R Mattison's Podcast

GRAPA's social networking manager talks about revenue assurance professional Olusolape Daji, and how being a good revenue assurance pro is like being a good parent.

The big news this summer has been the release of the last Harry Potter movie. Like Harry Potter, we as revenue assurance professionals have the power to decide if we are going to hide behind old technology and complain "I can't do it," or learn new skills and meet the challenge. GRAPA president Rob Mattison discusses how to access the resources required to become an effective revenue assurance wizard.

"The revenue assurance discipline, and the standards provided by GRAPA, provide the revenue assurance professional with a comprehensive set of templates that make it possible to assure any type or level of revenue assurance risk, with a simple set of tools," says GRAPA president Rob Mattison. Learn how CEOs can use revenue assurance to their benefit.

In the second installment of The Beginner's Guide to Revenue Assurance, Rob Mattison tackles the question why do telecoms need revenue assurance at all? "Managers are finding that the methods used in the past, in order to establish control over the accounting, sales, marketing and operational environments simply cannot keep up with today's breakneck pace. The old controls are simply failing." Rob discusses the four symptoms that indicate things are getting out of control, the three key decisions that must be made and four disciplines that drive the revenue assurance process.

It's back to basics as Rob Mattison takes another look at the definition of revenue assurance. "It seems that Revenue Assurance (as promoted by GRAPA at least) is becoming more and more a “top of mind” issue for a lot of C Level executives and even telecoms board members. One of the unfortunate side effects of this renewed attention, is that the first thing we have to do is undo a lot of the confusion, chaos and misinformation that so many people have been spouting." Rob clarifies the definition of revenue assurance for 2011.

Partner or Privateer? While most of us are fascinated by the lives of legendary pirates, real pirates are not so romantic. GRAPA's Rob Mattison discusses what happens when a partnership turns into piracy, using Canadian owned Research in Motion as an example. (Margin) Pirates of the Canadians

Rob Mattison introduces the new Revenue Assurance Foundations training and certification programs being launched in 2011. The Revenue Assurance Foundations program is the third in the series of what we call our core curriculum for revenue assurance professionals. The core curriculum is an intense five day crash course in the fundamentals of the practice of professional revenue assurance as advocated by the GRAPA standards.

GRAPA President Rob Mattison reflects on the great strides forward made in 2010 and discusses the plans in place for 2011 for GRAPA and RA Academy that will keep the momentum rolling.

Find out what is in store for GRAPA in 2011. "Over the past year, we have been conducting an exhaustive set of benchmarks and surveys with revenue assurance professionals and CFO’s, and the opinions that they voice are pretty much unanimous." Find out what you can expect as the GRAPA team puts the final details in place for the new and much improved curriculum.

Batman, Superman, Aquaman or The Flash: What Kind of Revenue Assurance Hero do You Want to Be? GRAPA president Rob Mattison discusses the special powers needed by revenue assurance and fraud management professionals and what the key ingredient to being a superhero really is.

It is really no accident that GRAPA claims Kuala Lumpur as its birthplace. If you want to experience telecommunications in the fast lane, first hand, you don’t have to look any further than here. Because of its reputation for being the leaders in so many areas, we usually choose the South East Asian market as a key launching point for new programs, initiatives and standards activities. KL was a landmark event for GRAPA in many ways...

The 'Boston Tea Party' was a pivotal event leading to the American Revolution and independence from Britain. Now, a new political Tea Party movement has gained a toe-hold in the United States. Rob Mattison discusses how revenue assurance`s own revolution has been going on for some time now. Are you ready to join the party?

"The reason that GRAPA exists, and the reason that I travel around the world, 45 weeks out of the year, is to try to help revenue assurance managers to create that “meeting of the minds”, the “Now you get it” moment that empowers RA teams, and changes their status in their organizations." GRAPA president Rob Mattison discusses GRAPA training from the perspective of telco CFOs.

What if your revenue assurance problem is IT? How do you pinpoint the source of the problem and how can revenue assurance and IT teams work together to accomplish their objectives? GRAPA president Rob Mattison offers some solutions to IT problems that includes a good look in the mirror.

"When we started GRAPA back in 2007, there were many things that we thought would happen. However, one thing we were sure of was that the wireline incumbent telcos would not be high on our list of members." GRAPA President Rob Mattison discusses what is driving wireline carriers to turn to GRAPA training for help.

