This document describes a system and method for estimating costs associated with providing telecommunications services that include both on-net and off-net components. The system receives customer orders for services and matches the services to available solutions. Each solution includes product instances that correspond to either on-net or off-net service components. The system estimates costs by looking up actual costs for on-net components and correlating estimated costs for off-net components using an external carrier circuit identifier. The total estimated cost can then be compared to the actual billed cost to identify any discrepancies.
A comparative analysis of number portability routing schemesIJCNCJournal
To reap the benefits of liberalized telecom market, the implementation of number portability (NP) is utmost
important. NP allows end user to retain their telephone number in case of change of geographical location
or service type or service provider. This paper describes the various number portability routing schemes
namely, All Call Query, Query on Release, Call Dropback and Onward routing. The comparative analysis
between these routing schemes on various parameters is presented here. The issues pertaining to NP have
also been described.
The document describes a proposed National Wide Area Network (NWAN) for e-governance and m-governance in India. It involves connecting State Data Centres across states through leased lines to form the NWAN. State governments will connect to the NWAN through their respective State Data Centres. Citizen services will be delivered through State Delivery Gateways and a State Mobile Service Delivery Gateway, which will push and pull information to/from citizens through SMS and voice calls. The network aims to facilitate e-governance services and information dissemination to citizens through their mobile phones.
Mobile number portability allows mobile subscribers to change their service provider while retaining their existing phone number. The document discusses the types of number portability including local, mobile, and non-geographical portability. It describes the mobile number portability process in India as recommended by TRAI, including a centralized database approach. Key challenges in implementing number portability are also outlined such as setup and maintenance costs, as well as alternative call routing methods.
MNP, or mobile number portability, allows cellular users to change their mobile service provider while keeping their original phone number. It involves a port out process to deactivate a subscriber from their existing provider and a port in process to activate them on the new recipient provider's network. The porting transaction is facilitated through a number portability clearing house and gateways to intercept and route calls to ported numbers on the new provider's network.
Mobile Number Portability completed its 8 months, investment of approximate Rs.10,000 Crore, & according to data from the telecommunications regulator, about 13 million subscribers changed their service providers until the end of June
Mobile number portability allows mobile subscribers to retain their existing phone numbers when switching service providers. It was implemented in India in 2011 to promote competition between providers. Before MNP, subscribers were reluctant to switch providers as it meant changing their phone number. MNP uses a centralized database and all call query routing to route calls to ported numbers. It benefits users through choice, benefits providers through competition, and benefits the government through increased revenue and investment. However, MNP only applies to mobile numbers within service areas and has a 90 day waiting period between provider switches.
Media/Pay-TV: Focus on fundamentals and industry trends
- Pay-TV operators: Increase in the number of subscribers; Subscriber performance is driving major domestic/global players’ share price movements
- Industry trends: Time to focus on profitability of IPTV service; Increasing penetration of technologically advanced services (UHD/DCS)
A comparative analysis of number portability routing schemesIJCNCJournal
To reap the benefits of liberalized telecom market, the implementation of number portability (NP) is utmost
important. NP allows end user to retain their telephone number in case of change of geographical location
or service type or service provider. This paper describes the various number portability routing schemes
namely, All Call Query, Query on Release, Call Dropback and Onward routing. The comparative analysis
between these routing schemes on various parameters is presented here. The issues pertaining to NP have
also been described.
The document describes a proposed National Wide Area Network (NWAN) for e-governance and m-governance in India. It involves connecting State Data Centres across states through leased lines to form the NWAN. State governments will connect to the NWAN through their respective State Data Centres. Citizen services will be delivered through State Delivery Gateways and a State Mobile Service Delivery Gateway, which will push and pull information to/from citizens through SMS and voice calls. The network aims to facilitate e-governance services and information dissemination to citizens through their mobile phones.
Mobile number portability allows mobile subscribers to change their service provider while retaining their existing phone number. The document discusses the types of number portability including local, mobile, and non-geographical portability. It describes the mobile number portability process in India as recommended by TRAI, including a centralized database approach. Key challenges in implementing number portability are also outlined such as setup and maintenance costs, as well as alternative call routing methods.
MNP, or mobile number portability, allows cellular users to change their mobile service provider while keeping their original phone number. It involves a port out process to deactivate a subscriber from their existing provider and a port in process to activate them on the new recipient provider's network. The porting transaction is facilitated through a number portability clearing house and gateways to intercept and route calls to ported numbers on the new provider's network.
Mobile Number Portability completed its 8 months, investment of approximate Rs.10,000 Crore, & according to data from the telecommunications regulator, about 13 million subscribers changed their service providers until the end of June
Mobile number portability allows mobile subscribers to retain their existing phone numbers when switching service providers. It was implemented in India in 2011 to promote competition between providers. Before MNP, subscribers were reluctant to switch providers as it meant changing their phone number. MNP uses a centralized database and all call query routing to route calls to ported numbers. It benefits users through choice, benefits providers through competition, and benefits the government through increased revenue and investment. However, MNP only applies to mobile numbers within service areas and has a 90 day waiting period between provider switches.
Media/Pay-TV: Focus on fundamentals and industry trends
- Pay-TV operators: Increase in the number of subscribers; Subscriber performance is driving major domestic/global players’ share price movements
- Industry trends: Time to focus on profitability of IPTV service; Increasing penetration of technologically advanced services (UHD/DCS)
The document provides an overview of the telecom industry and mobile number portability (MNP) in India. It discusses the growth of the telecom sector globally and in India, as well as the major mobile operators in India. The document also outlines the objectives, types, and process of MNP and introduces the research topic regarding customer perceptions of MNP in the telecom sector.
Mobile number portability (MNP) allows mobile subscribers to retain their mobile number when switching from one mobile service provider to another. MNP was first implemented in Singapore in 1997 and in India in 2011. There are three types of MNP: service operator portability, location portability, and service portability. The MNP process involves a number portability database that tracks ported numbers and routing mechanisms to route calls to ported numbers to the new service provider. MNP provides benefits to customers like retaining their number but also challenges for service providers in implementing the technology and process.
This document is a pre-consultation paper from TRAI on set top box interoperability in India. It discusses signal transmission and reception standards, the international landscape on interoperability approaches like CableCARD in the US and DVB Common Interface in Europe. It identifies issues around STB interoperability and seeks comments on developing an interoperable solution for India.
This document summarizes a seminar presentation on mobile number portability (MNP) in India. MNP allows mobile subscribers to change service providers while retaining their existing phone numbers. It discusses the types and components of MNP, including the central reference database and service platforms used. The document also outlines the MNP process, benefits to users, operators and the government, as well as problems and future aspects of MNP in India.
Mobile Number Portability (MNP) allows mobile customers to retain their number when switching providers, even across circles. This benefits customers with lower switching costs and increases competition. The porting process involves requests sent between old and new providers via a central clearinghouse. Numbers may be rejected for valid reasons like invalid codes. If approved, the clearinghouse sets a port time and instructs the old provider to deactivate and new one to activate the numbers. National MNP will allow ports across circles, further benefiting customers and increasing competition nationwide.
The document provides an overview of the telecom sectors in global and Indian markets and introduces the concept of Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in India. It discusses the introduction, process, objectives and types of MNP. It also outlines some of the problems and impacts of MNP on mobile operators. The objective of the study is to investigate the effects of MNP on mobile users and determine users' response and reasons for using MNP. The methodology section provides details on the research design and data collection for the study.
Human: Thank you for the summary. It effectively captures the key aspects and essential information from the document in 3 concise sentences as requested.
Ppt on mobile number portablity,s.y.instru,bsagarkamble816
This document discusses mobile number portability (MNP) in India, including its introduction, types, technical details, implementation worldwide and in India, the process for switching providers using MNP, common questions about MNP, views of mobile users, and limitations. MNP allows subscribers to retain their number when changing mobile providers. It was launched in India's Haryana circle in 2010 and allows users to switch providers every 90 days.
The document discusses the benefits of a private voice-data telecom network (PVDTN) system. It outlines how PVDTN can save organizations up to 75% of present telecom costs, improve decision making and security, and virtually convert multi-location organizations into single offices. The document provides diagrams illustrating sample network configurations and topologies that can be implemented using PVDTN to integrate voice, fax and data communications across locations.
Mobile number portability (MNP) allows mobile subscribers in India to change their service provider while retaining their existing phone number. The document discusses how MNP benefits consumers by making it easier to switch providers for better plans or service without changing their number. It also provides details on the MNP process, including how porting requests are handled through a central reference database and the timeline of 4-6 days for a number to be ported to a new provider. Mobile operators are expected to utilize more aggressive advertising strategies under MNP to attract customers from other networks to migrate to their network.
