We have always been the industry ambassadors for telecom metering accuracy. In fact, our test equipment has been measuring metering accuracy here in the UK since 1982!
On the 12th June 2025, Ofcom posted a public correspondence entitled ‘Metering and billing accuracy – call duration and other event measurements’. Quoted here:
“Last year, we sought to understand how changing technologies might affect the accuracy of call duration measurement and held several discussions with the Approval Bodies. Following this engagement, we are writing to request that you ensure that call duration and other event measurements are treated as areas of focus when testing new technologies and equipment.”
And then:
“Please note, we have asked the Metering and Billing Approval Bodies to make call duration and other event measurement accuracy an area of focus over the coming year.”
What are the underlying reasons behind Ofcom’s request to the telecom operators? We expect that there are a few factors, which we have formed as questions below:
- Are call durations shorter, longer or the same when using different technology?
- Do different voice services meter in the same way, or behave differently depending on the destination called?
- Can a consumer realistically identify, or protect themselves from being over metered in calls?
- Can a consumer realistically identify if they are being over metered for their data consumption?
Validating the effect of new technology on the accuracy of metering is crucial to protecting jargon-vulnerable consumers, especially for data services.
Experience In The Industry
Our test call generators have been verifying timing and metering accuracy for over 40 years working with clients across the globe. Since our begining it has always been our independent timing and metering accuracy that has outshone the competition. The reason for this is because we use independent Stratum 1 time servers alongside our own proprietary independent raw metered values (meaning that there is no handset background noise).
We are adamant that ‘To measure a standard, your tool must beat the standard’. See ‘TCG Accuracy is Key’ for more details.
There has been some confusion in the industry as regards what is actually possible when it comes to call metering accuracy. Take it from the experts that yes, it is possible to identify when a call starts and ends, it is possible to identify duration to within a tenth of a second and finally yes it is possible to compare technologies and calculate if they are all behaving the same way. It’s only impossible if you have inaccurate technology. To learn exactly how we can verify this for your voice services, or, to learn about some of the clever things we are doing in the field of data metering right now, please talk to us.
