T h e Te l c o R e v e n u e A s s u r a n c e H a n d b o o k

In short, there is no way to completely reconcile and balance inputs

against outputs.

In our case, inputs will never equal outputs. For example, the input
and output reports we look at may show that a particular bill cycle
had two million CDRs going into the process, but only 1.85 million
lines of billable activity showing up on customer bills. A collections
system might show 100,000 bills going out, but only 98,000 being
collected.

This time-series anomaly makes everything about revenue assur-

ance extremely difficult.

Why Use Monitoring Reports?

The next logical question would be, “If there is no way to reconcile
inputs with outputs, then why do any reporting at all?”

The answer is that, although we cannot reconcile and balance as

comprehensively as we would like, there is still much we can do to
minimize the risk of leakage and maximize our understanding of
how well the system is working.

Using I/O Reports

The first category of reports that we consider are the I/O reports,
including MI/MO (minutes in/minutes out) and DI/DO (dollars in/
dollars out).

Although we will never see anywhere near a comprehensive

matching of inputs or outputs on these reports, we can develop an
appreciation for the consistency of the conversion ratios that differ-
ent systems utilize at different times.

In other words, by watching the MI/MO reports for a given medi-

ation system, we might note that the average conversion ratios for
batches run through the system is 90% (that is, 90% of the minutes
that go in for the same batch come out).

Once we have established the normal conversion ratio for the sys-
tem, it becomes an easy matter to use these MI/MO reports to scan
for discrepancies.

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