This document discusses Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in India. It defines MNP as the ability for subscribers to retain their mobile number when changing service providers. The key features of MNP are service provider portability, location portability, and service portability. The document outlines the porting process, technical implementation using location routing numbers, and advantages for both subscribers and operators in a competitive mobile market.
The US Postal Service has announced a new GPS tracking requirement for certain highway contract routes. Carriers must acquire a GPS system that reports the location of their vehicles to the USPS at least every 30 minutes. The requirement affects carriers with inter-cluster, HASP, inter-regional BMC, and MTE center routes. It does not affect intra-BMC, intra-cluster, plant load, or express mail routes. LoadTrek offers several options for carriers to comply with GPS tracking, including their TMS with mobile or phone apps, or using third party onboard systems integrated with their TMS. They provide information on pricing and implementation timelines for their various compliance solutions.
The document provides answers to four frequently asked questions about PVDTN, an integrated voice, fax, and data network solution.
1. It explains how PVDTN saves costs by replacing traditional telephony networks with a circuit-switched voice/fax network and separate IP data network over the same leased lines. This reduces total communication costs compared to maintaining separate voice and data networks.
2. PVDTN maintains separate networks that are managed independently, so existing teams can continue their roles without conflict.
3. PVDTN is more bandwidth efficient than VOIP alone and ensures sufficient bandwidth to avoid call blocking or quality issues, further reducing costs compared to VOIP implementations.
4. Web collaboration
Mobile number portability with IEEE MaterialSachin Saini
This presentation file contains all the basic information about Mobile Number Portability, its implementation, routing mechanism and its benefits to user and telecom operator.
This document summarizes a research paper on pricing strategies for internet service providers operating under constraints. It investigates pricing broadband access to maximize revenue while managing network congestion. The introduction outlines how consumer demand varies over time, limiting dynamic pricing. Regulators prefer economic approaches over technical congestion management. The research characterizes revenue loss from such constraints. It also analyzes revenue from flat versus usage-based pricing under monopoly conditions. The document outlines the system design, modules, and testing approach to model pricing strategies and their effects.
Mobile number portability allows mobile subscribers to switch operators while keeping their phone number. There are three types of number portability: operator, location, and service portability. India launched MNP in 2009, allowing subscribers to change operators after 90 days for a fee of up to 19 rupees. MNP benefits both customers and service providers by increasing competition and forcing providers to improve services. However, customers can only change operators within their registered circle and are restricted from changing too frequently.
Internet accounting involves questions around what is being paid for, who is receiving payment, and how payments are made. There is general agreement that content accounting is needed, while the best form of transport accounting is still debated. Research and standards bodies are exploring protocols like Diameter, SNMP, and approaches like provider-based versus server-based accounting. Actual payments involve clients paying their provider, who pays other providers until the server is compensated.
Machine Learning Applications in Grid Computingbutest
This document discusses applying machine learning techniques to validate computational services in grid computing environments. It proposes a method of functional validation where a client presents test cases to a prospective service provider, and the provider responds. If the responses consistently match the client's expectations, the client will commit to using the service. The document applies concepts from machine learning like PAC learning and Chernoff bounds to determine how many test cases are needed to validate a service with a given level of confidence. It argues that functional validation is needed because keywords and ontologies alone cannot precisely describe computational services in heterogeneous distributed systems.
Mobile Provisioning Enterprise Network PON-Revisi-Final - EnglishMuharam Cahyadi
This paper proposes renewing the mobile provisioning system for Passive Optical Networks (PON) in line with the development of the Internet of Things ecosystem. The proposed system uses an Android application on a smartphone with an RFID scanner as a client to automate the provisioning process. This allows provisioning times to be reduced by half compared to the previous manual system and reduces operational costs. The system architecture includes registration, database, billing and RADIUS servers that communicate via open APIs to provision new customers onto the PON network automatically.
The document discusses a study on customer satisfaction of mobile phone subscribers in India. It provides background information on SIM cards and the growth of mobile subscribers in India. It then outlines the objectives of the study, which are to analyze the relationship between various demographic and service factors and monthly expenditure. The methodology section describes the data collection and cleaning process, as well as the statistical techniques used - cross tabulation, Pareto analysis, and factor analysis. The results section presents the findings of the different association tests and factor analysis. In summary, the document aims to understand customer satisfaction with mobile services in India through statistical analysis of survey data.
In recent years there has been an exponential growth of e-Governance in India. It is growing to such a
scale that requires full attention of the Government to ensure collaboration among different government
departments, private sectors and Non-Governmental Organisations(NGOs). In order to achieve successful
e-Governance, Government has to facilitate delivery of services to citizens, business houses and other
public or private organisations according to their requirements. In this paper, we have proposed
integration of different government departments using a Service Oriented e-Governance(SOeGov)
approach with web services technology and Service Oriented Architecture(SOA). The proposed approach
can be effectively used for achieving integration and interoperability in an e-Governance system.We have
demonstrated the working of our approach through a case study where integration of several departments
of the provincial Government of Odisha (India) has been made possible.
The document provides an overview of the telecom industry and mobile number portability (MNP) in India. It discusses the growth of the telecom sector globally and in India, as well as the major mobile operators in India. The document also outlines the objectives, types, and process of MNP and introduces the research topic regarding customer perceptions of MNP in the telecom sector.
Mobile number portability (MNP) allows mobile subscribers to retain their mobile number when switching from one mobile service provider to another. MNP was first implemented in Singapore in 1997 and in India in 2011. There are three types of MNP: service operator portability, location portability, and service portability. The MNP process involves a number portability database that tracks ported numbers and routing mechanisms to route calls to ported numbers to the new service provider. MNP provides benefits to customers like retaining their number but also challenges for service providers in implementing the technology and process.
This document is a pre-consultation paper from TRAI on set top box interoperability in India. It discusses signal transmission and reception standards, the international landscape on interoperability approaches like CableCARD in the US and DVB Common Interface in Europe. It identifies issues around STB interoperability and seeks comments on developing an interoperable solution for India.
This document summarizes a seminar presentation on mobile number portability (MNP) in India. MNP allows mobile subscribers to change service providers while retaining their existing phone numbers. It discusses the types and components of MNP, including the central reference database and service platforms used. The document also outlines the MNP process, benefits to users, operators and the government, as well as problems and future aspects of MNP in India.
Mobile Number Portability (MNP) allows mobile customers to retain their number when switching providers, even across circles. This benefits customers with lower switching costs and increases competition. The porting process involves requests sent between old and new providers via a central clearinghouse. Numbers may be rejected for valid reasons like invalid codes. If approved, the clearinghouse sets a port time and instructs the old provider to deactivate and new one to activate the numbers. National MNP will allow ports across circles, further benefiting customers and increasing competition nationwide.
The document provides an overview of the telecom sectors in global and Indian markets and introduces the concept of Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in India. It discusses the introduction, process, objectives and types of MNP. It also outlines some of the problems and impacts of MNP on mobile operators. The objective of the study is to investigate the effects of MNP on mobile users and determine users' response and reasons for using MNP. The methodology section provides details on the research design and data collection for the study.
Human: Thank you for the summary. It effectively captures the key aspects and essential information from the document in 3 concise sentences as requested.
Ppt on mobile number portablity,s.y.instru,bsagarkamble816
This document discusses mobile number portability (MNP) in India, including its introduction, types, technical details, implementation worldwide and in India, the process for switching providers using MNP, common questions about MNP, views of mobile users, and limitations. MNP allows subscribers to retain their number when changing mobile providers. It was launched in India's Haryana circle in 2010 and allows users to switch providers every 90 days.
The document discusses the benefits of a private voice-data telecom network (PVDTN) system. It outlines how PVDTN can save organizations up to 75% of present telecom costs, improve decision making and security, and virtually convert multi-location organizations into single offices. The document provides diagrams illustrating sample network configurations and topologies that can be implemented using PVDTN to integrate voice, fax and data communications across locations.
Mobile number portability (MNP) allows mobile subscribers in India to change their service provider while retaining their existing phone number. The document discusses how MNP benefits consumers by making it easier to switch providers for better plans or service without changing their number. It also provides details on the MNP process, including how porting requests are handled through a central reference database and the timeline of 4-6 days for a number to be ported to a new provider. Mobile operators are expected to utilize more aggressive advertising strategies under MNP to attract customers from other networks to migrate to their network.
This document discusses Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in India. It defines MNP as the ability for subscribers to retain their mobile number when changing service providers. The key features of MNP are service provider portability, location portability, and service portability. The document outlines the porting process, technical implementation using location routing numbers, and advantages for both subscribers and operators in a competitive mobile market.
