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The Complexity Versus Efficiency Trade-off

As data services continue to surge, most service providers are faced with the daunting task of processing tens of thousands of transactions per second during peak hours. It is not uncommon to see online charging platforms utilizing hundreds of CPUs to support just a few thousand real-time transactions per second. This is due to one of the longest running frustrations in all OSS/BSS applications - the performance versus complexity conundrum: as transactions get more complex performance very quickly degrades.

The issue is that these systems rely on a 45 year-old On Line Transaction Processing (OLTP) model and utilize either traditional relational database or commercial in-memory database technology to perform real-time transaction processing. These outdated technologies limit the performance and scalability of existing charging applications, making it impossible to support the surging level of network traffic which service providers are experiencing as they roll out smart phones, smart devices and HD video services.

The result is that service providers are left with two choices:

  • Sink exponential costs into more processing power, hardware, data center space, resources and power to keep up with increases in network traffic which will ultimately result in a zero margin business
  • Revert to batch processing and contend with revenue leakage, bill shock, and the inability to move away from flat rate pricing with differentiated service offerings

A New Paradigm from MATRIXX Software

At MATRIXX Software we have invented an entirely new architecture for online charging and real-time transaction processing that will change the way that service providers do business. Our MATRIXX Charging Engine is a highly efficient, highly scalable online charging application that enables communications service providers to implement real-time, convergent charging while dramatically lowering the costs associated with rating and billing.

Working with MATRIXX Software, service providers finally have a real-time solution that gets them ahead of growing network usage, Telco 2.0 business models, and real-time subscriber demands without breaking the bank. With MATRIXX Charging Engine, service providers can implement a real-time system with:

  • Unmatched Performance – MATRIXX Charging Engine guarantees 30,000 transactions per second on a single rack, no matter how complex your pricing becomes. We are currently the only vendor to provide this performance guarantee
  • Predictability and Stability – MATRIXX Charging Engine processes extremely sophisticated pricing models, unlimited balance sharing, and complex policy decisions - and still returns guaranteed performance giving service providers a predictable model for growth
  • Configurability and Flexibility – MATRIXX Charging Engine provides a configurable business platform with tools to quickly configure and launch new offerings and business models while continuing to guarantee performance, stability and carrier grade high availability
  • The Industry's Best Price Performance – Because it runs on industry standard Linux servers, MATRIXX Charging Engine provides the best price performance of any online charging product in the market today. In fact, MATRIXX was independently benchmarked running 40,000 events per second on a Linux Blade system costing just US$100,000.

Product Highlights

Real-Time Rating and Discounting

Unleash your marketing organization to roll out profitable products and services that are too costly or complex to roll out on existing infrastructures, such as real-time business models, usage and QoS-based pricing, and personalized offers and content. Increase margins on prepaid subscribers by offering them the same products and services that you offer your postpaid customer base. Deliver sticky offers, promotions, and bundles to subscribers without suffering the latency degradation that traditionally comes with complex charging scenarios. Enable third-party content without exposure to bad credit or revenue leakage.

Pricing

MATRIXX Catalog Builder provides an intuitive graphical user interface that allows you to easily create sophisticated charging and discounting models and reuse them across products and services. You can easily introduce new rating concepts as frequently as needed, without requiring updates to the core system to incorporate the changes.

Subscription and Balance Management

The MATRIXX Charging Engine provides a sophisticated set of subscription and balance management features. Balances can be monetary or non-monetary such as minutes or megabytes. There is no limit on how many balances a subscriber can have and adding counters or balances to a subscriber does not impact the performance or latency of the system.

Spend Control and Credit Management

Set credit limits, thresholds and notifications on any balance or counter. This ensures that subscribers do not spend over a preset limit which can be service provider-driven or subscriber-driven. Since credit limits and thresholds are tracked in real-time, notifications to the subscriber and the appropriate action are taken instantly so that there is no revenue leakage or credit exposure.

For more information on MATRIXX Products, please contact us

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