Overview of Revenue

Assurance and Fraud

Management Systems
 Revenue Assurance(RA)
Increased focus on RA due to
Regulatory pressure of reporting
revenue
Increasing pressure to show more profit
Struggle for existing revenue
management systems to keep with
technological
breakthrough(introduction of new
network elements in the network)
Complex revenue management systems
 Revenue Leakage
Revenue leakage is the difference
between revenue supposed to be
earned and the actual revenue
(actual cash) realized.
Causes of revenue leakage
Incomplete customer records
Accumulated CDR errors
Incorrect rating
CDR late to mediation
Corrupt CDRs
Failure to create CDRs

Possible leakage points
Signaling errors on switch
System capacity mismatches (Overflow)
Misaligned processing or logic rules
Failure to activate or provision the customer correctly
Failure to track customer activity properly
Improper registration and management of network inventory
Mediation related
Failure to filter records correctly
Incorrect application of customer Identifiers
Incorrect formatting of CDRs
Dropped records
Duplicate records
Billing related
Usage beyond billing stop
Incorrect Call plans
Billing errors
Late billing
Over Discounting
 Possible leakage points
Collections Dunning Related
Failure to track old accounts
Misapplication of credits
Inefficient and ineffective dunning practices
Failure to feed back the dunning lessons to
Marketing , sales and product planning groups
Provisioning and customer service related leakages
Physical circuits not ceased when account
terminated
Over Provisioning
Improper update of customer status
Provisioning without notification of billing start
 RA defined
Revenue management Chain: The
systems and operations that are
concerned with the direct capture
,processing and collection of revenues
Revenue Assurance: The process of
guaranteeing that the revenue
management chain is functioning as
specified Or
Revenue assurance is a business process
to detect ,probe correct revenue leakage,
to minimize opportunity loss, to minimize/
avoid costs.
 RA- Solution Architecture
Network
IN Mediation Third party CRM Postpaid Interconnect Inventory
content Billing System Billing System Management
Element Provider Provisioning System
PMS
System

Subscriber Interconnect Subscriber Records Payment Usage

Records Usage Records Subscriber Payment Records Records Accessory Details
Postpaid Subscriber Records
Records Records
Usage Configuration Data & Content Usage Subscriber Usage Rating Configuration Configuration
Records Business Rule Records Order Status Records Data Data
Postpaid Usage
Records

Data Capture Layer

Adapters Data Capture
Others Profile DC Engine/DC Bus
DC Adapter CDR Adapter DC Repository
Adapters Adapters

Analysis Server
Analysis Engine Rule Engine

Reports Engine Real time KPIs and Alarm

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 RA Functional Scope
The primary scope for RA is mentioned below:
Subscriber Profile Verification across
Network Element
Intelligent Network
CRM
Post-paid Billing System
Usage Verification across
Switch
Mediation
Post-paid Billing
Interconnect Billing
Third party contents
Payment Verification between PMS and Post-paid billing system.
Configuration Verification
Network Element
Mediation
Interconnect billing
Call Testing System to verify rating output of Post-paid Billing
System.
Configuration of Alarms and KPI Reports
Subscriber Reconciliation
Subscriber Instance and Services reconciliation between CRM &
Postpaid Billing
The Purpose of reconciliation of subscriber records between
CRM and Postpaid Billing is
Subscriber Instance reconciliation
Identify Subscribers present in CRM and not present in
Postpaid
Billing
Identify Subscribers present in Postpaid Billing and not present
in CRM
Subscriber Services reconciliation
Identify Subscriber services present in CRM and not present in
Postpaid Billing
Identify Subscriber services present in Postpaid Billing and not
present in CRM
Subscriber Reconciliation
Subscriber Instance and service reconciliation between Network
Element and Postpaid Billing
The Purpose of reconciliation of subscriber instance Network Element
and Postpaid Billing is
Subscriber Instance reconciliation
Identify Subscribers present in Network Element and not present in
Postpaid Billing
Identify Subscribers present in Postpaid Billing and not present in
Network Element.
Subscriber Services reconciliation
Identify Subscriber services present in Network Element and not
present in Postpaid Billing
Identify Subscriber services present in Postpaid Billing and not
present in Network Element.
Subscriber Reconciliation
Subscriber Instance and service reconciliation between Network
Element and CRM

The Purpose of reconciliation of subscriber instance between Network

Element and CRM is

Subscriber Instance reconciliation

Identify Subscribers present in Network Element and not present in CRM
Identify Subscribers present in CRM and not present in Network Element.