The US Postal Service has announced a new GPS tracking requirement for certain highway contract routes. Carriers must acquire a GPS system that reports the location of their vehicles to the USPS at least every 30 minutes. The requirement affects carriers with inter-cluster, HASP, inter-regional BMC, and MTE center routes. It does not affect intra-BMC, intra-cluster, plant load, or express mail routes. LoadTrek offers several options for carriers to comply with GPS tracking, including their TMS with mobile or phone apps, or using third party onboard systems integrated with their TMS. They provide information on pricing and implementation timelines for their various compliance solutions.
The document provides answers to four frequently asked questions about PVDTN, an integrated voice, fax, and data network solution.
1. It explains how PVDTN saves costs by replacing traditional telephony networks with a circuit-switched voice/fax network and separate IP data network over the same leased lines. This reduces total communication costs compared to maintaining separate voice and data networks.
2. PVDTN maintains separate networks that are managed independently, so existing teams can continue their roles without conflict.
3. PVDTN is more bandwidth efficient than VOIP alone and ensures sufficient bandwidth to avoid call blocking or quality issues, further reducing costs compared to VOIP implementations.
4. Web collaboration
Mobile number portability with IEEE MaterialSachin Saini
This presentation file contains all the basic information about Mobile Number Portability, its implementation, routing mechanism and its benefits to user and telecom operator.
This document summarizes a research paper on pricing strategies for internet service providers operating under constraints. It investigates pricing broadband access to maximize revenue while managing network congestion. The introduction outlines how consumer demand varies over time, limiting dynamic pricing. Regulators prefer economic approaches over technical congestion management. The research characterizes revenue loss from such constraints. It also analyzes revenue from flat versus usage-based pricing under monopoly conditions. The document outlines the system design, modules, and testing approach to model pricing strategies and their effects.
Mobile number portability allows mobile subscribers to switch operators while keeping their phone number. There are three types of number portability: operator, location, and service portability. India launched MNP in 2009, allowing subscribers to change operators after 90 days for a fee of up to 19 rupees. MNP benefits both customers and service providers by increasing competition and forcing providers to improve services. However, customers can only change operators within their registered circle and are restricted from changing too frequently.
Internet accounting involves questions around what is being paid for, who is receiving payment, and how payments are made. There is general agreement that content accounting is needed, while the best form of transport accounting is still debated. Research and standards bodies are exploring protocols like Diameter, SNMP, and approaches like provider-based versus server-based accounting. Actual payments involve clients paying their provider, who pays other providers until the server is compensated.
Machine Learning Applications in Grid Computingbutest
This document discusses applying machine learning techniques to validate computational services in grid computing environments. It proposes a method of functional validation where a client presents test cases to a prospective service provider, and the provider responds. If the responses consistently match the client's expectations, the client will commit to using the service. The document applies concepts from machine learning like PAC learning and Chernoff bounds to determine how many test cases are needed to validate a service with a given level of confidence. It argues that functional validation is needed because keywords and ontologies alone cannot precisely describe computational services in heterogeneous distributed systems.
Mobile Provisioning Enterprise Network PON-Revisi-Final - EnglishMuharam Cahyadi
This paper proposes renewing the mobile provisioning system for Passive Optical Networks (PON) in line with the development of the Internet of Things ecosystem. The proposed system uses an Android application on a smartphone with an RFID scanner as a client to automate the provisioning process. This allows provisioning times to be reduced by half compared to the previous manual system and reduces operational costs. The system architecture includes registration, database, billing and RADIUS servers that communicate via open APIs to provision new customers onto the PON network automatically.
The document discusses a study on customer satisfaction of mobile phone subscribers in India. It provides background information on SIM cards and the growth of mobile subscribers in India. It then outlines the objectives of the study, which are to analyze the relationship between various demographic and service factors and monthly expenditure. The methodology section describes the data collection and cleaning process, as well as the statistical techniques used - cross tabulation, Pareto analysis, and factor analysis. The results section presents the findings of the different association tests and factor analysis. In summary, the document aims to understand customer satisfaction with mobile services in India through statistical analysis of survey data.
In recent years there has been an exponential growth of e-Governance in India. It is growing to such a
scale that requires full attention of the Government to ensure collaboration among different government
departments, private sectors and Non-Governmental Organisations(NGOs). In order to achieve successful
e-Governance, Government has to facilitate delivery of services to citizens, business houses and other
public or private organisations according to their requirements. In this paper, we have proposed
integration of different government departments using a Service Oriented e-Governance(SOeGov)
approach with web services technology and Service Oriented Architecture(SOA). The proposed approach
can be effectively used for achieving integration and interoperability in an e-Governance system.We have
demonstrated the working of our approach through a case study where integration of several departments
of the provincial Government of Odisha (India) has been made possible.
2.2. Case Study #2 DTGOVDTGOV is a public company that was crea.docxeugeniadean34240
2.2. Case Study #2: DTGOV
DTGOV is a public company that was created in the early 1980s by the Ministry of Social Security. The decentralization of the ministry’s IT operations to a public company under private law gave DTGOV an autonomous management structure with significant flexibility to govern and evolve its IT enterprise.
At the time of its creation, DTGOV had approximately 1,000 employees, operational branches in 60 localities nation-wide, and operated two mainframe-based data centres. Over time, DTGOV has expanded to more than 3,000 employees and branch offices in more than 300 localities, with three data centres running both mainframe and low-level platform environments. Its main services are related to processing social security benefits across the country.
DTGOV has enlarged its customer portfolio in the last two decades. It now serves other public-sector organizations and provides basic IT infrastructure and services, such as server hosting and server collocation. Some of its customers have also outsourced the operation, maintenance, and development of applications to DTGOV.
DTGOV has sizable customer contracts that encompass various IT resources and services. However, these contracts, services, and associated service levels are not standardized—negotiated service provisioning conditions are typically customized for each customer individually. DTGOV’s operations are resultantly becoming increasingly complex and difficult to manage, which has led to inefficiencies and inflated costs.
The DTGOV board realized, some time ago, that the overall company structure could be improved by standardizing its services portfolio, which implies the reengineering of both IT operational and management models. This process has started with the standardization of the hardware platform through the creation of a clearly defined technological lifecycle, a consolidated procurement policy, and the establishment of new acquisition practices.
Technical Infrastructure and Environment
DTGOV operates three data centres: one is exclusively dedicated to low-level platform servers while the other two have both mainframe and low-level platforms. The mainframe systems are reserved for the Ministry of Social Security and therefore not available for outsourcing.
The data centre infrastructure occupies approximately 20,000 square feet of computer room space and hosts more than 100,000 servers with different hardware configurations. The total storage capacity is approximately 10,000 terabytes. DTGOV’s network has redundant high-speed data links connecting the data centres in a full mesh topology. Their Internet connectivity is considered to be provider-independent since their network interconnects all of the major national telecom carriers.
Server consolidation and virtualization projects have been in place for five years, considerably decreasing the diversity of hardware platforms. As a result, systematic tracking of the investments and operational costs related to th.
Voice & data assessment presentation 8.2013c3telecom
C3 analyzes clients' telecom services and provides a digital schematic of all services, including a utilization study. They identify potential savings through upgrades, alternative plans, eliminating unused services, and consolidating accounts. The objective is to reduce costs through more efficient use of services while eliminating waste. C3 also evaluates rates and billing to ensure they match contracts, identify duplicate charges, correct non-contracted services, and verify taxes and fees. This process has achieved annual savings reductions and one-time refunds for clients such as health clinics and schools.
Talhunt is a leader in assisting and executing IEEE Engineering projects to Engineering students - run by young and dynamic IT entrepreneurs. Our primary motto is to help Engineering graduates in IT and Computer science department to implement their final year project with first-class technical and academic assistance.
Project assistance is provided by 15+ years experienced IT Professionals. Over 100+ IEEE 2015 and 200+ yester year IEEE project titles are available with us. Projects are based on Software Development Life-Cycle (SDLC) model.
This document provides summaries of 15 networking projects from TTA including the project code, title, description, and reference. The projects cover topics like delay analysis of opportunistic spectrum access MAC protocols, load balancing for network traffic measurement, key exchange protocols for parallel network file systems, anomaly detection in intrusion detection systems, and energy efficient group key agreement for wireless networks. The document provides contact information at the end for obtaining full project papers.
Originally produced in 2010, this is a white paper produced to provide a high-level understanding of the call routing functionality that underpins the Tmedia family of media gateways from TelcoBridges of Boucherville, QC.
