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
+ or 00
20
10
1234567

Plan +20 10
1234567
To dial international number
Egypt prefix
Vodafone prefix
Subscriber number

Call Scenario

Local
Loop

Internal
Trunks

Internal
Trunks

Local
Loo
p

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

Order

Management

Management

Call Center

Loyalty &
Retention

Provisioning / Service
Fulfillment
Service

Network

Workforce

Activation

Inventory

Management

Collection

Retail Billing System(s)

Switch

Data
Collection

Mediation

Rating

Billing

Bill
Production

Interconnect Billing System(s)

SS7 Monitoring

Revenue Assurance
Test Call Generator

Fraud Management

Data Collection
Data Collection

Design

Data Collection (Cont.)

Exchanges
Types
Alcatel
OCB, HC3.1, HC3.2, HC3.4
Siemens
Lucent
Ericsson
Nortel
Huawei
ZTE

EWSD
5ESS
AXE, AXD
DMS
C&C08
UNO,
CDMA,
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
file coping, it is a self
just
managed
process,
Automated
scheduling of collection, automated
failure recovery, etc

Data Collection (Cont.)

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

(CANS)

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

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 input files

and
transforming it to the
decoding
required
format by the end system
The Input files formats:
The process of

ASCII (Delimited, Fixed Size)

Binary (Fixed block size /

variable

block

Mediation (Cont.)
Applying The
Business

Rules

Normalization
e.g.: Numbers Format, Time Format

Filtration

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

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

EDR with the corresponding rate

Rate
each
Calculate the fixed charges, discounts, etc

(Bill Cycle)
Billing
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,
Destination (Local, Mobile,
etc)
International,
Time of the call
(Peak, Off
Peak)
Subscriber's rate plan

MMS, etc)

Interconnect
Billing

Interconnection
Terminology
Franchise 2
Franchise 1

Point of
interconnect

Address

Interconnec
T
Owner

Organisatio
n
Group

Network

Node
Path

Network
Operator
(NOP)

Interconnect Billing
(Cont.)
Interconnection
Scenario

Invoice Direction
From
Interconnec
t
Owner

NOP
Call Direction

To

Payment
Direction

Invoice is based

the NOPs charge for terminating a

InterconnectBilling
(Cont.)
Call
Types

Incoming
(Interconnect)

Operator
A

Transit
(Interconnect)

Operator

B
Outgoing (Retail &

In
te
rc
o
n
n
Retai
e
l
ct
Owne
r

Interconnect Billing
(Cont.)
CallInterconnect Process

Network Operator
Detail
Record
s

Outgoing

Negotiation

Invoic

Statemen

Pricin
g

Summar

Reconciliatio

Settlemen

Incoming
Statemen
t

Negotiation

Invoic

Network Operator

Paymen
t

Interconnect Billing
(Cont.)
Call Scenarios

Direct Incoming / Outgoing

Indirect Incoming / Outgoing
Traditional Transit
Reverse Incoming /

Outgoing
Refile / Hubbing

(Free Phone)

Interconnect Billing
(Cont.)

International

The international interconnection agreements differ than

Agreements
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

Switch B

(1) IAM [called #]

(2) ACM

(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

SS7signals

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

there

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.)

RASystem Life Cycle

Files
from all
System
s

Transformation

RA
Dat
aba
se

The transformation specification for each file called

a Parser
Number of Parsers = Numbers of different input formats

Measures
KPIs
Reports
Dashboar
d

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

detectio any abnormal

behavior
n

(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
a) 1.
TheCall
fraudster
get a normal home phone.
Selling
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
another SIM
2. Cloning
B.
make
huge
callscard
usingtothe new SIM
A. Fraudster
The fraudster
clone
a 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 ManualProcess

Customer Service Office

Shipping

Work
Order
Work Order

Copy

Shipping
Customer

TE CallCenter
Agent

PBX

Switch

Billing System

Provisioning
(Cont.)
TheAutomated Process
CR
M

Provisionin
g

Networ
k

Channels
:
IVR Web
Site Call
Center
Customer Point
eTopup Channels

Sub Systems: Network

Inventory Service
Activation Workforce
Management

Billing

Custome
r

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
Call

Management

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
Call

Management

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

Thanks to all my colleagues who help me for preparing this

presentation.