Document Logs
Change log:
Date: | Author: | Version: | Changes: | Completed | Ext. | Int. | Is in Core |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
27 October 2011 | Rida Riaz | 1.0 |
| No | x |
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31 October 2011 | Luca Casarini | 1.1 | Review | No | x |
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31 October 2011 | SD | 1.1 | Checked | Yes | x |
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| 9 May 2014 | Luca Casarini | 1.2 | New diagram, improved explanation. | No | x |
Introduction
CDRator's billing functionality is aimed at generating Invoice Detail Lines out of CDR information received from the network.
Three major steps build up CDRator billing functionality.
| Step | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | LOADING | CDR information is loaded into the database as billing records. The loading process applies CDRator’s customer's validation logic to the CDR files to e.g. discard duplicate information or files which don't correspond to the expected format. |
| 2 | MEDIATION | Billing records have the same structure of CDRs, but with two additional fields added by CDRator:
Mediation is the process that determines these two fields from the information available in the billing record. Rating code and rating key are human-readable values that have a great impact in the subsequent phases of the billing process. |
| 3.1 | RATING (standard prices) | The telecommunications market offers nearly always monthly packages which grant a limited amount of traffic (talk time, messages and data) for a fixed monthly fee. Nonetheless, every single minute of talk time, every message and every kbyte of GPRS has a basic price.
The first stage of the rating phase is always to determine the price of the billing record as per basic prices. |
| 3.2 | RATING (campaigns) | After the billing record is priced according to the basic prices, the process searches for exceptions. If a valid campaign/bundle is found, the process continues and it is up to the campaign/bundle's own logic to determine the actual price of the billing record. |
If errors occur during the process above, the billing record is moved into an error queue for manual investigation and handling. Therefore, knowledge of the rating and billing process is key for the investigation and resolution of rating errors.
This page describes the activities that make up step 3.1 in the table above.
Knowledge of CDRator Product Configuration is a prerequisite of this document.
Rating (Standard Prices)
These are the activities performed after a CDR is loaded into a billing record and mediated.
1: Billing Record Information
Several steps of the process will use information on the billing record against the product configuration.
| Field(s) | Description |
|---|---|
| Subscriber's information | Allow to identify the subscriber responsible for the usage. The fields depend on the network's specification, but normally one can expect ICC, IMSI or the A-Number to be there. |
| Event Date | Date and time when the event began. |
| B-Number | The number receiving the phone call, message. This applies only to certain types of usage. |
| Duration | The duration of the phone call or the amount of data. This applies only to certain types of usage and some network may define two separate fields: one for phone calls and one for data sessions. |
| Event Type | Network's defined fields that specify exactly the type of usage; e.g. national call to a fixedline number, premium SMS, roaming call, etc. |
| Cost Price | The price of the usage as determined by the network. |
| Rating code, rating key | Determined by mediation |
2: Find the Rate Plan
This step is aimed at finding the subscriber and his/her rate plan. Subscriber's info available in the billing record is used in tables like:
- service
- simcard
- a_number
Eventually the corresponding subscription record is found and from that the process goes into billing_group_member:
| Field(s) | Description |
|---|---|
subscription_id | Matched against subscription.id. |
from_date, to_date | Matched against the event date on the billing record. The configuration that is valid when the event began is the only one considered. |
rate_plan_id | This points to the rate plan that will be used by the following steps. |
Customer Care
For investigation purposes, operators can use IMSI/ICC information of the billing record to find the subscribers vie the advanced search. The rate plan is displayed in the subscription details.
3: Find the Number Plan
Once the rate plan is known, its tele rates configuration is matched against the billing record's rating code. The rate plan's tele rates configuration is where every possible rating code is assigned to a number plan. This assignment is valid on a specified range of dates; again, the billing record's event date is used to find the number plan attached to a rating code.
Product Configuration
The tele rates configuration of a rate plan can be analyzed by selecting the rate plan in the Product Configuration GUI and clicking the Edit button.
This will open up the Edit Rate Plan popup. Select the rating code on the table on the left (Tele Rates frame, Service Code column). The associated number plan is displayed on the right (Number Plans frame). The columns From Date and To Date specify whether the link between a rating code and a number plan has restrictions on time.