"The biggest and most involved discussions at the recent Cairo training were concerned with issues about the problems that carriers are facing with the “leading edge” business model deployments, specifically the almost epidemic of CAMEL Fraud and Revenue Loss conditions, and the utter chaos that seems to be surrounding GPRS and billing for it." GRAPA president Rob Mattison discusses who will be best equipped to handle new technology. Will it be you?

Never has the old adage 'what goes around, comes around' been more true, even in the fast paced world of telecommunications. Rob Mattison discusses how vendors, speakers and other 'thought leaders' may be giving new names to old solutions. How do you identify revenue mania? Give Rob a listen and learn how to take a discerning approach to the sometimes confusing mix of revenue assurance flavors offered by the current market.

"Say what you will about the “fairness” of individual referees, or the many different “political quirks” that make up world football championships, in the end, the process is a basically fair and entertaining process. It is interesting to compare the overtly civilized and politically correct way that the FIFA championship is run to less professionally managed championship events like the World Wrestling Federation and Wrestle Mania." GRAPA President Rob Mattison opens the Revenue Mania World Cup and challenges GRAPA members to a fair, but spirited debate.

"Clearly revenue assurance has greatly increased in scope over the past few years. Revenue assurance professionals are working less on “leakage” and more on “top line revenue delivery” as we get better at the fundamentals of our craft. The skills and knowledge developed while securing revenue streams is not the end of the value delivered, but only the beginning. By leveraging, good core understanding of telco technologies, operations and revenue management activities, revenue assurance professionals are expanding and applying their knowledge in a myriad of other arenas." Rob Mattison discusses the specializations now evolving in the revenue assurance field.

C Level executives are coming to understand that Revenue Assurance represents one of the single biggest strategic tools in their arsenal. Rob Mattison discusses why CEOs and CFOs are paying attention to Revenue assurance pros with GRAPA training.

Corey talks to Dan Baker about the TeleStrategies Revenue Assurance & Management conference. Opportunity Oasis is GRAPA's all-new weekly webinar series featuring Corey! Tune in every Wednesday at 2:00 Central Daylight Time (GMT -5) to get the latest Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management news updates. This weekly webinar series will help you stay up-to-speed on what's going on with Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management today. Ensure that you are keeping up with the latest trends and preventing the newest forms of fraud from happening to you. Contact us at info@grapatel with any questions or comments!

On this Opportunity Oasis, Corey takes a look at a case of fraud that compromised a country's security and caused the death of an innocent man. Opportunity Oasis is GRAPA's all-new weekly webinar series featuring Corey! Tune in every Wednesday at 2:00 Central Daylight Time (GMT -5) to get the latest Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management news updates. This weekly webinar series will help you stay up-to-speed on what's going on with Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management today. Ensure that you are keeping up with the latest trends and preventing the newest forms of fraud from happening to you. Contact us at info@grapatel with any questions or comments!

Learn about GRAPA's Telco Fraud Officer initiative on Opportunity Oasis. Opportunity Oasis is GRAPA's all-new weekly webinar series featuring Corey! Tune in every Wednesday at 2:00 Central Daylight Time (GMT -5) to get the latest Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management news updates. This weekly webinar series will help you stay up-to-speed on what's going on with Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management today. Ensure that you are keeping up with the latest trends and preventing the newest forms of fraud from happening to you. Contact us at info@grapatel with any questions or comments!

Do you have controls in place to minimize revenue loss when disaster strikes? What happened when lightening struck a cell tower and a telco made a quick cut-over to a new technology along with the repair? Rob Mattison discusses how the GRAPA approach to risk and controls management can diminish revenue loss in a crisis situation.

Corey discusses Sexting and the telcos on Opportunity Oasis is GRAPA's all-new weekly webinar series. Tune in every Wednesday at 2:00 Central Daylight Time (GMT -5) to get the latest Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management news updates. This weekly webinar series will help you stay up-to-speed on what's going on with Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management today. Ensure that you are keeping up with the latest trends and preventing the newest forms of fraud from happening to you. Contact us at info@grapatel with any questions or comments!