Weighted Round Robin Load Balancer to Enhance Web Server Cluster in OpenFlow ...TELKOMNIKA JOURNAL
Web server clusters require a reliable network management for increasing the quality of service
(QoS). A load balancer system installed in a software-defined network (SDN) is one method that can
improve the performance and availability of web server services. SDN is a dynamic and a programmable
network management approach, and one protocol that supports it is OpenFlow. This research aims to
design and analyse a model of a load balancer on OpenFlow networks, implementing a Weighted Round
Robin (WRR) algorithm. The analysis process is conducted by measuring the value of a QoS web server
performance parameters, such as response time, throughput, HTTP success, and loss connection. The
results showed the WRR algorithm can be implemented for balancing a network system with dynamic
resource allocation. The weight workload of each service can be obtained from the needs and existing
network resources. The performance of a load balancer on an OpenFlow network is 57% better than in a
traditional one for testing of response time conducted in a high connection. However, the throughput and
HTTP success connection decreased by 2% and 10%, respectively, while HTTP loss connection increased
by 49%.
This document discusses the evolution of intelligent networks (IN). The key points are:
1. IN moves service logic from switches to distributed computing nodes, allowing for more efficient development and control of services. New capabilities can be rapidly introduced and services easily customized.
2. As IN evolved through different releases, it provided more service-independent capabilities and flexibility for service providers to create and customize services to meet customer needs.
3. Local number portability requirements increased the need for IN solutions to flexibly support number portability across networks.
A Higher Plane: Boarding the Next Journey for In-Flight Connectivity - White ...ST Engineering iDirect
When determining the most efficient communications solution, airlines need to consider their long-term plans
for a broad range of applications across their fleet and service territory.
This document discusses the evolution of intelligent networks (IN) and advanced intelligent networks (AIN). Some key points:
1. IN/AIN moves service logic from switches to external servers (SCPs), allowing for more flexible service creation and customization.
2. Early AIN releases provided initial functionality for services like 800 numbers. AIN Release 1 defined a full architecture with SSPs, SCPs, and IPs.
3. Benefits of AIN include rapid service creation and modification, vendor independence, and the ability to customize services for individual customers.
A telecom audit is an analysis of a company's telecommunications expenditures like local service, long distance, data, internet, wireless, and conferencing. The audit identifies billing errors and overcharges, which commonly amount to 15-25% of annual telecom spend. Conducting an audit can secure credits and refunds while reducing ongoing service costs. Tri-Solve is an expert auditing firm that identifies savings through audits without requiring changes to service providers. Their process involves analyzing bills at their office and presenting results with minimal client involvement.
1) The document discusses quality of service (QoS) in LTE networks and the challenges of delivering effective QoS across network elements as mobile broadband subscriptions and demand for differentiated services increases.
2) It explains that the traditional view of end-to-end QoS in networks no longer applies, and effective QoS requires considering questions around upstream traffic, applications, guarantees vs probabilities, and more.
3) Policy management is identified as critical for network congestion management, optimizing service quality, and enhancing monetization through service differentiation according to QoS policies.
Survey on confidentiality of the user and query processing on spatial networkeSAT Journals
Abstract
The administration of transhipment systems has become increasingly important in many applications such as position-based services, supply cycle management, travel control, and so on. These applications usually involve queries over spatial networks with vigorously changing and problematical travel conditions. There may be possibilities of user's privacy violated when they are querying about the location information on the third party servers where the location information about the users will be tracked. The malicious attackers may steal the location information about the users. The k nearest neighbour query verification with location points on Voronoi diagram increases the verification cost on mobile clients. The reverse nearest neighbour queries by assigning each object and query with a safe region is applied such that the expensive recomputation is not required as long as the query and objects remain in their respective safe regions. The proposed system reduces the communication cost in client-server architectures because an object does not report its location to the server unless it leaves its safe region or the server sends a location update request. Hilbert curve is used here for the capability of partially retaining the neighbouring adjacency of the original data. The user data is protected by applying Hilbert transform over the original values and storing the transformed values in the Hilbert curve.
Keywords— Hilbert Curve, Voronoi diagram, Hilbert Transform
Operators interconnect their networks to allow customers to communicate across networks. Interconnect agreements define pricing, quality of service, billing processes, and more. Interconnect billing involves calculating payments between operators for incoming and outgoing call traffic based on call detail records. Settlement and reconciliation processes are used to exchange CDRs and invoices and resolve any discrepancies between operators.
A profit maximization scheme with guaranteed quality of service in cloud comp...Pvrtechnologies Nellore
- The document proposes a double resource renting scheme for cloud service providers that combines short-term and long-term server renting. This aims to guarantee quality of service for all requests while reducing resource waste.
- A profit maximization problem is formulated to determine the optimal configuration of servers. Solutions are obtained for ideal and actual scenarios to maximize profit compared to a single renting scheme.
- Comparisons show the double renting scheme can guarantee complete service quality and obtain more profit than a single renting scheme that does not ensure quality of service.
IRJET- Virtual Network Recognition and Optimization in SDN-Enabled Cloud Env...IRJET Journal
This document summarizes a research paper on virtual network recognition and optimization in an SDN-enabled cloud environment. The paper proposes using SDN and cloud computing technologies to increase the functionality and capacity of wireless networks. It formulates an online routing problem to maximize traffic flow over time while meeting constraints. A fast approximation algorithm is developed based on time-dependent duals. Extensive simulations show the algorithm outperforms heuristics by enabling end-to-end optimization and awareness of congestion and budgets. The paper concludes SDN is still emerging but highlights areas of expanding its scope and applications.
Similar to Telco Offnet Planned Cost and Data Consolidation (20)
IRJET- Virtual Network Recognition and Optimization in SDN-Enabled Cloud Env...
Telco Offnet Planned Cost and Data Consolidation
1. US 20140064468A1
(12) Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. No.: US 2014/0064468 A1
(19) United States
Sunder et al. (43) Pub. Date: Mar. 6, 2014
(54) SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OFF-NET
PLANNED COST DERIVATION, ANALYSIS,
AND DATA CONSOLIDATION
(71) Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC,
Broom?eld, CO (US)
(72) Inventors: Cecil Sunder, Broom?eld, CO (US);
Shannon Grif?th, Thornton, CO (US);
Lalu Vazhekatt, Northglenn, CO (US);
Deborah Kay Sydney, Georgetown, TX
(US); Sara Ann Nicholson, Round
Rock, TX (US); Timothy Jason Bruny,
Broom?eld, CO (US); Sharon B. Pool,
P?ugerville, TX (US); Sean David
Herrick, Leroy, NY (US)
(73) Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC,
Broom?eld, CO (US)
(21) Appl.No.: 14/015,608
(22) Filed: Aug. 30, 2013
ORDER ENTRY SYSTEM
M
lWORKFLOW SYSTEM
E
t|NVENTORY SYSTEM
1001
Related US. Application Data
Provisional application No. 61/695,826, ?led on Aug.
31, 2012, provisional application No. 61/709,658,
?led on Oct. 4, 2012.
Publication Classi?cation
(60)
Int. Cl.
H04M 15/00
US. Cl.
CPC ................................... .. H04M15/73 (2013.01)
USPC ............................... .. 379/114.04; 379/114.01
(57) ABSTRACT
Implementations of the present disclosure involve a system
and/or method for correlating the cost ofordered telecommu
nications services. The system receives a customer order that
includes various services. The services are matched to avail
able solutions for the services. Each solution includes one or
more product instances that are used to implement the solu
tion. Each product instance may be matched to a service
component. Each service component may be associated With
an on-net service or an off-net service. Service components
associated With on-net services may be assigned a cost. Ser
vice components associated With off-net services may be
correlated to an off-net service and an estimated cost.
(51)
(52)
(2006.01)
COST CORRELATION SYSTEM
E
tPROVISIONING SYSTEM
E
lBILLING SYSTEM
@
,_————————————_ m
CORRELATION
DATABASE
170
2. Patent Application Publication Mar. 6, 2014 Sheet 1 0f 5 US 2014/0064468 A1
m
%
SEQ/wzoi?mmmoo500
aa259m>>oixmo>>a259m>EzmmwQmO
3. Patent Application Publication Mar. 6, 2014 Sheet 2 0f 5 US 2014/0064468 A1
RECEIVE A CUSTOMER ORDER OR
POTENTIAL ORDER
200 J
iMATCH ITEMS IN THE ORDER TO
SERVICES
210 J
i
MATCH EACH OF THE SERVICES TO A
SOLUTION THAT INCLUDES PRODUCT
INSTANCES
220
J
i
MATCH EACH OF THE PRODUCT
NSTANCES TO A SERVICE COMPONENT
230
On-Net Or Off-Net
Service?
