Major Middle East Telecom Sees Direct Labor Costs Drop 50% After Adopting PortaBilling B/OSS

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Connect Arabia International (CAI) shoulders an important responsibility for those calling into, or out of, the Sultanate of Oman. The private Tier 1 international gateway operator is the exclusive means by which all voice traffic travels to and from Oman, a country of four million people on the Arabian Peninsula's southeastern coast.

With calls traversing between Oman virtually every other country on the planet, CAI's business requirements are substantial. Regardless of whether a call originates locally or internationally, CAI's reporting platform must identify, log, rate, and bill each call that passes through its network, from both foreign and domestic service providers. Because it gathers this information en masse from each provider to complete its reporting and reconciliation tasks, CAI's billing system must be able to collect data quickly and reliably, regardless of the providers involved.

In October 2015, after receiving recommendations from others in the industry, Connect Arabia International purchased a license for PortaBilling, the B/OSS (Business and Operation Support System) from PortaOne. CAI sought a converged platform that could support the entire billing spectrum using both RADIUS and Diameter protocols.

"The installation of PortaBilling on our generic servers was seamless, thanks to the PortaOne technical support team," recalled Saleh Al-Khaldi, Chief Technical Officer for Connect Arabia International. "We scheduled onsite training for December, and the two-day session was exactly what we needed: precisely to the point of interest for our business."

CAI's use of PortaBilling gave it a number of advancements compared to its previous billing technology. In addition to its business orientation, Mr. Al-Khaldi emphasized PortaBilling's open architecture, giving it the ability to develop custom solutions that support operational growth.

"PortaBilling is a very reliable system. The graphic user interface is easy to use; in fact the system makes it much easier to operate our entire business, compared to other platforms," he noted. "As a wholesale business, service and value are critical to our success. PortaBilling helps us remain competitive by offering cheaper voice calls to our customers."

As a leader in Oman's telecommunications industry, Connect Arabia International is growing quickly—which puts a huge strain on human and technical resources. Once PortaBilling was in place, the company was pleased to discover the efficiencies generated: service downtime was reduced by an estimated 20%, and direct labor costs dropped by 50%.

All new PortaBilling customers receive a six-month subscription to PortaCare, PortaOne's 24/7 automated monitoring and expert technical support service. The subscription also includes access to frequent (every 2 months or less) updates of the platform. Mr. Al-Khaldi stated that based on the quality of support CAI received, his company had no hesitation about renewing its annual subscription.

"PortaOne's technical support is the best we've ever encountered," he said. "With hundreds of carriers depending on our gateway, reliability is paramount. With PortaBilling as our back end platform, and services available through our PortaCare subscription, we have confidence in the integrity of our business."

About PortaOne:
Based in Canada, PortaOne is a leading global software developer for modern telecoms. The company's billing (B/OSS & OCS) and switching (SBC & Class 4/5) products enable telecommunication service providers and carriers to run a broad line of retail, enterprise, SME, and wholesale services on a single integrated software platform. PortaOne's flagship platforms, PortaSwitch (http://portaone.com/products/portaswitch/) and PortaBilling (http://portaone.com/products/portabilling) are fundamental parts of the business infrastructure for over 400 service providers and telcos in 85 countries worldwide. Over two-thirds of 300 PortaOne staff are support engineers providing the best-in-industry 24/7 technical support services for clients involved in hosted IP PBX and SIP trunking services, calling cards and wholesale VoIP, IPTV and residential triple-play, MVNO and MVNE, SMS, data and voice over LTE, and more. To learn more, visit http://PortaOne.com.

About Connect Arabia International:
Connect Arabia International is Oman's Second private Tier I licensees international gateway operator, satellite and international calling card services provider in the Sultanate of Oman. CAI plan includes a roll out of a new concept of sales and experience centers, of a kind not previously seen in the region.

CAI international Gateway is the exclusive Gateway of all the international voice traffic to and from the country. The Gateway represents the access of the country to the world and it can be connected either through satellites or through international fiber cables.

SOURCE PortaOne

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