CFCA Member Spotlight

Stephen Ornadel from iconectiv is featured in the Member Spotlight of the April edition of The Communicator.  Ornadel discusses the impact of fraud on the industry and what’s being done to combat it.

Where are you employed? Where is the company based? How long have you been there?

I work for iconectiv, which is headquartered in the United States but I am based out of London, UK. I have been here for six years, which makes me realize how time flies.

What is your title, function and describe some of your daily duties?

I am the Director of Business Development for the Europe, Middle East and Africa Region. I spend a huge chunk of my time with customers and the industry learning about the challenges they are facing. This provides me, and by extension, iconectiv with the insight needed to help drive the development of solutions to help our customers and the wider industry.

What interests you most about your work?

I love our industry and always wanted to work in the telecom world. When you think about what we do, connecting people across continents, providing information to people in real time, all while facing incredible growth it seems almost miraculous. I feel privileged to work in this industry and appreciate the great people I work with, both inside and outside of iconectiv.

What interests you most working in the fraud field?

Fraud is ever changing and from a technology perspective we are just at the beginning. I love the fact that I work with a company that is taking a slightly different approach to addressing fraud. We are all about prevention and not detection. That is something I totally buy into. That means there is a lot of opportunity to use my experience and knowledge to help operators reduce their losses. That is very rewarding.

If you had a magic solution to stop your dominant type of fraud from occurring what would that be?

The magic solution that people love to mention is stopping payment from reaching the fraudsters. That would definitely kill all fraud but if it was so easy it would have been done years ago. So in reality there is only hard work, innovation and commitment that will help keep operators ahead of the game.

What do you think contributed to your success?

Hard work, innovation with a passion for challenging the norm and a commitment to customer satisfaction.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

I proposed the Near Real Time Roaming Data Exchange standard for the GSM Association. I personally got the formal support and endorsement of 110 operators world-wide. Some 10 years later it has been adopted by 100% of GSM operators around the world – nearly 1,000 operators. Still, it is something I have never told any family member or friend.

Although I don’t think it is complex, none of them would either appreciate it, understand it or be interested in it!!!

How is being a member of the CFCA beneficial to you? Any examples?

It is a great opportunity to meet experts from around the world. In fact, our numbering database was substantially improved by a suggestion from a CFCA delegate. As a result we implemented a free of charge upgraded reporting tool to all our customers. Sometimes just a simple comment in a quick chat can be the inspiration you need. With so many people attending the CFCA events the chances of such insight is surprisingly high.

If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?

Passionate, Energetic and British!

If you had to describe your work in three words what would they be?

“Hard but rewarding”

What other non-work related interests (hobbies, activities etc) that you would like to share?

I like swimming, countryside walks, travelling, socializing and have managed to stick to an intensive keep fit regime for over two months and counting.