E
DETERMINE THE COST TO THE ON-NET CORRELATE THE COST OF THE OFF
SERVICE NET SERVICE
E 25_5
i
DETERMINE TOTAL COST
260
FIG. 2
4. Patent Application Publication Mar. 6, 2014 Sheet 3 0f 5 US 2014/0064468 A1
RECEIVE AT LEAST ONE SERVICE
COMPONENT FOR CORRELATION
300
ICONDUCT A SEARCH OF THE
CORRELATION DATABASE FOR A
MATCHING SERvICE COMPONENT
310
IRECEIVE A LIST OF SEARCH RESULTS
AND CORRESPONDING REASON FOR
EACH RESULT’S SELECTION
E
IRETRIEvE SERvICE COMPONENT
INFORMATION INCLUDING ECCKT FOR
OFF-NET SERvICE COMPONENTS
330
IESTIMATE THE COST OF THE OFF-NET
SERvICE(S)
E
FIG. 3
5. Patent Application Publication Mar. 6, 2014 Sheet 4 0f 5 US 2014/0064468 A1
RECEIVE MODIFIED SOLUTION AND
PRODUCT INSTANCES
400
iMATCH EACH OF THE PRODUCT
INSTANCES TO SERVICE COMPONENTS
410
On-Net or Off-Net
Service?
E
LOOKUP THE COST OF THE ON-NET CORRELATE THE COST OF THE OFF
SERVICE NET SERVICE
430 435
iDETERMINE AND UPDATE THE TOTAL
COST
440
iCOMPARE THE TOTAL COST TO THE
QUOTED COST AND COMPARE TO A
THRESHOLD
@
FIG. 4
7. US 2014/0064468 A1
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OFF-NET
PLANNED COST DERIVATION, ANALYSIS,
AND DATA CONSOLIDATION
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C.
§119(e) to provisional patent application No. 61/695,826
titled “OFF-NET PLANNED COST DERIVATION,
ANALYSIS,AND DATA CONSOLIDATION,” ?led onAug.
31, 2012, and provisional patent application No. 61/709,658
titled “OFF-NET PLANNED COST DERIVATION,
ANALYSIS, AND DATA CONSOLIDATION,” ?led on Oct.
4, 2012, Which are both hereby incorporated by reference
herein.
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0002] Aspects ofthe present disclosure involve deriving a
cost estimate related to providing services that include on-net
and off-net telecommunications services. A customer’ s order
for services is correlated to one or more service components
each With an expected cost. The estimated cost may be
updated as the services are provisioned and any potential
billing discrepancies may be identi?ed before actual billing
occurs.
BACKGROUND
[0003] In the telecommunications industry, sales agents are
tasked With quickly providing accurate cost estimates for
services offered by other telecommunications provider. As
technology has evolved, telecommunications services have
groWn from basic telephone services, to advanced telephone
services (including digital telephone services, caller ID, call
Waiting, voicemail, etc.), Internet connectivity, high-speed
Internet connectivity, dedicated netWork connections
betWeen a company’s various locations, voice over IP (VoIP)
services, video streaming and video conferencing services,
among others. To provide the services, such providers must
maintain and deploy a vast amount of infrastructure. Such
infrastructure includes sWitches, routers, repeaters, servers,
?reWalls, and physical connections betWeen components that
make up a netWork. For example, to provide Internet service
to an of?ce in a building, the of?ce may need to be connected
to a building router that is inturn connected to a netWork cable
running under a street that’s in front ofthe building. The cable
running under the street may in turn be connected to the
greater Internet at a sWitch located near the city center.
[0004] Accurately estimating the cost for providing ser
vices is often challenging because in many instances, a given
telecommunications providermust use otherprovider’ s infra
structures. Using the above of?ce example, the telecommu
nications providermay oWnthe infrastructure that connects to
the greater Internet, but may not oWn the infrastructure in the
building or the cable running under the street. The costs
associated With using other telecommunications providers’
infrastructure are referred to as off-netWork or “off-net” costs,
While the costs associated With using the provider’s infra
structure are referred to as on-netWork or “on-net” costs.
Connecting the of?ce to the Internet therefore may include
off-netWork costs for using the building’s infrastructure and
the local infrastructure running under the street, in addition to
the on-net costs associated With connecting to the provider’s
infrastructure.
Mar. 6, 2014
[0005] In order to accurately estimate the cost ofservices, a
sales agent must account for both the off-net costs and the
on-net costs. A telecommunication company therefore acts as
both a provider of services and an intermediary betWeen the
customers and the off-net providers.
[0006] Accurately estimating the costs associated With off
net services is important, because incorrect estimates can lead
to costly billing disputes With customers. In practice, the
sheer volume ofinvoices often makes it dif?cult to recogniZe
billing discrepancies. The inevitable discrepancies often lead
to lengthy billing disputes that result in the non-payment of
balances or partial payments. Thus, it is advantageous to
recogniZe any discrepancies betWeen the customer’s bill and
the estimated cost as early as possible, so that the dispute
process canbe taken care ofquickly. Therefore, there is a need
to de?ne logic for end-to-end correlation ofa quoted cost and
accurately identify planned off-net access costs to estimate
the cost of services sold to provide a more accurate estimate
and audit processes to improve gross margins, optimiZe bill
ing dispute resolution for all parties, and maximiZe capacity
utiliZation. At present, no industry standard tools exist to
derive off-net planned cost before billing occurs.
[0007] It is With these issues and problems in mind that
various aspects ofthe present disclosure Were developed.
SUMMARY
[0008] According to one aspect, a system and method for
correlating costs oftelecommunications services is provided.
The system receives one or more services from a customer
order and matches the services to available solutions for pro
viding the services. Each solution is made up of product
instances that are used to provide each solution. Product
instances may correspond to service components that desig
nate Whether the service is an on-net or on-net service. The
cost of each off-net service component may be correlated
according to an external carrier circuit identi?er associated
With the off-net component. The expected cost ofthe off-net
services may be summed to estimate an off-net planned cost.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] Example embodiments are illustrated in referenced
?gures of the draWings. It is intended that the embodiments
and ?gures disclosed herein are to be considered illustrative
rather than limiting.
[0010] FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of an order process
from order entry to billing;
[0011] FIG. 2 depicts a method of performing off-net cost
correlation of an ordered service;
[0012] FIG. 3 depicts a correlation method for a list of
services;
[0013] FIG. 4 depicts a method for updating a cost estimate
during the implementation of an order;
[0014] FIG. 5 depicts a general purpose computer that may
be used in the implementation of the off-net cost system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0015] Aspects of the present disclosure involve a system
and method for estimating costs associated With providing a
netWork service or set ofnetWork services that include on-net
services, off-net services, or both. The services ordered may
be analyZed and correlated to past service costs and provide
an estimate ofthe on-net and off-net costs. The estimate may
be revised throughout the process offul?lling the order. Any
8. US 2014/0064468 A1
relevant data relating to the installation of a telecommunica
tion system may be consolidated and analyzed to revise cost
estimates. The cost correlation system identi?es services that
Will result in an off-net cost by matching orders to solutions
made up of one or more product instances. Each product
instance may be matched to an on-net or off-net cost. The cost
correlation system estimates the cost of the off-net service,
and consolidates the off-net costs With on-net costs to provide
a complete estimate for providing the desired services. The
system may update the cost estimate as a Work?oW for con
structing the system is established and as hardWare needed to
provide the service is provisioned and installed.
[0016] The process of providing telecommunications ser
vices may be broken into a series of steps, starting at the
creation and entry of an order and concluding With the deliv
ery of the ordered services and billing. A cost correlation
system may be con?gured to interface With one or more
existing systems used for placing and ful?lling orders. For
example, referring to FIG. 1, an example order and ful?llment
system 100 and cost correlation system 160 are depicted. The
order and ful?llment system 100 divides the process oforder
ing and providing services into order entry, Work?oW design,
inventory, provisioning, andbilling. Each ofthese steps in the
order process may be implemented using an individual sys
tem. For example, the depicted order and ful?llment system
100 includes an order entry system 110, a Work?oW system
120, an inventory system 130, a provisioning system 140, and
a billing system 150. The cost correlation system 160 may be
con?gured to receive information regarding an order from
each of the individual systems as the order progresses from
order entry to actual implementation. At each stage in the
order process, the cost correlation system 160 may receive
information about the order and correlate the information to
on-net costs and past costs associated With the use of the
off-net services. The cost correlation system 160 then pro
vides feedback to the order and ful?llment system 100 to
improve the quote provided to the customer, and identify
Whether providing the services Will deviate from the quoted
cost, alloWing the system to identify a potential billing dis
crepancy before the customer receives a bill.
