By gaining the accreditation, USAPs will be rewarded with a range of benefits including invitations to aBILLity user group meetings to discuss future development of the product, personal access to a dedicated USAP expert support line, and discounts on Union Street’s consultancy services.
To complement the introduction of the USAP programme, Union Street has restructured its training programme, subdividing its courses into three key stages. This includes a Telecoms Regulatory Stage, delivered for Union Street by Michael Eagle, former Trade Association and General Manager at the Federation of Communication Services (FCS), which provides an overview of the main industry regulatory framework affecting resellers, with simple guidance and practical advice on how to achieve compliance.
In addition, a Foundation Stage offers courses aimed at newcomers to telecoms, providing information on the industry and on the basics of using the aBILLity system. Finally, a Process and Practice Stage features courses that advise on managing a bill run from start to finish, with particular focus on the inbound and outbound process, mobile billing, and best practices to deploy for compliance and boosting efficiency.
Union Street’s Managing Director, Tony Cook, commented, “Our USAP programme is intended to raise standards in the industry, inspire excellence in our partners and their staff and recognise the expertise, knowledge and competence of the professionals that perform this valuable role for their companies.
“By rebuilding our training programme around the USAP accreditation structure, we are also now able to offer a cost effective, end to end training process that provides existing telecoms professionals and newcomers to telecoms alike, with all the skills they need to effectively manage their billing processes. This we believe, will make it significantly easier for employers to recruit staff from outside the industry and help to address the skills shortage that currently exists in the billing arena.”