CMG Whitepaper SMS Prepaid

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CMG

SMSC White Paper

Prepaid Billing System

For SMS

Confidential



© 2000 CMG Telecommunications

The information in this document is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as a commitment by CMG.CMG assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document.

The information given in this document is strictly confidential.



SMS prepaid billing system Version 1.0 1

Version History

Version Date Details of Changes Author(s)

0.1 10-APR-2000 Initial version Sander Brouwer

1.0 03-MAY-2000 After review by sales dept. Sander Brouwer

Approval Record

Version Date Approved by Signature

1.0 Steven van Zanen



2 Version 1.0 SMS prepaid billing system

Table of contents

1 Introduction .......................................................................................................3

2 Positioning of CMG's prepaid SMS solution ..................................................4

2.1 Existing prepaid SMS solutions............................................................................................4

2.1.1 Processing CDR's / HLR blocking........................................................................................4

2.1.2 Prepaid credit checking at SCP by MSC..............................................................................4

2.2 Problems when interfacing to existing prepaid billing systems ............................................4

2.3 CMG's solution: Prepaid Billing System for SMS.................................................................6

2.4 Prepaid Billing System for SMS Features............................................................................6

2.4.1 Real time charging and blocking..........................................................................................6

2.4.2 Recipient charging ...............................................................................................................6

2.4.3 Allow blocked prepaid subscribers to send free SMS to certain Large Accounts................6

2.4.4 Mixed post-paid and pre-paid on one system ......................................................................6

2.4.5 Support for distributed SMSC's............................................................................................6

2.4.6 Hybrid charging support .......................................................................................................7

2.4.7 Possible refund in case of non delivered message..............................................................7

2.4.8 Differentiated charging .........................................................................................................72.4.9 Other advantages.................................................................................................................7

2.5 Scalability.............................................................................................................................7

2.6 Redundancy.........................................................................................................................8

2.7 Capacity ...............................................................................................................................9

3 Integration in network.....................................................................................10

3.1.1 Administrating prepaid SMS users.....................................................................................10

3.1.2 Integration with IVR system ...............................................................................................10

3.1.3 Integration using Recharge Application .............................................................................11




1 Introduction

This paper gives a description of CMG's solution for charging prepaid SMS.

Operators and suppliers of Prepaid systems have had much difficulty with theimplementation of the SMS in their Prepaid solutions. Operators require to chargePrepaid SMS as real time as possible to prevent fraud.

SMS for Prepaid has boosted at those operators who were able to offer SMS inPrepaid to their users. Forecasts for Prepaid show an enormous increase in thenext few years. It is expected that Prepaid users will represent a substantial part of

the operator subscriber base and of its revenue.It has already been proven that Prepaid users use SMS more than Post-paid users.Therefore the prepaid charging solution shall be capable of charging high volumesof Short Messages on a real time basis. Furthermore CMG's prepaid chargingsolution shall be capable of keeping pace with the continuously growingperformance of CMG's SMSC.




2 Positioning of CMG's prepaid SMS solution

2.1 Existing prepaid SMS solutions

2.1.1 Processing CDR's / HLR blocking

In Post-paid situations, SMSs are normally charged overnight. In the case of Prepaid, this is also possible (usually in combination with HLR blocking) but it doesnot fulfil operator requirements. The problem is that charging overnight leads to afraud window. Furthermore, Prepaid users can make an account enquiry and hear

the wrong amount.

2.1.2 Prepaid credit checking at SCP by MSC

Another solution for prepaid SMS that some operators have implemented is basedon an interface between the MSC and the SCP. For every SMS originated by aprepaid mobile, a check is done at the SCP by the MSC. If the credit of thesubscriber is sufficient, the message is forwarded to the SMSC. A number of problems exist with this solution:

The first problem is that roaming is not supported (foreign MSC's do not check theSCP for subscriber credit). This means that prepaid messages sent outside theown network cannot be charged.

The second problem is that mobile originated SMS can be charged only at a flatrate, since vital information such as the recipient address is not known at the MSC,i.e. differentiated charging is not possible. Charging mobile terminated messages(in case of messages sent by Large Accounts) is not possible.

The third problem is that only mobile originated SMS are charged at submission,and no refund is possible in case the message cannot be delivered.

