE), as well as the two separate models for prepaid bill-ing - CAMEL and USSD. Review of lifecycles associated with each of those operational practice areas.
Practical Applications:
• Understanding the difference and key controls
associ-ated with Postpaid, CAMEL and USSD Roaming agree-ments and configurations
• Standard Practices and Controls for Roaming Operations
Management
• How to identify and manage the key operational risk areas in roaming
Overview: Units 3-4
Overview: Unit 5 & Course Key Concepts
Unit 5: Roaming Managers Field Guide
High level concerns specific to the roaming or line of business (LOB) manager, especially regarding margins, profitability, new products and partners, etc. Including interaction with key marketing, net-work and billing teams regarding roaming issues and how to resolve them in an environment of “cross-functional teams” where other op-erational teams have impact on the line of business, but do not have direct “report-to” responsibilities to the LOB manager.
Practical Applications:
• How to diagnose and perform root cause analysis on roaming
activity and billing errors
• How to perform roaming segmentation analysis
• How to apply margin and market controls to drive maximum
profitability
Course Key Concepts Include:
• GSM, WCDMA, Postpaid, Prepaid, CAMEL and USSD
Roaming Operations – Key differences and controls • Roles, Responsibilities and Controls
• Roaming Controls Methodology: How to find controls,
make controls, map controls, calibrate controls, assess controls, strengthen controls. Controls Politics. Controls Hydraulics Management.
• Roles and Responsibilities of Network Teams
• Roaming Radio Infrastructure
• Roaming Transaction Record Creation (CDR/TAP)
• Roaming Signaling and Control Protocols (CAP, MAP,
ISUP)
• Roaming Network Security
• Roaming AAA
• TAP File Conversion and Generation
• Mediation of Roaming Records
• Rating of Roaming Records
• Roaming Credit Limit Triggers
• DCH TAP-IN/TAP-OUT Management
• IREG – Signaling Assurance: The GSMA Sanctioned
Control Mechanism
• TADIG - TapFile and Rating Assurance: The GSMA
Sanctioned Control Mechanism
• HUR/NRTDE – Roaming Credit Models and Execution
Responsibilities
• USSD Roaming – Configuration and Controls
Vulnerability
• CAMEL – ETSI Based Prepaid Roaming – architecture,
vulnerability and controls
• Market Maximization – Understanding roaming
segments, the relationship between sales, profits and segment maximization, margin controls over segmentation
• Promotion, Subsidy and Market Risks – Maximizing
roaming profits
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Why We are the Leaders in Training Telco
Professionals Around the Globe
Join the leading Revenue Assurance focused training events. Featuring exclusive presentations, real-world examples of procedures, solutions, and strategies that have effectively reduced leakage and maximized profits for telcos around the world.
After providing training to hundreds of revenue assurance professionals around the globe, we are pleased to announce our improved course offerings.
Masters Certification – GRAPA’s highest and most prestigious certification that is attained after completing a rigorous and exhaustive training program whose extensive curriculum spans the broad and complex landscape of revenue assurance.
Depth of knowledge – The topics and examples are “narrow and deep” rather than broad and vague, presenting you with focused, highly targeted information that adds real value.
Tailored content – Training is adjusted to align the needs of the students to the available material. Students are asked to fill out “GRAPA Benchmark Surveys” to determine the level and nature of the training required. The survey results help us determine how well you know your own systems, and provide clues about what you need help with. The principles and practices taught are also applied to cable, satellite, wireless voice, SMS, MMS, IPTV, and MMDS with equal conviction, detail, and effectiveness.
Relevancy – Class material is based on the foundations of GRAPA. GRAPA members from every geography, type of carrier, major type of technology, and carriers of all sizes review and approve these standard approaches. The material serves as the foundation for an industry standard approach that is applicable to everyone, and yet easily focused to the needs of specific sub-audiences.
Based on real-world situations– The majority of the training is experience-based “standard practices” in revenue assurance, harvested from the many revenue assurance professionals who participate in “practices surveys,” “strategy sessions,” and other information-sharing events. Clear, specific deliverables are provided that apply to real-world situations. The material is never based on speculation, guesses, or unvalidated information.
Interactive– The workshops are more than lecture sessions. RAA classes are participative and interactive and
students are expected to proactively join in discussions, problem solve, and fill out benchmarks. Attendees have opportunity for much interaction with the instructor and other students. Lunch and breaks are devised to facilitate more intimate conversation.
Professional development – Students master vocabulary needed for creating a sense of professional identity and opportunities with other like-minded people in the industry that share common goals and issues.
Tentative 2012 Training Schedule:
06-17 Feb 2012 London, UK
27 Feb - 09 Mar 2012 Singapore
12 - 22 Mar 2012 Lagos, Nigeria
18 - 29 Mar 2012 Dubai, UAE
07-11 May 2012 Cape Town, South Africa
21-25 May 2012 Chicago , USA
17-21 June 2012 Dubai, UAE
22-26 October 2012 Cape Town, South Africa
For the most up-to-date list of upcoming events please visit:
www.ra-academy.org/revenue_assurance_training/upcoming_events.html
The Revenue Assurance Academy (RAA) is the exclusive training organization of GRAPA. We have over 5000 registered members and has distributed more than 3500 copies of its 2009 standards book. By offering events that combine benchmark development, sharing of standard practices and approaches, as well as delivery of workshops, the Revenue Assurance Academy provides a unique and powerful venue for deployment of standard practices and rapid integration of those practices into the participating telco environments.
We have conducted our training programs for dozens of carriers and services providers around the world. Our workshops are offered in public venues (attended by delegates from many operators and services providers, which promotes the sharing of practices) as well as onsite for a private, more personalized and focused training for a company’s staff.
Some of what makes our training so unique:
1. Based entirely on the GRAPA standards of professional revenue assurance practices.
2. Taught by Rob Mattison, the world’s leading authority on the practice of revenue assurance in telecommunications, winner of many awards for his work in this area, author of The Revenue Assurance Standards--2009, The Revenue Assurance Handbook, and dozens of whitepapers. 3. Focused heavily on practical experience, not theory.
Visit www.ra-academy.org/RAA_info/testimonials.htmlto read some great reviews from
students who have attended our training.
About GRAPA
www.grapatel.com Tel: +1- 847-930- 3610 Fax: +1- 707-276-7676 Email: info@grapatel.com
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Why We are the Leaders in Training Telco