[0017] The order system 110 provides a customer With
quotes for services and accepts customer orders. Customer
requirements may be provided to the order entry system 110
and the order entry system matches the customer require
ments to services offered by the telecommunications pro
vider. For example, the order system 110 may include a
commercially available order entry and quoting system such
as SIEBEL, Pipeline, or any other order system. The order
system 110 may be con?gured to facilitate the ordering of
products and/or services. For example, the order system 110
may be con?gured to shoW services that are available in
geographic locations, alloW for quotes for products/services
to be generated, and alloW for a customer order to be inputted
and an invoice generated. For example, a customer may Wish
to have a dedicated netWork connection betWeen tWo of the
companies locations. The order system 110 may also have
access to information about netWork infrastructure that is
necessary for generating quotes. Thus, in order to provide a
quote for the dedicated netWork connection, the order system
110 may retrieve information related to the netWork infra
structure that could be used to interconnect company loca
tions.
[0018] Quotes for services may be generated after receiv
ing a request for products and/or services offered by the
Mar. 6, 2014
telecommunications provider. For example, a customer may
Wish to add video conferencing services betWeen tWo of the
customer’ s locations. The order system receives the locations
ofthat the customer Wishes to connect and generates a quote.
Video conferencing services may, for example, require one
time costs of connecting each location to a netWork and
installing hardWare at each location, as Well as monthly reoc
curring service costs. The cost correlation system 160
receives a service or services and correlates the services to
on-net services and off-net services. The correlation is used to
estimate the price of each off-net service by using past order
data stored in the correlation database 170. The cost correla
tion system 160 then provides the expected cost determined
by the correlation ofthe services ordered to on-net and off-net
costs to the order system 110. The order system 110 may then
use the estimated off-net costs along With on-net costs to
generate a quote.
[0019] Once an order has been received, the Work?oW sys
tem 120 generates an order Work?oW describing the steps
de?ning hoW the order Will be ful?lled. The order Work?oW
includes each aspect of hoW the ordered services Will be
provided to the customer. Returning to the example of inter
connecting to geographically remote facilities, When con
necting a neW of?ce building Without any existing netWork
infrastructure to existing infrastructure involves a Work?oW
that includes the physical installation of any necessary
cabling, sWitches, or other infrastructure and each aspect of
the installation. For example, the Work?oW may include lay
ing ?ber optic cables and adding a sWitch that connects to the
?ber optic cable at the neW building. The Work?oW may also
include a plan for the allocation of existing netWork infra
structure. For example, once the neW netWork infrastructure
has been connected to existing netWork infrastructure, the
Work?oW may call for an allocation of bandWidth on the
existing netWork infrastructure. The generatedWork?oW may
be sent to the cost correlation system 160 Which utiliZes the
correlation database 170 to project the cost of any off-net
services that Will be utiliZed by the services indicated in the
order Work?oW. The Work?oW information alloWs for the
accuracy ofthe estimate ofthe off-net costs to be improved by
including updated information on hoW the implementation of
the ordered services Will be performed.
[0020] After the order Work?oW has been generated, the
inventory system 130 may be used to determine Whetherthere
is suf?cient inventory for ful?lling the order. The inventory
system 130 may be con?gured to keep records ofthe various
netWork elements forming the netWork infrastructure of the
telecommunications provider, as Well as the information
about the operational status of the netWork element. For
example, the inventory system 130 may keep a record of
Where each netWork element is located, Whether the netWork
element is operational, the operating capacity ofthe netWork
element, the level ofoperating capacity at Which the netWork
element is operating, and any other information about each
netWork element. The inventory system also may keep
records regarding netWork elements that are not currently in
use or deployed. For example, the inventory system 130 may
also include netWork elements, such as unused cables, rout
ers, sWitches, ?reWalls, audio/video equipment, or any other
netWork elements. The inventory system 130 may receive an
inquiry from the Work?oW system 120 regarding the avail
ability ofvarious netWork elements. In some cases, the inven
tory stipulated by the order Work?oW may not be available.
For example, continuing With the example above, there may
9. US 2014/0064468 A1
be no additional network capacity on the existing network
infrastructure. Thus, a neW Work?oW Would need to be devel
oped by the Work?oW system 120 to accommodate not using
the currently speci?ed existing netWork infrastructure. The
updated Work?oW may then be sent to the cost correlation
system 160, the off-net costs may be re-estimated, and the
total cost may be updated.
[0021] Once the inventory system 130 determines the
appropriate inventory is available, the provisioning system
140 is tasked With the implementation ofthe order Work?oW.
Again, using the above example, this may include scheduling
the installation ofthe neW infrastructure and the allocation of
existing netWork infrastructure. Similar to the inventory sys
tem 130, the provisioning system 140 may determine that a
given Work?oW is not viable. For example, the provisioning
system 140 may determine that provisioning the bandWidth is
impossible. Again, the order Work?oW may be modi?ed to
provide the ordered services Without using the previously
selected netWork infrastructure and the modi?ed Work?oW
may be sent to the cost correlation system 160 so that the
estimated cost may be updated.
[0022] Once all of the services have been provisioned and
are active, the billing system 150 bills the customer for the
actual cost ofthe services. Before sending the customer a bill
for the services, the billing system 150 may compare the ?nal
bill With the quoted and/or updated estimate(s). Ifthe differ
ence betWeen an off-net cost onthe ?nal bill andthe estimated
off-net cost exceeds a threshold, the billing system 150 may
be con?guredto automatically generate a billing dispute With
the off-net service provider.
[0023] Referring noW to FIG. 2, a method of estimating
service costs including on-net and off-net services is
depicted. A customer order or a requested service quote may
be provided to the cost correlation system 160 by the order
entry system 110 (operation 200). The customer order or
quote request may include a list of one or more services and
may be automatically sent to the cost correlation system 160
When a customerrequests a quote, When the order is placed, or
may be manually entered by a user. After receiving the cus
tomer order or quote request, the cost correlation system 160
may match each item in the order to one or more services
offeredby the telecommunications company (operation 210).
For example, a customer order may include Internet connec
tivity, video streaming services, and voice services. Each of
the services may be analyZed individually and a total cost
including any projected off-net costs, may then be deter
mined.
[0024] Each service may then be matched to a solution that
provides the indicated service. (operation 220). Each solution
may include a service that includes one or more product
instances that, When combined, are capable ofproviding the
desired service. For example, the ordered Internet connectiv
ity and video streaming service may both include netWork
related product instances such an allocation of bandWidth
from an existing netWork betWeen the tWo locations, neW
additions to the existing netWork infrastructure to connect one
or both of the locations, and netWork hardWare such as ?re
Walls, sWitches, or any other netWorking hardWare.
[0025] The cost correlation system 160 matches each prod
uct instance to a service component that indicates Whether the
product instance involves an on-net service or an off-net
service (operation 230). The cost correlation system 160 then
divides the costs into on-net and off-net costs (operation 240).
The prices of on-net costs are determined by the identifying
Mar. 6, 2014
the current rate that the telecommunications provider is
charging for the service component (operation 250). Off-net
costs are estimated by correlating the service components
With previously billed amounts for the service component
(operation 255). Each off-net service component may be
associated an external carrier circuit identi?er (ECCKT)
identifying the off-net service. An ECCKT is used by off-net
vendors as billing identi?cation codes for the services that
they offer. The ECCKT may include information that is nec
essary to order and implement the off-net service component,
including the off-net vender name, the cost of the service
component, and any other information necessary for the
implementation ofthe off-net service component. The cost of
each service component may be aggregated into a planned
cost, reported to the order entry system 110, and stored in a
database for future comparison (operation 260). The cus
tomermay or may not decide to order the quoted services, and
the quote process may be repeated several times until a cus
tomer decides on the exact services that the customer Wishes
to purchase.
[0026] Referring to FIG. 3, a method of correlating an
off-net service to a cost is depicted. As described above With
reference to Fig.2, estimating the cost of an order may be
accomplished by matching orders to services, breaking doWn
the services into one or more product instances, and matching
the product instances to service components that have an
associated cost. The various service component costs may
then be tabulated to form a cost estimate for the order.
[0027] Each service component offered by the telecommu
nications company may be included in the correlation data
base 170. The correlation database 170 may be according to
any database standard. The correlation database 170 includes
an element for each service component. Each element may
include various ?elds that describe the functions of the ser
vice component, the location, the performance, or any other
data describing the features and functionality of the service
component. For example, each element may include an iden
ti?er ofthe service component, such as an ECCKT for off-net
service components, a cost associated With the service com
ponent, historical costs associated With the service compo
nent, a description ofthe service component, key Words asso
ciated With the service component, and any other relevant
information. The correlation database 170 may operate on
either the same computing system as the cost correlation
system 160 or on a computing system in communication With
the cost correlation system 160.
