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Telecommunications mediation is a process that converts call data to pre-defined layouts that can be imported by a specific billing system or other OSS applications.
They are often referred to as internet protocol detail records. Mediation also processes event detail records or EDRs that are usually generated by the charging systems or any other network elements. Hence, Mediation platforms can process all xDRs that are generated by any network element, be it CDR, EDR or UDR.
Billing mediation platforms get their name from their behavior: they "mediate" data between systems. In a typical telephone company scenario, the systems providing data to the mediation platform are network elements, such as telephone switches, and the systems receiving data from the mediation platform perform accounting, auditing, archiving, or bill-generation functions. The mediation system collects, collates and prepares data for consumption by the downstream systems, which often accept data only in a limited set of formats.
The usage and call detail record datatypes hold data such as NPX, NPA, call duration, peak time flag and call length. Data may be represented in ascii or binary formats. The billing mediation platform typically reads this data and converts it into common normalized format.
Billing systems and all other downstream systems, in turn, converts this data to component [its own] understandable format.
Typically a mediation platform is used for the following tasks:
In a telecom billing scenario, mediation is the first step after receiving a call detail record. The mediated call detail record files are forwarded to a rating engine, which calculates the charge associated with the call detail records. In today's world, Rating Engines are becoming more necessary for the telecom billing system to be able to meet the growing variant customer needs for different services.[ citation needed ]
Despite the name, not all of the data transferred via billing mediation platforms is actually used for billing purposes. For instance, the mediation software might generate traffic volume statistics based on the number and origin of the records it processes. Those statistics could then be used for capacity planning, as part of a network monitoring procedure, or for any other business intelligence applications.
At core, mediation involves data transfer between various systems with or without modification of data starting from Network elements to any OSS/BSS systems.
Sophisticated billing mediation software serves end to end functionality for telecom operators. Mediation software performs various operations from data collection to downstream distribution to modules like retail billing, roaming, interconnect settlement, business intelligence, fraud detection and revenue assurance.
Following list provides insight on mediation software activities
Complementary to billing mediation functions, comprehensive mediation platforms also provide functionality dedicated to Service Provisioning (the two areas frequently intermix as services configured and used by the end customer result in usage data records generation in the network).
Mediating between the systems is not the only job that Mediation Platform can do. Actually this can be used as a provisioning agent. The basic provisioning commands can be configured within the mediation system and whenever we get a request for the system which does the provisioning, the request can be converted into a file, in which mediation can append the service provisioning commands and send it to the Home Location Register (HLR) for activating any request. This of course, load dependent but can come very handy when there is a crisis in the other system.
Telecom operators offer Voice, video, data, fax and internet services to subscribers and partners on various product lines. Mediation products are tuned to provide solutions for complex business challenges. The call data is produced by network devices in the form of call detail record).
Mediation platforms for telecom practice support various systems:
In telecommunication, provisioning involves the process of preparing and equipping a network to allow it to provide new services to its users. In National Security/Emergency Preparedness telecommunications services, "provisioning" equates to "initiation" and includes altering the state of an existing priority service or capability.
Enterprise application integration (EAI) is the use of software and computer systems' architectural principles to integrate a set of enterprise computer applications.
In telecommunications rating is the activity of determining the cost of a particular call. The rating process involves converting call-related data into a monetary-equivalent value.
The Telecommunications Management Network is a protocol model defined by ITU-T for managing open systems in a communications network. It is part of the ITU-T Recommendation series M.3000 and is based on the OSI management specifications in ITU-T Recommendation series X.700.
A business analyst (BA) is a person who analyzes an organization or business domain and documents its business, processes, or systems, assessing the business model or its integration with technology. Business Analyst helps in guiding businesses in improving processes, products, services, and software through data analysis.
A service delivery platform (SDP) is a set of components that provides a service(s) delivery architecture for a type of service delivered to consumer, whether it be a customer or other system. Although it is commonly used in the context of telecommunications, it can apply to any system that provides a service. Although the TM Forum (TMF) is working on defining specifications in this area, there is no standard definition of SDP in industry and different players define its components, breadth, and depth in slightly different ways.
Business support systems (BSS) are the components that a telecommunications service provider uses to run its business operations towards customers.
