In recognition of the growing interest in electronic commerce, and of billing as an integral part of this, ETIS set up a working group to develop and promote the use of a standard subset of the UN EDIFACT INVOIC message. This subset was completed some years ago and is now in everyday use within several ETIS members and other companies.

In 2003 the group started an XML standard for the telecom industry in addition to the existing EDIFACT message. Telecom operators can now choose if they want to use EDIFACT or XML. Both ETIS standards are the only telco specific ones on the market and are now available to ETIS members and non-members alike on a new CD-ROM.

The goal of this CD-ROM is to provide the ETIS community and other interested parties with the ETIS Electronic Billing Standard in the XML and EDIFACT formats. This CD-ROM contains the files necessary to implement the standard in your company and benefit from the expertise of the working group. The fact that this solution was developed by billing experts in telecommunications companies means that this is the only telco specific billing standard that is flexible enough to meet a telco's billing needs.

The Standard
The deliverables created by ETIS Electronic Billing Group are designed as a standard for telecom operators. Regarding the EDIFACT world the group provides the only existing subset for telecom invoices and also offers additional items such as Data Model and Code Lists. The XML format is based on the same Data Model and therefore covers the same contents as the EDIFACT subset.

The ETIS standard describes all billing data in a detailed way. By dropping optional parts in the XML formats a lean version of the complex structure can be created. This enables all potential users to create XML files according to their individual needs. However, some mandatory parts describing the most important billing data have to remain.

Convergent Billing
Both, the XML format and the EDIFACT subset are prepared to be used in a convergent billing environment. Fees and traffic for fixed net and mobile services can be invoiced and also data used in inter-carrier billing can be included in ETIS formats. The formats cover the whole range of billing data and also details for each call or connection may be included.

Benefits of ETIS EBG standards
- EDIFACT and XML solutions are suitable for fixed net services, mobile services, inter-carrier billing (national, and possibly international).
- The standard fullfills the needs of big companies, small and medium size enterprises and residential customers.
- Both data formats provide interoperable, reliable, secure and low-cost data transfer, independent of software and/or accounting system on site.
- The unique electronic bill format allows for easy (cheap) post-processing at customer / client side.
- Customer-oriented business cases show proven Return on Investment (RoI) after 5-6 weeks.

The CD-Rom will provide you with the actual data models, schema, demo tool and supporting documentation.

This CD-Rom is free of charge for ETIS Members. Non-members may purchase this CD-Rom for 990 Euros.