Example
In the screenshot below, the tele rates configuration of rate plan Fixedline. The rating code NATIONAL CALL is linked to the number plan Mobile National without date restrictions.
4: Execute the B-Number Method
The number plan's B-Number method is executed. This method uses some fields of the billing record to construct a string that is then used to find a plan element via Best Match.
There is a long list of possible methods provided by the Rator Platform; besides, customers can also require the development of custom methods.
Product Configuration
For investigation purposes it is important to know the logic of the B-Number method. Click on the number plan on the Product Configuration GUI and then the Edit button. This will open the Edit Number Plan pop-up GUI where operators can see which method is configured for the number plan and read its description.
The most common B-Number Methods are getRatingKey and getBNumber: they will use the billing record's rating key and B-Number respectively.
Best Match
TODO
Example
In the screenshot below, the b-number method for the number plan Mobile National is getRatingKey. This means that the billing record's rating key in the will be used to find the plan element.
Step 5 - Find the Plan Element
The rating process finds the plan element via 'Best Match' using the b-number method information. Once the plan element has been found, the rating process looks at the rate day information associated with that plan element. In order to look at the plan element, use the b-number method to select a plan element from the 'Plan Elements' panel.
For example, if the b-number is getRatingKey, then compare the value of the rating key with the available plan elements. In the screenshot below, 'MOBILE..Mobile national' is the plan element selected when looking at the rating key in the billing record (for example the rating key = MOBILE).
Dot and double dot
When handling plan elements, there are a few important things to consider. In particular, sometimes the dot "." must to be used in order to have a proper plan element tree configuration. The lack of usage of this character will make the rating fail.
If a plan element is named by using a dot, then that plan element is defined as the price holder of all its sub elements.
In the example above,the price is defined in the element Group 1. The elements below Group 1 do not point to a charge item; the parent defines the price. Remember that if double dot ''..'' is not put in the beginning of the children, then they will not call the parent ''.'' for accessing the charge item, hence the rating would fail. Since the parent Group 1 is defining the charge item so it is being edited to use ''.'' in the beginning and not the double dot ''..''.
Step 6 - Check the Rate Days
Now the rating process looks at the configured rate days. The rating process will compare the event/charge date present within the billing record with the start and end dates listed in the 'Rate Day' configuration.
In order to look at the 'Rate Day' configuration, select the relevant plan element and then have a look at the 'Rate Day' panel. Please note that the charge/event date should be equal to or should lie between the configured dates. In the screenshot it can be seen that the rate day is 'N-SINGLE' and has an open start and end date.
Step 7 - Check the Day Charges
After the rating process has found the rate day, it looks at the day charges. It again compares the charge/event data present in the billing record with the configured day charges.
In order to look at the 'Day Charge' configuration, select the relevant 'Rate Day' and then click Edit. On the 'Edit Rate Day' pop-up, there will be a 'Day Charge' panel. Please note that the day the charge/event took place should be within the configured days. In the screenshot it can be seen that all the days of the week are selected for the rate day 'N-SINGLE'.
Step 8 - Check the Time Charges
After looking at the day charge, the rating process looks at the time the event occured. The rating process would look at the start and the end time configured for the day the event occurred.
In order to look at the 'Time Charge' configuration, select the relevant 'Day Charge', to see the 'Time Charge' configured for the selected day. Please note that the time the event took place should be within an already configured time charge. In the screenshot below the time configured is 00:00 til 24:00.
Step 9 - Find the Charge Items
The rating process will now look at the charges defined for the time the event took place. It would pick up the relevant charge and use it for rating the event.
In order to look at the configured charge items, double click or Edit the 'Time Charge'. In the 'Edit Time Charge' pop-up, the configured charge items are present. Please note that the charge item for the time selected should be present, otherwise there can be no rating and the rating would fail. In the screenshot below, both the 'Initial' and 'Recurrent' charge items have been configured.
Step 10 - Successfully Rated Billing Record
If there are no missing or misconfigured items in each of the above mentioned steps, and they run successfully, then the rating process will result in the successful rating of the billing record. The output of a successfully rated billing record is an invoice detail line, linked to the original billing record.