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.

We invite you to delve into the information we have provided and participate by contributing what you have learned about life as a revenue assurance professional. Is there something that you would like to see here? We are listening. Please leave your comments and suggestions.

Gotta use your brain, it’s the most important part of your equipment. ~Kevin Andrews and Warren Miller, Extreme Skiing

As a downhill skier who came to the sport later in life than most, I am always learning something new. Often, I’m amazed at the places people ski. I had no idea that there was great skiing in Lebanon! After all, the Middle East isn’t really synonymous with winter sports. But, thanks to GRAPA member and Certified Practitioner of Telecommunications Revenue Assurance Abdullah Tahboub from Jordan, I learned there are six ski resorts to choose from, with terrain suitable for families just starting out to backwoods adventures for advanced skiers. Abdullah, who is also a football fan, tennis player and proud dad, has also skied in Turkey and hopes to introduce his young family to the sport when they are the right age to handle skis.

Abdullah graduated from accounting school and started working as an auditor with Deloitte in 2001 for almost three years. He earned his CPA in the U.S. and joined Syriatel where he was the accounting and finance manager for almost four years. He started working at Umniah Mobile as a financial controller, and now part of his responsibility is working with the revenue assurance team. His current position has given him the welcome challenge of managing a unit, which he admits he was not particularly experienced to do. Rather than just rely on the revenue assurance manager, who reports to him, he felt he needed to understand all that revenue assurance entails and what it is the manager is responsible for. “So having the GRAPA training helps me understand what I should expect from the revenue assurance team,” he explains. “While I feel confident in managing the accountancy unit, I want to understand thoroughly what revenue assurance is all about.”

As a controller, Abdullah basically oversees a lot of high level functions. “So I’m looking at things like making sure the finance departments are running smoothly, that I am getting the right information from the managers. Of course, we need to make sure everything is running seamlessly with the other departments and that policies are being followed,” says Abdullah.

Part of the challenge is the market share itself. With a population of six million, and several companies in place that have a large percentage of the market share already, Abdullah feels it’s important to be very assertive, competitive, and take care of their customers. “And from a revenue assurance point of view, it is essential to have the structures and procedures to quickly find and stop leakages”

Why did Abdullah choose GRAPA training? “The revenue assurance manager that reports to me introduced me to GRAPA. He took the course last year. He highly recommended that the training would be very educational. I’m glad I took his advice.

I would like to say it is a great course, very comprehensive and I understand more about revenue assurance and have an overview of what a well run revenue assurance department can accomplish.”

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