2500+ Members Registered with the Global Revenue Assurance Professional Association (GRAPA)

Chicago, IL, July 11, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Formed in 2007, and with only 300 members at the end of its first year, the Global Revenue Assurance Professional Association (GRAPA) recently celebrated the registration of its 2500th member. The event further solidifies GRAPA’s position as the leading standards body and professional association focused on telecommunications revenue assurance. GRAPA’s 2500+ members come from over 162 countries around the world, as well as being employees and managers of over 1000 telecommunications operating companies.

“It is a huge vote of confidence from the revenue assurance profession, that we have become the standards and certification body of choice, especially when it comes to the performance of such a crucial function within modern telcos,” said Rob Mattison, President of GRAPA. Member registrations have been steadily accelerating since the beginning of the year, in response to the ratification and publication of GRAPA’s 2009 standards book. The standards document lays out a focused, disciplined and formalized approach to revenue assurance applicable to telco operations regardless of the size and context of the carrier, while still offering detailed solutions to common assurance issues. It is a testament to GRAPA’s core principle of Consensus that this is true, since input to the standards came from so many disparate and varied sources that an expansive yet still meaningful notion of revenue assurance was required to satisfy all parties involved.

Mike Sullivan, GRAPA’s community director, credits the association’s commitment to integrity for its success. “If GRAPA did not conduct itself ethically as well as with sincerity and integrity, we would not be able to earn the trust of our growing membership. Those who register with GRAPA have to trust that we are, and will continue to be, a completely independent standards body, as well as a professional association whose primary focus is to work tirelessly on behalf of revenue assurance practitioners everywhere.” He cites the growing stature and newfound respect given to revenue assurance individuals and departments as the most striking, important and gratifying aspect of working for a non-profit professional association. “We need to get our members the recognition they deserve, since they perform a mission-critical function for telcos, yet they are often not valued near as much as they should be.”

Institutional support for GRAPA has also been a big sign of its success. Among GRAPA’s committed supporters are top managers, corporate groups as well as internal auditors and national regulators. Much of this is due to GRAPA’s commitment to rationalization, ensuring that wherever revenue assurance certified professionals take their transferable skills, they always offer their employers unprecedented value. As true professionals, GRAPA’s certified members pride themselves on ensuring that their efforts are always cost-justified, and that the controls and procedures they put in place are always designed to increase margins and maximize profits far in excess of the investment in controls.

To view the latest figures on GRAPA’s membership, including how many are registered, as well as what countries and companies they are from, visit:

http://www.grapatel.com/A-GRAPA/01-Home/Home8.asp

To view a directory of members certified as Masters of Revenue Assurance:

http://www.grapatel.com/A-GRAPA/02-Certification/certified/certifiedhome.asp

About GRAPA:

The Global Revenue Assurance Professional Association (GRAPA) is a not-for-profit organization founded to serve the interests of revenue assurance professionals throughout the world. As the leading standards, certification and professionalizing body in revenue assurance, GRAPA is committed to core principals of consensus, rationalization and integrity in all its endeavors. GRAPA’s goal is to further the professional stature of those working in revenue assurance, and to have their essential functions recognized at the core of efficient and effective telecommunications industry practice. GRAPA believes that this can only be achieved through the rigorous application of ratified global standards, the certification of trained and qualified professionals, and the continuous education of those who work in such an essential, demanding and constantly evolving discipline.

Revenue Assurance—The Profit in Keeping What’s Yours.

Learn more about GRAPA at www.grapatel.com

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