2.2 Problems when interfacing to existing prepaid billing systems

To resolve the problems illustrated in the previous section, a real prepaid SMScharging should be based on the SMSC. This section describes the issues thatwould arise when an SMSC would be connected directly to an existing PrepaidBilling System.

The majority of prepaid billing systems in use with operators are IN based. The INarchitecture provides in an Service Control Point (SCP), a Service Data Point (SDP)and a provisioning interface.

The SDP contains all the prepaid subscriber accounts and has two interfaces:

− The SCP. The SCP handles normally call set-ups and call breakdowns initiatedby the MSC and is typically capable of handling ca 120 transactions per

second.




− The provisioning interface. This interface is used for recharging the prepaidaccount of the subscriber usually via an Interactive Voice Response system(IVR) and is typically capable of handling ca 1 transaction per second.

For real time charging, SMS's need to be charged at the same time that the shortmessage is submitted. With the current volume and growth of SMS usage (500submissions/sec), the available interfaces are a problem:

− Provisioning interfaces are not built for high speed debiting of a prepaidaccount. Most provisioning interfaces are capable of handing only onetransaction per second. With the current SMS traffic and the currentpercentage of prepaid subscribers, this will lead to fraud windows of multipledays.

− SCP interfaces. An operator would have to approximately double his SCPcapacity to enable charging of prepaid SMS with the current SMS traffic. AsSMS traffic would grow, also the SCP capacity would have to grow accordingly.If the operator would be too late with increasing the SCP capacity, the availableSCP capacity would be monopolised by SMS charging, leaving no capacity for voice call charging. Since enlarging SCP capacity is a very costly affair tooperators, this is not a very tempting scenario.




2.3 CMG's solution: Prepaid Billing System for SMS

As described above, charging SMS making use of the existing network componentsis not an option. SMS is a business in itself, therefore separate provisions need tobe taken to charge prepaid SMS. Note that a separate prepaid Billing System for SMS also implies separate budgets for the end user for voice and SMS.

CMG's SMS Prepaid Billing System is closely linked to CMG's SMSC. Thereforeblocking a prepaid user from using SMS when he is out of credit is done on theSMSC itself. More features can be found in the following sections.

2.4 Prepaid Billing System for SMS Features

2.4.1 Real time charging and blocking

For every prepaid short message accepted by the SMSC, the cost of that shortmessage is calculated and the prepaid account is decremented with the calculatedcost. When the prepaid SMS account is zero, the prepaid subscriber will be blockedon the SMSC platform. Note that in blocked state, the prepaid subscriber is stillcapable of receiving and sending messages if these messages are not to becharged to his prepaid SMS account.

2.4.2 Recipient charging

For a mobile to mobile message normally the originator of a short message ischarged

1. However, when a message is sent by an Information Provider providing

valuable content a message should be charged to the prepaid account of the

recipient. CMG's Prepaid SMS solution supports this on a per Large Account basis.

2.4.3 Allow blocked prepaid subscribers to send free SMS to certain Large

Accounts

The operator is capable of configuring a Large Account to accept free messages.When a subscriber is blocked, he is still capable of submitting short messages tothese free Large Accounts.

2.4.4 Mixed post-paid and pre-paid on one system

Both post paid and prepaid subscribers can be handled on the same SMSC. Post-

paid subscribers are normally charged using the CDR's and are outside scope of the SMS prepaid Billing System.

2.4.5 Support for distributed SMSC's

The SMS Prepaid Billing System is designed to work in a network where one or more SMSCs are involved, thus ensuring optimal return on investment for theoperator.

1 The system can also be configured that the recipient is charged for a mobile to mobile message. This can be the case in

countries that have recipient charging as a rule (e.g. the United States)




2.4.6 Hybrid charging support

Networks that have prepaid SMS charging enabled using MSC / SCP solution inthe own network (described in section 2.1.2), have trouble charging an SMS when itis sent from outside the own network. CMG's solution can in these cases be usedto charge only those messages that were originated outside the own network thuspreventing double charging the prepaid subscriber.

2.4.7 Possible refund in case of non delivered message

The operator can configure whether non-delivered messages involving a prepaidsubscriber shall be charged to the prepaid subscriber. In case non deliveredmessages should not be charged, the SMSC can be configured to refund the SMScredit for the non delivered message.

