Hosted Billing

The cloud may have been on everyone’s mind in 2011, but 2012 is looking to be the year of its not-too-distant cousin, machine-to-machine, or M2M, technology.

With Gartner (News - Alert) already predicting a 30 to 40 percent annual growth rate for M2M, as well as projected expansion for the number of mobile of devices connecting to such a network, new perspectives on performance, assurance and monetization are coming to the forefront.

Accordingly, communications service providers are finding themselves wondering what their role will be in the M2M market and, of course, how to create compelling offers for their end-customers. The opportunity to do so, particularly for the wireless industry as innovative M2M solutions continue to disrupt existing markets and open up entirely new ones, lays within the billing market.

Tapping into this need to effectively monetize in a developing wireless landscape is Cycle30, a provider of order-to-cash billing services hosted in the cloud for cable, telecommunication and utility operators. A company based in Seattle, Cycle30 will head east to Miami in just a week to ITEXPO (News - Alert) East 2012, the world’s largest communications conference. In addition to exhibiting on the ITEXPO exhibit floor Feb. 1 to 3, Cycle30 will also have one of its own executives, Isaac Szymanczyk, at the helm of a Feb. 1 session on cloud billing, entitled “Cloud Billing: The Missing Link.”

TMCnet recently had the opportunity to catch up with Cycle30’s Szymanczyk prior to ITEXPO East to get a preview into what to expect from the hosted billing company in Miami. As a company quite immersed in the billing market, Szymanczyk wasn’t shy to give his take on where this opportunistic space stands today.

 “The billing market is seeing a lot of potential growth in the wireless industry as devices, networks and data needs continue to evolve and expand,” Szymanczyk told TMCnet last week. “Additionally, the machine-to-machine market is on the cusp of massive expansion, as many M2M technologies are now being enabled by faster chips, Web technologies and cheaper data rates. Cycle30 seeks to empower service providers in both these areas with flexible, dynamic rating and billing services that help them earn maximum revenue in their markets.”

When asked how Cycle30’s products and services differ from the rest on the market, Szymanczyk explained that because Cycle30’s roots stem from a large North American wireless and cable operator, the company has a unique “software-agnostic approach and bottom-line business ethic about what a billing operation should do.”

“Cycle30 is essentially the only vendor of billing services in the market with immediate experience and perspective of being on the side of the customer,” Szymanczyk continued. “We understand what operators need as far as customer service from IT vendors, and how to improve that level of service.”

For Cycle30, ITEXPO East comes at an opportune time, as the hosted billing company is on the cusp of announcing a new service platform as well as a lineup of new customers with its M2M billing partner, Arrow Electronics (News - Alert). In the meantime, Cycle30 is looking to ITEXPO East as a forum for hearing ideas and issues shared by “like-minded” operators, vendors and service providers present at the show.

“As a provider of hosted IT services, specifically order-to-cash billing services, Cycle30 believes ITEXPO brings the right mix of potential customers, partners and media under one roof and is a good use of our time,” said Szymanczyk . “Additionally, the colocation of ITEXPO with its affiliated shows such as M2M Evolution and 4GWE make this a good forum for marketing our wireless and M2M vertical solutions.”

And, Cycle30’s business motto, “We empower,” will certainly be a theme for the company during its attendance at the conference.

“Cycle30 empowers forward-thinking operators with a unique approach to the ever-present challenge of billing. Telecommunications, utility and M2M operators need reliable, flexible rating and billing for the complex services they provide. We look forward to talking with companies who want a better way to rate and bill for their services in 2012,” said Szymanczyk.

To find out more about Isaac Szymanczyk and Cycle30, visit the company at ITEXPO East 2012. To be held Jan. 31- Feb. 3 at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami, Fla.  ITEXPO is the world’s premier IP communications event. Szymanczyk is speaking during “Cloud Billing: The Missing Link.”For more information on ITEXPO registration click here.

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