Telecom OSS/BSS Overview

Prepared by : Magid Fatehy Telecom OSS Team Leader at Giza Systems www.magid.tk

Before we Begin
This presentation is a very high level

overview for the most Telecom OSS/BSS components. Any information or examples in the presentation are not related to a specific operator or vendor. Any similarity with any implementation is not intended.

Agenda
General Concepts
Data Collection Mediation

Billing
SS7 Monitoring Revenue Assurance Fraud Management Fulfillment / Provisioning

Number Portability Management

General Concepts
Numbering Plan +20 10 1234567
+ or 00 20 10 1234567

To dial international number Egypt prefix Vodafone prefix Subscriber number

Call Scenario

Local Loop

Internal Trunks

Internal Trunks

Local Loop

Toll Exchange or Tandem Switch : connects multiple switches to route the calls

CDR / EDR / xDR

CDR: Call Detail Record Generally called EDR (E for Event) or xDR

The switch generate the EDR which contain mainly

A#: Calling Number B#: Called Number

Duration: Call Duration

Start Date Time: Date & Time of the call

There are a lot of other fields generated in the EDR depending on the event type; Voice call, Video call, SMS, MMS, etc.

Main OSS / BSS Components

CRM
Contact Management Order Management Call Center Loyalty & Retention

Provisioning / Service Fulfillment

Service Activation Network Inventory Workforce Management Collection

Switch
Data Collection SS7 Monitoring Mediation Rating

Retail Billing System(s)

Billing Bill Production

Interconnect Billing System(s)

Revenue Assurance
Test Call Generator Fraud Management

Data Collection
Data Collection Design

Data Collection (Cont.)

Exchanges Types
Alcatel Siemens

Lucent
Ericsson Nortel

Huawei
ZTE

OCB, HC3.1, HC3.2, HC3.4 EWSD 5ESS AXE, AXD DMS UNO, CDMA, C&C08 UNO, CDMA

Data Collection (Cont.)

Billing Files Types
AMA (Automatic Message Accounting) Contain the detailed events information (EDRs) METER Contain the subscriber number and his counters (pulsing) Obsolete

Data Collection (Cont.)

Front Collector (FC) Function
Interact with the exchange by its network protocol (X.25, Ethernet, etc) Polling data files Data files storage The process is not just file coping, it is a self managed process, Automated scheduling of collection, automated failure recovery, etc

Data Collection (Cont.)

Central Access Network Server (CANS)
Polling Files from FCs Transferring Files to Mediation Billing Files Storage

Mediation

Mediation (Cont.)
What is Mediation ?
Set of pre processing functions that are

applied to EDRs and other billing related records.

Provide the mediated data to the end systems: Retail Billing Interconnect Billing Revenue Assurance & Fraud Management Data Warehouse

Mediation (Cont.)
Main Mediation Functions
Collection and Archive From Data Collections or from the switches (in another setup) Parsing Applying The Business Rules

Mediation (Cont.)
Parsing / Reformatting
The process of decoding the input files

and transforming it to the required format by the end system

The Input files formats: ASCII (Delimited, Fixed Size) Binary (Fixed block size / variable block size)

Mediation (Cont.)
Applying The Business Rules
Normalization
e.g.: Numbers Format, Time Format

Filtration
e.g.: Zero call durations, Non billing CRDs

Correlation & Aggregation

e.g.: OVERFLOW calls, Long call duration

Duplicate Detection Data Enrichment

Mediation (Cont.)
Auditing & Reporting
Reporting
e.g.: Number of CDRs in specific switch per

day, month, etc.

Error Processing
Errors reporting & reprocessing.

Billing
Retail Billing (Billing only)
For postpaid subscribers

Interconnect Billing (Wholesale

Billing)
For other network operators

Retail Billing
Rating
Rate each EDR with the corresponding rate

Billing
Calculate the fixed charges, discounts, etc

(Bill Cycle)

Bill Production
Produce and print the invoices

Collection & Payment

Can be a part of billing system or a dedicated

system

Retail Billing (Cont.)

The rate Depend On :
Service Type (Voice, SMS, MMS, etc)
Destination (Local, Mobile,

International, etc) Time of the call (Peak, Off Peak) Subscriber's rate plan

Interconnect Billing
Interconnection Terminology
Franchise 2 Franchise 1

Point of interconnect

Network Address

InterconnecT Owner Node Organisation Group Path

Network Operator (NOP)

Interconnect Billing (Cont.)

Interconnection Scenario
Invoice Direction From Interconnect Owner NOP Call Direction To

Payment Direction

Invoice is based on the NOPs charge for terminating a call

Interconnect Billing (Cont.)

Call Types
Incoming (Interconnect)

Operator A

Interconnect Owner
Transit (Interconnect)

Retail

Operator B

Outgoing (Retail & Interconnect)

Interconnect Billing (Cont.)

Interconnect Process
Call Detail Records

Network Operator

Outgoing Statement
Pricing

Negotiations

Invoice

Summary Incoming Statement

Reconciliation

Settlement

Negotiations

Invoice Payment

Network Operator

Interconnect Billing (Cont.)

Call Scenarios
Direct Incoming / Outgoing Indirect Incoming / Outgoing Traditional Transit Reverse Incoming / Outgoing (Free Phone)

Refile / Hubbing

Interconnect Billing (Cont.)

International Agreements
The international interconnection agreements differ than

the national interconnection agreements in many aspects. e.g.

National: Invoices International: Declaration

Optimized Routing
A system which dynamically update the

routing table on the switch to select the best route to every destination. The best route can be determined based on the price, line quality, interconnect agreement conditions, etc. The Optimized Routing system gets feeds from interconnect billing and SS7 monitoring to select the best route and update switches.

