Service Providers Name Amdocs Top Convergent Charging Vendor in Infonetics Global Research Report

ST. LOUIS, Sept. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Amdocs (NYSE: DOX), the leading provider of customer experience systems, today announced it has been named a top vendor in the convergent charging market by service providers worldwide, according to a report(1) by analyst firm, Infonetics Research. The research report included findings on convergent charging deployment strategies adopted by service providers, as well as industry rankings for those vendors regarded by service providers as leading suppliers in this domain.

Key research findings include:

• Seventy percent of respondents said that the need to support marketing initiatives such as cross-selling and upselling of service bundles is the key business driver for convergent charging investments.
• Product reliability tops the list of respondent criteria for choosing a convergent charging supplier, with 95 percent of respondents ranking it as most important. Service and support, vendor reputation and customer references were also regarded as important.
• Seventy-five percent of respondents said their charging systems have or will be integrated with subscriber data management and customer relationship management systems, and 60 percent plan on integration with policy management systems.

"The report confirmed that service providers view convergent charging as a critical capability and aren't willing to compromise on product reliability and support," said Shira Levine, directing analyst, Next Gen OSS and Policy, Infonetics Research. "Amdocs' strong historic presence in the billing market is clearly strengthening its presence in the emerging convergent charging space, and its history of R&D investment and product management capabilities is reflected in its high ratings in the product roadmap category."

"We are very proud to be named as a top convergent charging vendor in this report.  Our most recent acquisition of leading policy management vendor, Bridgewater, will enable Amdocs to further enhance our capabilities by offering the market a pre-integrated convergent charging and policy management solution," said Rebecca Prudhomme, Amdocs vice president of product and solutions marketing. "Service providers will be able to extend the multiple dimensions of convergence to support virtually any pricing model for data services, including value-based models. This will completely redefine the consumer's data experience and improve service providers' ability to monetize data services."

The Amdocs Convergent Charging software incorporates Amdocs' innovative, real-time CES (customer experience systems) charging technology – Amdocs Turbo Charging.  This technology allows service providers to offer hybrid prepaid-postpaid offerings on low-cost hardware while being supported by a single charging engine. Amdocs Convergent Charging holds the industry record for real-time charging performance, demonstrating the ability to process 276 million prepaid calls during peak calling hours.

The Infonetics survey polled decision makers at 20 service providers which have a convergent charging system or plan to deploy one by 2013. Seventy-five percent of the service providers surveyed were mobile providers. Sixty percent were companies from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 25 percent from North America and 15 percent from Asia Pacific.

(1) "Convergent Charging Deployment Strategies: Global Service Provider Survey", by Shira Levine, Directing Analyst, Next Gen OSS and Policy, Infonetics Research, July 26, 2011

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About Infonetics Research

Infonetics Research (www.infonetics.com) is an international communications market research firm. Tracking emerging markets since 1990, Infonetics covers a broad range of service provider, product manufacturer, and enterprise and SMB markets, including network security, enterprise voice, unified communications, broadband networks, IPTV, IP video, mobile TV, optical networks, metro Ethernet, carrier routing and switching, wireless, FMC, VoIP, IMS, policy management, subscriber management, service management, carrier capex and opex, and more. Services include quarterly market share and forecasting, end-user survey research, service provider survey research, service provider capex analysis, and custom research and consulting.

About Amdocs

Amdocs is the market leader in customer experience systems innovation. The company combines business and operational support systems, service delivery platforms, proven services, and deep industry expertise to enable service providers and their customers to do more in the connected world. Amdocs' offerings help service providers explore new business models, differentiate through personalized customer experiences, and streamline operations. A global company with revenue of approximately $3.0 billion in fiscal 2010, Amdocs has over 19,000 employees and serves customers in more than 60 countries worldwide. For more information, visit Amdocs at www.amdocs.com.

Amdocs' Forward-Looking Statement

This press release includes information that constitutes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about Amdocs' growth and business results in future quarters. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that our expectations will be obtained or that any deviations will not be material. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ from those anticipated. These risks include, but are not limited to, the effects of general economic conditions, Amdocs' ability to grow in the business segments it serves, adverse effects of market competition, rapid technological shifts that may render the Company's products and services obsolete, potential loss of a major customer, our ability to develop long-term relationships with our customers, and risks associated with operating businesses in the international market. Amdocs may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, however the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These and other risks are discussed at greater length in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, filed on December 7, 2010 and our quarterly 6-K filed forms furnished on February 8,  May 11 and August 8, 2011.

SOURCE Amdocs