Subscriber Services reconciliation

Identify Subscriber services present in Network Element and not present
in CRM
Identify Subscriber services present in CRM and not present in Network
Element.
Fulfillment of new orders
Timely Fulfillment of new orders
The Purpose is to ensure timely
fulfillment of new orders without
any delay
Identify the orders which are failed
at provisioning due to some
problem
Identify the orders which are
pending at provisioning

Usage Reconciliation
Objective of Usage Reconciliation module is to reduce/remove revenue leakage
due to CDRs not transmitted successfully across Network Element to Billing
System
Usage Reconciliation Between Different Systems
Following usage reconciliations are carried out in this module:
Control log level and CDR level reconciliation between Network Element and
Mediation
Control log level and CDR level reconciliation between Mediation and Postpaid
Billing
Control log level and CDR level reconciliation between Mediation and
Interconnect Billing
Rated CDR level reconciliation between Retail Billing and Interconnect Billing
xDR level reconciliation between Postpaid Billing and Third Party Content
Provider
Call type and specific destination wise control Log Level report from Mediation
Control Log Level Traffic analysis
Control Log level and CDR level Rejected CDR analysis at Mediation, Postpaid
billing and Interconnect billing
Missing CDR file sequence at Mediation, Postpaid billing and Interconnect billing
Aging of rejected CDRs at Postpaid billing
Aging of rejected CDRs at Mediation
Aging of rejected CDRs at Interconnect Billing

 Usage Reconciliation
Control log level and CDR level reconciliation
between Network Element and Mediation
The Purpose of usage reconciliation between
Network Element and Mediation is:
Identify discrepancy in CDR count, MoU between
files received from Network Element and Mediation
through control log reconciliation
For selected files,
Identify CDRs present in Network Element and not
in Mediation
Identify CDRs present in both Network Element
and Mediation, but have different MoU

 Usage Reconciliation
Control log level and CDR level reconciliation
between Mediation and Postpaid Billing

The Purpose of usage reconciliation between

Mediation and Post Paid Billing System is:
Identify discrepancy in CDR count, MoU
between files received from Mediation and Post
Paid Billing System through control log
reconciliation
For selected files,
Identify CDRs present in Mediation and not in
Post Paid Billing System
Identify CDRs present in both Mediation, and
Post Paid Billing System but have different MoU
 Usage Reconciliation
Control log level and CDR level reconciliation
between Mediation and Interconnect Billing

The Purpose of usage reconciliation between

Mediation and Interconnect Billing System is:
Identify discrepancy in CDR count, MoU between
files received from Mediation and Interconnect
Billing System through control log reconciliation
For selected files,
Identify CDRs present in Mediation and not in
Interconnect Billing System
Identify CDRs present in both Mediation, and
Interconnect Billing System but have different
MoU
 Usage Reconciliation
Rated CDR level reconciliation between
Retail Billing and Interconnect Billing

The Purpose of Rated CDR reconciliation

between Retail Billing and Interconnect
Billing System is:
For Sample CDRs
Identify Rated CDRs for which operator is
being paid but subscriber is not charged.
Identify Rated CDRs for which subscriber
is charged but operator is not being paid.

 Usage Reconciliation
xDR level reconciliation between Postpaid
Billing and Third Party Content Provider
The Purpose of xDR reconciliation between
Postpaid Billing and Third Party Content
Provider is:
For sample xDRs
Identify xDRs present in Postpaid Billing
and not in Third Party Content Provider.
Identify xDRs present in Third Party Content
Provider and not in Postpaid Billing.

 Reject CDR analysis

Control Log level and CDR level
Rejected CDR analysis at Mediation,
Postpaid billing and Interconnect
billing
The Purpose of this module is to
identify the CDRs rejected at the
Mediation, Postpaid billing and
Interconnect billing due to wrong
format (addition of new field in the
CDR format) or abnormal situation.
 Missing CDR files
Missing CDR file sequence at
Mediation, Postpaid billing and
Interconnect billing
Purpose
To identify the CDR files
Sent by Network Element but
missing at Mediation
Sent by Mediation but missing at
Post Paid Billing System
Sent by Mediation but missing at
Interconnect Billing System
 Payment reconciliation
Objective
The objective of payment reconciliation module is to reduce/remove
revenue leakage due to discrepancies across different system and to
achieve this, perform reconciliation/verification of payment
information across different systems.
Payment reconciliation between Payment Management System (PMS)
and Postpaid Billing System
The Purpose of reconciliation of payment records between PMS and
Postpaid Billing is
Identify payment records present in PMS and not present in Postpaid
Billing System
Identify payment records present in Postpaid Billing System and not
present in PMS
Identify payment records having different values in Postpaid Billing
System and PMS

