billing support system (BSS)

A billing support system( BSS) collects call data in terms of call duration, amount of data transferred or information content for the purpose of billing.

Billing systems should receive the desired call data record ( CDR) in real time, if possible. This means managing at least 1,000 CDRs per second on one processor. The different network configurations, which can be circuit-switched or packet-switched, also play an essential role in billing, for example, when switching from mobile to fixed networks or from GSM networks to UMTS.

In addition to billing, BSS systems include the functions of decision support, marketing, maintenance, fraud detection and customer relationship management( CRM), among others.