2.4.8 Differentiated charging

Differentiated charging is enabled by providing the operator with a configurable

service logic. The service logic defines an unambiguous rule to calculate the priceof a prepaid short message based on the following parameters:

1. Recipient address. It shall be possible to define a charging rule based on thetype of address (PID, NPI), the prefix of the recipient address as well as on thecomplete recipient address as it was entered by the MO user.

2. Originator address. It shall be possible to define a charging rule based on thetype of address (PID, NPI), prefix of the originator address as well as on thecomplete originator address of the MO user.

3. Time of day and days in week (e.g. off peek tariffs after 18:00 hours and onSaturdays and Sundays)

4. A certain predefined period between two specified dates (e.g. reduced tariff asan introduction offer by the operator)

2.4.9 Other advantages

− The system can send a warning message to the subscriber in case theprepaid subscriber is nearly blocked. The system can also send a notificationmessage in case the prepaid subscriber has been blocked.

− There is no need for changes in the SS7 network.

− There is no influence on (the performance of) the HLR, because blocking of prepaid subscribers is done on the SMSC.

− The solution works while roaming, without the need for IN or CAMEL features.Independent via which MSC the message enters the system, the messagecan be charged.

2.5 Scalability

The prepaid billing system for SMS has a scalable architecture. The storage of prepaid accounts is distributed over multiple parallel processes each having their own shadowed disks.

Because of this scalability, the SMS prepaid billing system can run on a multi-nodeenvironment, providing full loadsharing. Therefore it can be guaranteed that the




SMS Prepaid Billing System will keep up with the performance of CMG's SMSC asit increases.

2.6 Redundancy

As stated above, the storage of prepaid accounts is distributed over multipleparallel processes each having their own shadowed disks.

If a process holding the prepaid account of a certain subscriber range is notavailable, e.g. in case of a node failure, failover is provided by one of the remainingprocesses which will store the incoming debits until the original process is availableagain.




2.7 Capacity

The SMS-PBS is capable of storing account information for a subscriber range upto20 million subscribers, i.e. the system can be deployed in networks upto 20 millionsubscribers.

In large networks the SMS-PBS has to run on separate multinode hardware. Inmedium and small networks the SMS-PBS shall be combined on the backendnodes of the SMSC system (single node, dual node and quad node). The SMS-PBS can also be combined on a tri node HPS system. A few modifications to thehardware are required to the hardware. A.o. the amount of memory (1 GB) and theamount of disks need to be increased.




3 Integration in network

3.1.1 Administrating prepaid SMS users

In order to utilise CMG's prepaid billing solution, prepaid users using SMS have tobe registered on the SMSC. The most optimal procedure of administrating theprepaid SMS users is the following:

1. Initially the ability to send SMS for a prepaid user is blocked in the HLR

2. If the user wants to start using SMS, he calls the operator's IVR number and

selects a menu item indicating that he wants to use SMS and wants to reservecredit for this.

3. The IVR system initiates 2 commands:

− The ability to send SMS for a prepaid user is enabled in the HLR by theIVR system.

− The prepaid user is administrated on the SMS-PBS/SMSC and credit ismoved to his SMS account in the SMS-PBS

From this moment on the user is capable of sending MO-SMS.

3.1.2 Integration with IVR system

The operator's IVR system will have to be adjusted such that an IVR menu itembecomes available to recharge SMS credit. When the end-user selects this menuitem, a remote command is executed on the SMS-PBS which adds a specifiedamount of credit to a specified MSISDN




3.1.3 Integration using Recharge Application

As an alternative to integration with the operator's IVR system, CMG can deliver anapplication which can move credit from the PBS to the SMS-PBS and vice versa.

When the prepaid user is blocked, he is still capable of sending messages to apredefined operator application. On receipt of a mobile originated short messagethe recharge application will move a requested amount of credit to the originator'sSMS account. Other commands the Recharge Application supports includequerying the SMS account and unloading credit from the SMS account back to thevoice account.

CMG will offer a documented interface for the integration of the Recharge Application into the Prepaid Billing Systems.

Message Recharge SMS credit

Suvmission

Message

delivery

SMSC1 SMS PBS

PBS 1

PBS 2

PBS 3

PBS 4

Wide

Area

Network

IVR

Documents

CMG Whitepaper SMS Prepaid