RA Runtime Schedule
 Fraud Management
system
Telecom Fraud
Telecommunications fraud is an act of
obtaining telecommunication services
and/or the instruments, equipment or
devices with no intention of paying for
them or abuse of services. Fraudsters
motivation is either to make money or to
use services at no or reduced cost or to
acquire anonymity to mask criminal
activities or obtain the sheer thrill of
challenging the telecoms network
security
 Fraud
Fraud is broadly categories as:
Usage Frauds: Frauds that are
committed for the purpose of using
services without intention of paying
for them are categorized under
Usage Frauds.
Subscription Frauds: Some
subscribers obtain subscription for
services using false identity with no
intent to pay.
 Minotaur FMS Functional
Architecture
Subscriber Data
Usage Data

Event Data Server Customer Data Server

Partitioning, Filtering, Validation

Fraud Detection Engine

(FDE)
Candidate Fraud Detector & High Usage Detector

Server
Case Outcome

Manager
Configuration
FDE
Rules, Thresholds, Lists, Profiling etc.

Suspect Behavior Alert

Case History Builder & Internal Alarm Analysis

Alarms Collection, Case History Management, Case Outcome Analysis

Tickets

Case Manager
Administration, CM Configuration, Investigation Management

Fraud Analyst Reports

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Possible Fraud Scenarios
Usage Fraud
Misuse of another Subscribers services
Misuse of operators services
Running unauthorized private exchange
Electronic device fraud
Security issues
Usage data (i.e. EDRs) and usage pattern resulting from
any such activities is analyzed by FMS and input data is
matched against defined rule conditions and associated
thresholds. Any deviation to defined values / rules will
generate alarms for the further investigations. There is
no limitation on number of rules that can be defined in
FMS. As per the requirement user can define any number
of rules / thresholds
 Fraud Scenarios
Subscription Frauds
Activation fraud
Adjustment in discounts or credits for a subscriber
Manipulation of credit limit for a subscriber
Change of applicable tariff plan
Incorrect application of payments
Subscriber data anomalies between Network Elements and
Billing
Removal of suspensions, adding unauthorized services/lines
Fraudulent Subscriptions normally result in very high or
abnormal usage of services. This is alerted through usage
alarms by setting various rules on usage data as mentioned
earlier. FMS has functionality to build and store the profile of
subscriber along with billing information. It also stores the
profiles previously classified as fraudsters. FMS also evaluates
Log files from the various systems (if they would be fed to
FMS in required format) like the CRM and Billing for suspect
activity as it also profiled user / system level activities
 Resolution of Fraud
Tickets
The Intelligent alarm Analysis (IAA) server, will generate a ticket
based on the SBAs, Behavioral History pertaining to the Services
used by the entity and scorecard
The Ticket will be passed onto the Case Manager Server, where it
is redirected to users with particular roles. Here the type of
fraud, priority and workflow is taken into consideration while
assigning the tickets
The User / Subscriber Analyst with the appropriate role and
privilege will accept the ticket and classify it as either a
fraudulent case or a non fraudulent one.
If the ticket is identified as a non fraudulent one, the User /
Subscriber Analyst will close the ticket marking it as a non fraud
ticket closure. Here the Case Outcome Server will update the
entity profile in the CFD by adaptive feedback to neural models,
rules and known fraud case histories. This will help in increasing
the accuracy while checking the profile violations against the
defined rules.
 Resolution
The user / subscriber analyst task is to analyze and investigate
each case and then make a fraud or non fraud decision. It is
general practice to have a set of basic questions which if applied
will give the user/analyst an idea of what has occurred and also
the ability to quantify the problem being investigated. A checklist
of questions would be as follows;
Who is the subscriber?
New or Old subscriber , Residential, Business or VIP
What combination of lines/services are installed
Account history when activated, any bills issued, paid,
outstanding, unbilled
Subscriber details linked to BSNL employees
Any links to previous identified fraud accounts
Obtain contracts for further examination
Additional call/reverse analysis to identify if subscriber linked
to BSNL employee
Cross reference known fraudsters database

 Resolution
Not Fraud
Make a note of the concerns on the FMS, If the
usage pattern recurs it should be investigated
further
Fraud
Make a note of the concerns on the FMS, even
if finally determined to be non-fraudulent
Take appropriate action such as call barring or
disconnection, in line with company guidelines
Subject fraudulent account to post detection
analysis
FMS Run time Schedule
THANK YOU