Opportunity Oasis is GRAPA's all-new weekly webinar series featuring Corey! Tune in every Wednesday at 2:00 Central Daylight Time (GMT -5) to get the latest Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management news updates. This weekly webinar series will help you stay up-to-speed on what's going on with Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management today. Ensure that you are keeping up with the latest trends and preventing the newest forms of fraud from happening to you. Contact us at info@grapatel with any questions or comments! In this episode Corey discusses revenue assurance opportunities with GRAPA president, Rob Mattison. http://www.grapatel.com/A-GRAPA/08-Coreys_Corner/coreys_corner_webinar.asp

Sales commissions are becoming a critical ingredient of many of the different types of “innovative new marketing schemes” being created by marketers and product developers. As the industry continues to put more faith in these innovative approaches, the ability of the RA team to get involved, and apply revenue focus on the programs will be key.

One of the most exciting and challenging things about the world of revenue assurance, as we continue to evolve as professionals, is the way that the scope, depth and breadth of our responsibilities continues to expand. GRAPA president Rob Mattison discusses Sales Channel Assurance and the role revenue assurance plays in that domain.

GRAPA president Rob Mattison discusses GRAPA's new fraud management training curriculum, powered by some of the best and brightest in the fraud management field.

What has revenue assurance got to do with regulators and their missions? Rob Mattison talks about the role of regulators relative to revenue assurance professionals.

Who is the 'royalty' in Revenue Assurance? Who are the 'thought leaders' of Revenue Assurance? Since there are no BOMs and Product Managers, Rob Mattison discusses who Revenue Assurance professionals should look up to.

Rob Mattison takes a break to spend time with family in Germany. And how about a game of Autobahn Hanne? Rob discusses how the engineering process and rules of the Autobahn, along with the attitude and skills of the drivers, can be an example for the revenue assurance professional.

GRAPA President Rob Mattison looks back on 2009 and the final training event, held in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Do you sometimes feel like you are spinning out of control? Rob Mattison discusses how revenue assurance pros can take a lesson from Sufi dancers. You'll also hear about Rob's exciting desert adventure. Read the blog at Mattison Avenue

Rob discusses another breakthrough training event in Kuwait and the strong ties between revenue assurance and internal auditing.“This event reinforced my belief that in the battle for revenue assurance and fraud protection, there is a clear synergy and need for cooperation between the Internal Auditor and the Revenue Assurance Professional.”

Rob Mattison describes his experience at the Trinidad training and discusses the unique business environment of this island telco.

The famous “triple play” and “home run” bundle were created in the US and it is still home of post-paid service. Rob Mattison discusses how GRAPA standards based solutions can be applied to revenue assurance in the US.

Rob Mattison discusses revenue assurance training in Cape Town, deep forensics and controls, GRAPA certification news, milestones, new member services and upcoming training events and townhalls.

Rob discusses the upcoming (win-win) training event in Uganda organized with the help of dedicated GRAPA volunteers, the National Coalition of Revenue Assurance and Uganda's major telcoms.

GRAPA President Rob Mattison talks about state of revenue assurance and telcos in the UK, the birthplace of revenue assurance.

Rob Mattison discusses the roles of the revenue assurance staff, and the disciplines of managerial and financial accounting.

Rob Mattison talks about his impressions of Luxembourg, upcoming GRAPA training events and the roles of internal auditors and revenue assurance professionals.

The GRAPA User Groups represent an exciting new addition to the repertoire of training, networking, certification and recognition options available to the revenue assurance professional. GRAPA President Rob Mattison discusses the benefits of this 'un-conference' concept. Read the transcript at http://www.rmattison.wordpress.com.

Are your KPIs providing the you with the results you want? GRAPA president Rob Mattison discusses the role of KPIs in revenue assurance. Read the transcript at http://www.rmattison.wordpress.com.

Live interview by Radio and Podcast Personality "Eva Pristera" with Rob Mattison - President of GRAPA , (The Global Revenue Assurance Professionals Association). In this interview, Rob reveals the strategy behind Xtreme RA (C) and the new horizons for Revenue Assurance professionals. This 5 day training program offers Revenue Assurance Certification in all areas of the practice of RA in the Telecommunications industry and telecoms around the world are responding.

Rob Mattison discusses trends in telecommunications revenue assurance. Read the transcript at http://www.rmattison.wordpress.com.