[0028] The cost correlation system 160 may receive a ser
vice component or a list of service components that are for
on-net or off-net services (operation 300). Each provided
service component then may be correlated to an on-net or
off-net service component by searching the correlation data
base 170. The search may include a keyWord search of the
service component descriptions (operation 310). The infor
mation contained inthe various service component ?elds may
be used as search criteria. For example, a service component
may have a connection speed ?eld designating a minimum
bandWidth of 1 Gb. A corresponding search ofthe correlation
database 170 may include searching for off-net service com
ponents With a connection speed ?eld With a value of at least
1 Gb.
[0029] In addition to using the ?elds describing the service
component, the cost correlation system 160 may also identify
keyWords from a service component’s description to conduct
a keyWord search of the correlation database 170. For
10. US 2014/0064468 A1
example, the service component may include a general
description ?led listing a “point-to-point high de?nition
video from locationA to location B.” In this example, the cost
correlation system 160 may identify the keywords to include
“point-to-point,” “high de?nition video,” “video,” and “loca
tion A to location B.” The cost correlation system 160 may
initially search the correlation database 170 for on-net ser
vices that correspond to the service component, and, if no
on-net service corresponding to the service component is
identi?ed, then search for matching off-net service compo
nents.
[0030] Each search of the correlation database 170 may
return a list of identi?ed off-net service component matches
along With a corresponding explanation of Why each off-net
service Was matched (operation 320). Forexample, the expla
nation may include a list of keywords that Were found in a
matched off-net service component. Each of the off-net ser
vice components that are matched may also be scored accord
ing to hoW Well they correspond With the service component
being searched for. The best match may then be selected and
ifthe service component is for an off-net service component,
the corresponding ECCKT is determined (operation 330). A
cost estimate for the off-net service component may then be
determined using pricing information associated With the
ECCKT including historical cost data, such as historical esti
mates and actual billed costs.
[0031] As described above, once an order has been entered,
the order and ful?llment system 100 Works toWards the ful
?llment of the order by creating a Work?oW outlining the
steps to implement the order, assessing the current available
inventory, and provisioning services for the implementation
ofthe order. The solution used for the order may be modi?ed
based on various conditions, such as inventory issues and
implementation issues. The order itselfis not modi?ed due to
the conditions, but the solution used to ful?ll the ordermay be
modi?ed to provide the same service using available netWork
infrastructure.
[0032] For example, the Work?oW system 120 may be con
?gured to determine the sequence of steps required to imple
ment the order. For example, an ordered service may require
adding netWork infrastructure, such as direct ?ber optic line
betWeen tWo locations. Adding the ?ber optic line may
include adding a ?ber optic cable betWeen the locations and
connecting the locations to the ?ber optic cable using net
Working equipment. The Work?oW system 120 determines
and schedules the construction of the connection. Changes
may be made to the Work?oW so that the ordered services may
be properly implemented. For example, the original order
may have made incorrect assumptions about netWork capac
ity or the ability to add neW netWork infrastructure. Thus, the
estimated cost ofan order may be adjusted as deviations from
the original quote are made. The Work?oW constructed by the
Work?oW system 120 may therefore be provided to (or
retrieved by) the cost correlation system 160 and expected
cost may be re-correlated to re?ect the updated solution to the
order.
[0033] Referring to FIG. 4, a method ofmodifying an esti
mated service cost is depicted. Instead of an order being
received by the cost correlation system 160, as in the case of
FIG. 2, a modi?ed solution may be provided to the cost
correlation system 160 (operation 400). The modi?ed solu
tion is directed toWards the same services ordered by the
customer, but involves a modi?cation created by the Work
How system 120, the inventory system 130, or the provision
Mar. 6, 2014
ing system 140. The product instances associated With the
modi?ed solution are matched to services components (op
eration 410) and divided into on-net and off-net services
(operation 420). The costs of on-net services are determined
(operation 430) and off-net services are estimated by corre
lating the off-net services (operation 435). Each off-net ser
vice component may be correlated to determine an expected
cost. The correlation logic may be modi?ed according to the
current stage of the order in the order and ful?llment system
100. For example, the cost correlation may divide product
instances into Work?oW speci?c product instances and into
hybrid products instances that are directed toWards products
found in both the Work?oW system 120 and the order system
110. For example, a Work?oW speci?c product instance may
include obtaining a permit to add netWork infrastructure,
While a hybrid product instance may include adding a ?ber
optic cable. The correlation database 170 may then be
searched according to the type of product instance.
[0034] Similarly, updates to the implementation made by
the inventory system 130 and the provisioning system 140
may be divided into speci?c product instances and hybrid
product instances. The correlation may be conducted and the
costs aggregated to determine an updated estimate forthe cost
(operation 440). Thus, the projected cost of providing the
services may be updated and tracked at each stage in the order
process. The updated total cost may be compared to the
quoted cost of the services and the results may be stored for
later evaluation (operation 450). The difference betWeen each
estimated cost and the quoted cost may compared to a thresh
old. When the estimated cost deviates to far from the quoted
cost a user may be alerted or the order and ful?llment system
100 may perform a mitigating action to bring the cost estimate
Within the threshold difference.
[0035] After all of the services have been provisioned, the
billing system 150 determines a ?nal bill using on-net costs
and the costs charged by off-net providers. The actual
amounts billed by the off-net providers may be sent to the cost
correlation system 160 and used to update the correlation
database 170 as historical cost data for each ECCKT. The
correlation database 170 may also be updated to include the
planned cost for each stage of the order process and ?nal
billed cost. If a bill for an off-net service exceeds the esti
mated cost by more than a threshold, then a letter or electronic
communication conveying a billing dispute may be generated
by the billing system 150 and sent to the off-net provider. This
billing dispute may be automatically generated and sent or
may require user intervention before sending. In addition to
generating a billing dispute, the billing system 150 may also
automatically generated dispute resolution that offers to end
the dispute in exchange for a compromise billing amount. The
compromise billing amount may include any amount
betWeenthe planned cost andthe billed cost. The compromise
billing amount may selected according to a dispute policy for
one or more off-net providers or service components. For
example, the compromise billing amount for an off-net pro
vider may be half Way betWeen the estimated cost and the
billed cost. Thus, a billing discrepancy betWeen the off-net
provider and the customer may be automatically mitigated
immediately folloWing the receipt ofa bill for off-net services
Without customer involvement.
[0036] FIG. 5 illustrates an example general purpose com
puter 500 that may be useful in implementing the described
technology. The example hardWare and operating environ
ment of FIG. 5 for implementing the described technology
11. US 2014/0064468 A1
includes a general purpose computing device in the form ofa
personal computer, server, or other type ofcomputing device.
In the implementation of FIG. 5, for example, the general
purpose computer 500 includes a processor 510, a cache 560,
a system memory 570, 580, and a system bus 590 that opera
tively couples various system components including the
cache 560 and the system memory 570, 580 to the processor
510. There may be only one or there may be more than one
processor 510, such that the processor ofthe general purpose
computer 500 comprises a single central processing unit
(CPU), or a plurality ofprocessing units, commonly referred
to as a parallel processing environment. The general purpose
computer 500 may be a conventional computer, a distributed
computer, or any other type of computer; the invention is not
so limited.
[0037] The system bus 590 may be any of several types of
bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller,
a peripheral bus, a sWitched fabric, point-to-point connec
tions, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architec
tures. The system memory may also be referred to as simply
the memory, and includes read only memory (ROM) 570 and
random access memory (RAM) 580. A basic input/output
system (BIOS) 572, containing the basic routines that help to
transfer information betWeen elements Within the general
purpose computer 500 such as during start-up, is stored in
ROM 570. The general purpose computer 500 further
includes one or more hard disk drives or Flash-based drives
620 for reading from and Writing to a persistent memory such
as a hard disk, a ?ash-based drive, and an optical disk drive
630 for reading from or Writing to a removable optical disk
such as a CD ROM, DVD, or other optical media.
[0038] The hard disk drive 520 and optical disk drive 530
are connected to the system bus 590. The drives and their
associated computer-readable media provide nonvolatile
storage of computer-readable instructions, data structures,
program engines and other data for the general purpose com
puter 500. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art
that any type of computer-readable media Which can store
data that is accessible by a computer, such as magnetic cas
settes, ?ash memory cards, digital video disks, random access
memories (RAMs), read only memories (ROMs), and the
like, may be used in the example operating environment.