Operations, administration and management or operations, administration and maintenance are the processes, activities, tools, and standards involved with operating, administering, managing and maintaining any system. This commonly applies to telecommunication, computer networks, and computer hardware.
Automatic message accounting (AMA) provides detailed accounting for telephone calls. When direct distance dialing (DDD) was introduced in the US, message registers no longer sufficed for dialed telephone calls. The need to record the time and phone number of each long-distance call was met by electromechanical data processing equipment.
Frameworx is an enterprise architecture framework geared towards communications service providers.
HP Service Activator is a service provisioning and activation software platform from Hewlett Packard. Once installed and integrated with a Customer Service Provider’s (CSP) environment, HPSA automates the processes inherent in the creation and activation of new telecommunications services. It is not specific to any network or service type and can apply across fixed, mobile, or internet environments. HPSA software is activation-centric, but engages the entire fulfillment stack as defined by the TeleManagement Forum’s Business Process Framework (eTOM) framework, including order management, resource inventory and service activation.
Test call generators (TCGs) are revenue assurance solutions that replicate events on a telecoms network to identify potential revenue leakage and to help achieve regulatory compliance. Both cellular and fixed-line telecom operators utilise test call generators to independently test their networks for call detail record (CDR) reconciliation and validate call start-time/duration metering and telecommunications rating. TCGs are mission-critical tools utilised by telecom operator revenue assurance departments to improve revenue capture and to validate network integrity.
Revenue assurance (RA) telecommunication services, is the use of data quality and process improvement methods that improve profits, revenues and cash flows without influencing demand. This was defined by a TM Forum working group based on research documented in its Revenue Assurance Technical Overview. practically, it can be defined as the process of ensuring that all products and services provided by the Telecom Service Provider are billed as per the commercial agreement with customers', by ensuring network, billing and configuration integrity and accuracy across network platforms and systems. In many telecommunications service providers, revenue assurance is led by a dedicated revenue assurance department.
Convergent charging and billing, is a solution in the telecommunications industry that enables common management of all users and all services for operators. It includes convergence of payment methods like prepaid and postpaid, as well as access methods and services like fixed telephony, mobile telephony, broadband and TV.
Document Capture Software refers to applications that provide the ability and feature set to automate the process of scanning paper documents or importing electronic documents, often for the purposes of feeding advanced document classification and data collection processes. Most scanning hardware, both scanners and copiers, provides the basic ability to scan to any number of image file formats, including: PDF, TIFF, JPG, BMP, etc. This basic functionality is augmented by document capture software, which can add efficiency and standardization to the process.
Operations Support Systems (OSS), Operational Support Systems in British usage, or Operation System (OpS) in NTT, are computer systems used by telecommunications service providers to manage their networks. They support management functions such as network inventory, service provisioning, network configuration and fault management.
Telecommunication networks can generate a vast amount of transactions where each transaction contains information about a particular subscriber's activity. Telecommunication network consist of various interacting devices and platforms. Any transaction carried out by a subscriber is often recorded in multiple devices as it passes through the network. Telecommunication organizations generally need to be able to extract transaction information from these various network elements in order to correctly bill subscribers for the usage on the network. Transaction processing system is a subset of information systems, and in the telecommunications industry, forms an integral part of the management information system. TPS can be regarded as the link between the various network elements and platforms and the information management uses to drive the business.
Telecommunications billing is the group of processes of communications service providers that are responsible to collect consumption data, calculate charging and billing information, produce bills to customers, process their payments and manage debt collection.
TEOCO is a privately held telecom software vendor based in Fairfax, Virginia in the United States.
Digital Data Systems, or DDS, was a consultancy firm specializing in operations support systems (OSS) and business support systems (BSS) in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and carrier marketplace within the telecommunications industry. DDS was an independent provider of OSS and BSS during a time when such systems were provided by the large telecommunications switch vendors. It completed in OSS / BSS head-to-head against AT&T, Northern Telecom, and others in providing services that sold and deployed amongst the Regional Bell Operating Companies, including: Bell Atlantic, Southwestern Bell, and Pacific Telesis. It had a hardware joint venture with MIPS Computer Systems who provided the hardware platform upon which it ran. The business was acquired by Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) in 1992.