Dealer Portal for a Telecom Operator
Common problem: the operator sells through 200–300+ dealer points but can't see real sales and pays commissions based on dealer-reported data. Result — 8–12% fraud and loss of control. Solution — a portal connected to billing.
A common situation for telecom operators with dealer networks: three hundred plus points sell SIM cards and contracts, but the operator learns about real sales from Excel reports dealers send once a week. Commissions are calculated from these reports. Billing shows one set of numbers, dealer reports another, the SIM registration system a third. The discrepancy is 8–12%, and everyone understands that part of this discrepancy is fraud — but can’t prove it.
Why does this happen? The operator invested in billing and network infrastructure but the sales channel remained analog. No single source of truth. And most importantly — an inverted trust model: the operator pays commissions based on dealer data, not its own systems. When we reconcile data from three sources for the last quarter, the picture is usually revealing: several points systematically show activations that billing records as inactive within 48 hours. These are ghost subscribers — SIM cards activated to earn a commission.
The right architecture is built around one principle: the single source of truth is billing, not dealer reports. Every sale is registered in the portal, linked to the point and manager, commission charged only after billing confirms a real activation. The anti-fraud module tracks suspicious patterns: mass activations from one point, activations outside business hours, SIM cards with no traffic in the first 72 hours.
What to expect: fraud drops 70–80%, but real sales unexpectedly grow too — honest dealers, seeing their KPIs in real time, start selling more actively. Dealer manager turnover drops 25%: transparency motivates better than control. Savings on fictitious commissions — $150–200K per year.
Typical Problem
The operator sells SIM cards and contracts through a network of 200–300+ dealer points. But it has no unified dealer management system and no real picture of sales. Dealers report via Excel once a week, commissions are calculated manually, and 'ghost subscriber' fraud accounts for 8–12% of activations. If your operator pays commissions based on counterparty data — you're most likely overpaying.
Why This Happens
Systemic error: the operator invested in billing and network infrastructure but the sales channel remained 'analog.' Dealers register SIMs through a legacy system with no connection to sales. Commissions are charged based on dealer reports, not billing data. Sales data lives in three places: dealer reports, SIM registration system, billing — and they don't match. Inverted trust model: the operator pays based on counterparty data, not its own systems.
How We Diagnose It
In diagnostics we always start simply: reconcile data from three sources for the last quarter. The picture is usually revealing — several dealer points systematically show activations that billing records as inactive within 48 hours. These are 'ghost subscribers': SIM cards activated to earn a commission and immediately discarded. Two root problems: absence of a single source of truth and an inverted trust model.
The Right Model
Dealer portal as the single entry point: (1) sale registration linked to point and manager; (2) activation confirmed via billing in real time; (3) commission charged automatically only after confirmed activation; (4) anti-fraud module detecting suspicious patterns; (5) sales and fraud dashboards for the commercial division.
How We Implement It
A typical project takes 5–6 months. We design the portal, integrate with billing via API (real time), with the SIM registration system, with the financial system for automatic commission accrual. We implement the anti-fraud module: ghost subscriber detection, mass activations from one point, atypical patterns. We launch a mobile app for dealer managers. If billing is closed — we find workarounds through intermediate replication databases, saving budget and time.
How the Team Works
Projects like this run with a team of 7: 3 developers, 1 business analyst, 1 integration engineer, 1 UX designer, 1 tester. I define the portal architecture, billing integration model, and anti-fraud logic. The team implements, tests, and documents.
Results
If your operator pays dealers commissions based on their own reports — you're almost certainly overpaying by 8–12%. Connect billing as the source of truth, and results will be visible in the first month.
Key Lessons
- • If you pay commissions based on counterparty data, not your own — that's not a process, it's an invitation to fraud. Move the source of truth to your own billing.
- • Integrating with a closed billing system doesn't always require expensive vendor modules — check whether there are intermediate replication databases for reporting.
- • A dealer portal is not just control but also motivation. When dealers see their results in real time, sales grow and turnover falls.
- • Design anti-fraud rules with the commercial department, not security — commercial knows the real schemes.
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