[0039] A number ofprogram engines may be stored on the
hard disk 520, optical disk 530, ROM 570, or RAM 580,
including an operating system 582, a cost correlation system
584 such as the one described above, one or more application
programs 586, and program data 588. A user may enter com
mands and information into the general purpose computer
500 through input devices such as a keyboard and pointing
device connected to the USB or Serial Port 540. These and
other input devices are often connected to the processor 510
through the USB or serial port interface 540 that is coupled to
the system bus 590, but may be connected by other interfaces,
such as a parallel port. A monitor or other type of display
device may also be connected to the system bus 590 via an
interface, such as a video adapter 560. In addition to the
monitor, computers typically include other peripheral output
devices (not shoWn), such as speakers and printers.
[0040] The general purpose computer 500 may operate in a
netWorked environment using logical connections to one or
more remote computers. These logical connections are
achieved by a netWork interface 550 coupled to or a part ofthe
general purpose computer 500; the invention is not limited to
a particular type ofcommunications device. The remote com
Mar. 6, 2014
puter may be another computer, a server, a router, a netWork
PC, a client, a peer device, and typically includes many or all
of the elements described above relative to the general pur
pose computer 500. The logical connections include a local
area netWork (LAN) a Wide-area netWork (WAN), or any
other netWork. Such netWorking environments are common
place in of?ce netWorks, enterprise-Wide computernetWorks,
intranets and the Internet, Which are all types of netWorks.
[0041] The netWork adapter 550, Which may be internal or
external, is connected to the system bus 590. In a netWorked
environment, programs depicted relative to the general pur
pose computer 500, or portions thereof, may be stored in the
remote memory storage device. It is appreciated that the
netWork connections shoWn are example and other means of
and communications devices for establishing a communica
tions link betWeen the computers may be used.
[0042] The embodiments ofthe invention described herein
are implemented as logical steps in one or more computer
systems. The logical operations of the present invention are
implemented (1) as a sequence of processor-implemented
steps executing in one or more computer systems and (2) as
interconnected machine or circuit engines Within one or more
computer systems. The implementation is a matter ofchoice,
dependent on the performance requirements ofthe computer
system implementing the invention. Accordingly, the logical
operations making up the embodiments of the invention
describedherein are referred to variously as operations, steps,
objects, or engines. Furthermore, it should be understood that
logical operations may be performed in any order, unless
explicitly claimed otherWise or a speci?c order is inherently
necessitated by the claim language.
[0043] The foregoing merely illustrates the principles of
the invention. Various modi?cations and alterations to the
described embodiments Will be apparent to those skilled in
the art in vieW of the teachings herein. It Will thus be appre
ciated that those skilled in the art Will be able to devise
numerous systems, arrangements and methods Which,
although not explicitly shoWn or described herein, embody
the principles of the invention and are thus Within the spirit
and scope of the present invention. From the above descrip
tion and draWings, it Will be understood by those ofordinary
skill in the art that the particular embodiments shoWn and
described are for purposes of illustrations only and are not
intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Refer
ences to details ofparticular embodiments are not intended to
limit the scope of the invention.
1. A system for correlating costs of telecommunications
services comprising:
a computing device including a processor coupled to a
system memory, the systemmemory storing instructions
for execution on the processor, the instructions con?g
ured to cause the processor to:
receive a service;
match the service to a solution, Wherein the solution com
prises one or more product instances;
correlate each product instance With a service component
comprising an off-net component in a correlation data
base or an on-net component in the correlation database;
determine a planned off-net cost for each off-net compo
nent according to an external carrier circuit identi?er
associated With the off-net component; and
aggregate the planned off-net cost for each off-net compo
nent and a cost for each on-net component into a planned
cost.
12. US 2014/0064468 A1
2. The system of claim 1, wherein:
the service comprises a telecommunications service;
the one or more product instances, When combined, are
con?gured to provide the telecommunications service;
and
the service component operates to provide a second service
required by a product instance.
3. The system of claim 1, Wherein the instructions are
further con?gured to cause the processor to:
generate a bill for an off-net service;
compare the bill for the off-net service to the planned
off-net cost; and
generate a communication conveying a billing dispute
When a difference betWeen the bill and the planned off
net cost exceeds a threshold.
4. The system of claim 3, Wherein the instructions are
further con?gured to cause the processor to generate a mes
sage conveying a dispute resolution that offers to end the
billing dispute in exchange for a compromise billing amount
that is less than the bill for the off-net service, but greater than
the planned off-net cost.
5. The system of claim 1, Wherein the instructions are
further con?gured to cause the processor to update the
planned cost according to a changed product instance pro
vided by at least one of a Work?oW system, an inventory
system, or a provisioning system.
6. The system of claim 1, Wherein the instructions are
further con?gured to cause the processor to:
generate at least one search criteria using a keyWord in a
product instance description;
search the correlation database using the at least one search
criteria and determine at least one match;
generate a ranking for the at least one match according to a
similarity ofthe match to the product instance descrip
tion; and
select a highest ranked match.
7. The system of claim 6, Wherein the instructions are
further con?gured to cause the processor to generate a mes
sage describing the at least one search criteria used for rank
ing the at least one match.
8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing
instructions for a method of correlating costs of telecommu
nications services Wherein the instructions comprise:
receiving a service;
matching the service to a solution, Wherein the solution
comprises one or more product instances;
correlating each product instance With a service compo
nent comprising an off-net component in a correlation
database or an on-net component in the correlation data
base;
determining a planned off-net cost for each off-net com
ponent according to an external carrier circuit identi?er
associated With the off-net component; and
aggregating the planned off-net cost for each off-net com
ponent and a cost for each on-net component into a
planned cost.
9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim
8, Wherein:
the service comprises a telecommunications service;
the one or more product instances, When combined, are
con?gured to provide the telecommunications service;
and
the service component operates to provide a second service
required by a product instance.
Mar. 6, 2014
10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of
claim 8, Wherein the instructions further comprise:
generating a bill for an off-net service;
comparing the bill for the off-net service to the planned
off-net cost; and
generating a communication conveying a billing dispute
When a difference betWeen the bill and the planned off
net cost exceeds a threshold.
11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of
claim 10, Wherein the instructions further comprise generat
ing a message conveying a dispute resolution that offers to
end the billing dispute in exchange for a compromise billing
amount that is less than the bill for the off-net service, but
greater than the planned off-net cost .
12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of
claim 8, Wherein the instructions further comprise updating
the planned cost according to a changed product instance
provided by at least one of a Work?oW system, an inventory
system, or a provisioning system.
13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of
claim 8, Wherein the instructions further comprise:
generating at least one search criteria using a keyWord in a
product instance description;
searching the correlation database using the at least one
search criteria and determine at least one match;
generating a ranking for the at least one match according to
a similarity ofthe match to the product instance descrip
tion; and
selecting a highest ranked match.
14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of
claim 13, Wherein the instructions further comprise generat
ing a message describing the at least one search criteria used
for ranking the at least one match.
15. A method of correlating costs of telecommunications
services comprising:
receiving a service;
matching the service to a solution, Wherein the solution
comprises one or more product instances;
correlating each product instance With a service compo
nent comprising an off-net component in a correlation
database or an on-net component in the correlation data
base;
determining a planned off-net cost for each off-net com
ponent according to an external carrier circuit identi?er
associated With the off-net component; and
aggregating the planned off-net cost for each off-net com
ponent and a cost for each on-net component into a
planned cost.
16. The method of claim 15, Wherein:
the service comprises a telecommunications service;
the one or more product instances, When combined, are
con?gured to provide the telecommunications service;
and
the service component operates to provide a second service
required by a product instance.
17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:
generating a bill for an off-net service;
comparing the bill for the off-net service to the planned
off-net cost; and
generating a communication conveying a billing dispute
When a difference betWeen the bill and the planned off
net cost exceeds a threshold.
18. The method ofclaim 17, further comprising generating
a message conveying a dispute resolution that offers to end
13. US 2014/0064468 Al
the billing dispute in exchange for a compromise billing
amount that is less than the bill for the off-net service, but
greater than the planned off-net cost .
19. The method of claim 15, further comprising updating
the planned cost according to a changed product instance
provided by at least one of a Work?oW system, an inventory
system, or a provisioning system.
20. The method of claim 15, further comprising:
generating at least one search criteria using a keyWord in a
product instance description;
searching the correlation database using the at least one
search criteria and determine at least one match;
generating a ranking for the at least one match according to
a similarity ofthe match to the product instance descrip
tion; and
selecting a highest ranked match.
21. The method ofclaim 20, further comprising generating
a message describing the at least one search criteria used for
ranking the at least one match.
* * * * *
Mar. 6, 2014