Welcome to the GRAPA Blog the official source for GRAPA networking, member news and information to benefit telecommunications revenue assurance and fraud management professionals. The intent of this blog is to introduce you to GRAPA members around the world, provide you with timely tips to help you balance your personal and professional life and information to empower and improve your presentation, negotiation, public speaking and organizational skills. We want to discuss the things you, as a telecommunications revenue assurance professional, are passionate about. Our goal is to provide information that you need.

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Wajid Al Balushi is relatively new to the world of revenue assurance. Wajid has a diploma in accounting and has been in billing, operations and fraud management for the last seven years. He worked as billing and credit control administrator at Nawras and shifted in the last year into revenue assurance. He describes it as a much different perspective to what he’s come to know about telecoms. Wajid felt he needed more information and knowledge, and his line manager helped him find GRAPA training. “He encouraged me to take the course and get more ideas,” says Wajid. “I learned a lot from that course. I have to go through the presentation slides again, because so much was new for me.”

Photo 2012 GRAPA

Wajid felt the whole course was hugely revealing and he discovered new information that surprised him. He describes the course as knowledge building and he learned many new terms and concepts in of revenue assurance and fraud management. “Much of it was very new to me,” he says.

He describes the revenue assurance department he works with as very small, with a staff of four. He really felt that his job had something to do with trying to get information, but was unsure what he needed to collect and often worried that he was disturbing others. Most importantly, he felt that his job was to see how loss can be prevented and was something similar to audit. “My opinion has now changed. I was a little nervous, but now I am a little more confident about what my role is and where I should start,” says Wajid.

After taking the course, Wajid feels he’s been given some essential tools, and that it will make a great difference to his effectiveness. “I got to know some techniques and how to find problems, how to approach the different departments, get the information I need. After billing, I didn’t know what everyone else was doing. I see I needed a bigger picture…marketing, product areas, new products before launch. It’s like dealing with a whole new department.”

When he returns to work, he’s excited to start looking at new-product development and optimizing the revenue, and he anticipates that he’ll have to go through each department step by step.

His advice for anyone wanting to make a career of revenue assurance or fraud management is to take GRAPA training. “I would say that you want to get into revenue assurance this course will help you see the whole telco and understand what each department does. You will understand how the company runs,” explains Wajid. He felt that the training gave him a broader view of the whole organization. “It’s like you’re sitting up and looking down and seeing where the profits are coming from and where the leakages are.”

One of the highlights of the training for Wajid was being able to meet Rob Mattison. “I really enjoyed meeting him. My manager spoke very highly of Rob.”

The GRAPA Blog features profiles of attendees of GRAPA training and GRAPA members.