SS7 Monitoring
SS7 Protocol
Signaling protocol between network

elements (Switches)

SS7 Monitoring Solutions

Monitor the signals between switches

and generate reports / Build EDRs from these information.

SS7 Monitoring (Cont.)

Probes
Switch A Switch B

SS7 Monitoring Solution

SS7 Monitoring (Cont.)

Signals for a call from Switch A to Switch B
Switch A
(1) IAM [called #] (2) ACM

Switch B

(3) ANM

(4) REL (5) RLC

SS7 Monitoring (Cont.)

SS7 Monitoring Importance
For Network Analysis

Based on SS7 signals reports

Identify network problems (e.g. Congestion) Identify Routing Control and increase the Quality of Service; QoS Planning future extendibility of the network

SS7 Monitoring (Cont.)

SS7 Monitoring Importance
For Revenue Assurance

Based on the EDRs built from SS7 signals

Compare SS7 signaling EDRs with Switch EDRs Identify possible fraud

Revenue Assurance
Revenue Assurance focus on

detection & correction of data discrepancies

between the operators systems & processes

RA get feeds from all systems and

apply a reconciliation to ensure that there is no revenue loss in any system.

Revenue Assurance (Cont.)

Revenue Assurance (Cont.)

Revenue Assurance Types:

1. Usage Assurance
Reconcile the traffic (EDRs) between the systems;

Switches, Mediation and Billing.

e.g. Compare the pre mediated EDRs (switches

EDRs) with post mediated EDRs (after mediation) to ensure the mediation process.

Revenue Assurance (Cont.)

Revenue Assurance Types: 2. Subscription Assurance
Reconcile the subscribers profiles between the

switches and billing to avoid:

1. Under Billing: subscribers have the service but

not charged for it (exist in the switch but not exist in the billing) 2. Over billing: an opposite of Under Billing

Revenue Assurance (Cont.)

RA System Life Cycle

Files from all Systems

Transformation

RA Database

Measures KPIs Reports Dashboard

The transformation specification for each file called a Parser Number of Parsers = Numbers of different input formats

Test Call Generator

Can be considered under RA umbrella. Generate test calls to test any new service,

network element, route, etc.

Generate calls using a pre configured

parameters; time, duration, destination, etc.

Feed the RA with the log of generated calls and

RA reconcile it with switch EDRs to ensure the correct charging.

Fraud Management
Fraud management system focus on

detection any abnormal behavior

(pattern) within the network.
Fraud management system apply

rules to detect any abnormal behavior and fire alarms in a near real time fashion.

Fraud Management (Cont.)

Rules Examples
If a subscriber makes 100 international

calls per day Fire an alarm

If a new subscriber makes GSM calls by

1000 EGP per day Fire an alarm

Fraud Management (Cont.)

Examples of Fraud Types
1. Call Selling a) The fraudster get a normal home phone. b) Offers cheap rate international calls to public c) Escapes away without paying the bills
Pattern: Huge international traffic for different countries from a normal home user

Fraud Management (Cont.)

Examples of Fraud Types
2. Cloning A. The fraudster clone a SIM card to another SIM B. Fraudster make huge calls using the new SIM C. The operator bills the original legitimate subscriber for these calls and he refused to pay
Pattern: Two calls from the same numbers in the same time

Fulfillment / Provisioning
Fulfillment / Provisioning is the automation

process for providing the services to the customer.

The process starting from the customer order

till activation the services on the network and billing.

Provisioning (Cont.)
The Old Manual Process

Customer Service Office Work Order Work Order Copy Shipping PBX Switch

Shipping Customer

Billing System

TE CallCenter Agent

Provisioning (Cont.)
The Automated Process
CRM
Channels: IVR Web Site Call Center Customer Point eTopup Channels

Provisioning
Sub Systems: Network Inventory Service Activation Workforce Management

Network

Billing

Customer

Provisioning (Cont.)
The provisioning process contain of multiple

subsystems organized by a process workflow.

The Provisioning / fulfillment solution can be

implemented as a suite or separated systems integrated together.

The level of automation is dependent on the

implementation of the provisioning systems.

Provisioning (Cont.)
Service Activation
The system who activate the service on the network

element (Switches)
Interact with the different network elements by different

languages & commands

Provisioning (Cont.)
Network Inventory
Holds all detailed information about the network

elements (switches, ports, cables, etc.)

Using this information, the operator can

determine the best way for providing the service. e.g. what is the shortest route to connect two sites using the leased line.

Provisioning (Cont.)
Workforce Management System
Distribute the work orders automatically on the

labor for providing a service or solving a problem.

Distribution can be based on location,

capabilities, tools availability, work load, etc.

Number Portability Management

The Number Portability is the ability for

subscribers to change their service provider (Telecom Operator) without changing their phone numbers.
e.g. Mobinil (012 1234567) Vodafone (012

1234567)

Number Portability Management

Number Portability Management

Systems
NPC: Number Portability Clearinghouse
NPG: Number Portability Gateway

Number Portability Management

Number Portability Clearinghouse (NPC)

Centralized reference database for ported

numbers.
Existing at the Regulator. Mange the portability process between the

Telecom Operators.

Number Portability Management

Number Portability Gateway (NPG)

The interface of Number Portability service at

each Telecom Operator.

Mange the portability process between the

Telecom Operator & NPC.

Number Portability Management

Call Routing Types

1. Indirect
Each call to a ported number should go to the original operator (Donor) and he forward it to the Recipient operator.

Number Portability Management

Call Routing Types

2. Direct
Each operator know where the ported number be and forward the call direct to his new network.

Finally, We Cover
General Concepts
Data Collection Mediation

Billing
SS7 Monitoring Revenue Assurance Fraud Management Fulfillment / Provisioning

Number Portability Management

Thanks to all my colleagues who help me for preparing this presentation.