1 About Integrating Wireless Services

This chapter provides a conceptual overview of how to use your Oracle Communications Billing and Revenue Management (BRM) system to provide rating and customer management for wireless services.

Before reading this chapter, you should be familiar with BRM concepts and architecture. See BRM Concepts.

Important:

Integrating your wireless services with BRM requires downloading and installing some or all of the following optional components:

• GSM Manager

• GSM AAA Manager

• Customer Center with GSM Manager Customer Center Extension

• Pipeline Rating Engine

• SIM Manager and SIM Administrator

• Number Manager and Number Administrator

• GPRS Manager

Note:

Many of these components are bundled in Wireless Suite. See "Installing Wireless Suite".

About Using BRM for Wireless Services

The BRM wireless components manage customers and rate wireless usage events. Billing is handled by the standard BRM system.

You install and setup these components depending on the type of services you are offering.

GSM Services

If you offer GSM services or other wireless services over the GSM network, install GSM Manager.

• To create and manage GSM accounts, use GSM Manager.

• To rate postpaid GSM services, configure batch rating by using Pipeline Manager and Rated Event (RE) Loader.

• To rate prepaid GSM services, configure real-time rating by using GSM AAA Manager.

• To manage GSM SIM cards and telephone numbers, use Number Manager and SIM Manager.

Figure 1-1 shows an overview of the BRM components in a GSM wireless implementation:

Figure 1-1 BRM Components in a GSM Wireless Implementation

Description of ''Figure 1-1 BRM Components in a GSM Wireless Implementation''

GPRS Services

If you offer GPRS services, you have the following options:

• If your GPRS services are postpaid and large volumes of call detail records (CDRs) are provided from the network in files, use GSM Manager with Pipeline Manager and RE Loader to rate the CDRs.

  Note:

  You can use GSM Manager to provide SIM card and telephone number support to GPRS users. However, you cannot use GSM Manager to support GPRS access point names (APNs). Therefore, if you are offering only GPRS data services, you can use GPRS Manager to manage GPRS services and accounts and rate usage. If GPRS events are provided in large volumes in files by the network, you must also install GSM Manager and rate the CDRs using Pipeline Manager and RE Loader.

• If your GPRS services are prepaid, or you otherwise require real-time rating for postpaid services, use GPRS Manager.

• If your GPRS services are postpaid and small volumes of call detail records (CDRs) are provided from the network in files, use UE Loader with GPRS Manager.

For more information, see "About Performing AAA for Prepaid GPRS Services".

About Managing SIM Cards

You use SIM Manager and SIM Administration Center to manage SIM cards. SIM Manager is a set of opcodes and storable classes required for creating and managing SIM card devices in the BRM database. SIM Administration Center is a GUI application that you use to create and process SIM card orders, and to change SIM card brand and network elements.

SIM cards are stored as devices in BRM.

Note:

You can associate SIM cards only with GSM services.

You use Customer Center to assign and manage SIM cards in customer accounts. For more information, see the following topics:

• About Managing SIM Card Inventory

• Information about working with GSM accounts in the Customer Center Help.

About Managing Telephone Numbers

You use Number Manager and Number Administration Center to manage telephone numbers.

• Number Manager is a set of opcodes, utilities, configuration files, and storable classes required for managing GSM numbers.

• Number Administration Center is a GUI application used by operations personnel to manage telephone number inventory.

  Note:

  You can associate telephone numbers only with GSM services.

You use Customer Center to assign and manage numbers in customer accounts. For more information, see the following topics:

• About Managing Telephone Numbers

• Information about working with GSM accounts in the Customer Center Help.

How Accounts Are Created and Managed

You use Customer Center to create GSM accounts.

To create accounts that use GSM services:

1. In Customer Center, choose a plan that includes GSM services, and assign a SIM card and a telephone number.

   Customer Center sends provisioning data to the provisioning system to provision the SIM card, number, and GSM service on the network.

2. (Optional) After the account is created, configure promotions such as friends and family discounts, if your plan includes them.

   If you installed Pipeline Manager to rate the CDRs, Account Synchronization Data Manager alerts Pipeline Manager that account information has changed. Pipeline Manager rating gets the account information from the BRM database.

   Figure 1-2 shows how GSM accounts are created and managed in BRM when using Pipeline Manager.

Figure 1-2 Using Pipeline Manager to Manage GSM Accounts

Description of ''Figure 1-2 Using Pipeline Manager to Manage GSM Accounts''

For more information, see the Customer Center Help.

How GSM Usage Events Are Rated

The GSM network sends usage events in call detail records (CDRs) to the BRM system. CDRs for postpaid GSM services are sent in files to Pipeline Manager. CDRs for prepaid GSM services are sent to GSM AAA Manager, which uses real-time rating.

Rating Postpaid GSM Events

When rating postpaid GSM events, BRM performs the following operations:

1. Pipeline Manager reads each CDR file and rates the CDRs using the following elements:

   • Pipeline rate plans.

   • Customer data obtained from the BRM database by using the Account Synchronization Data Manager.

     Note:

     By default, pipeline rating identifies the customer's account by using the telephone number for the service being rated. You can customize pipeline rating to use any type of unique ID to identify an account.

2. Pipeline Manager creates an output file that includes a pre-rated event for the call.

3. RE Loader loads the event into the BRM database and updates the customer's account balance.

Figure 1-3 shows how a call is rated by Pipeline Manager:

Figure 1-3 How Pipeline Manager Rates Calls

Description of ''Figure 1-3 How Pipeline Manager Rates Calls''

Rating Prepaid GSM Events

External networks send AAA requests to GSM AAA Manager.

GSM AAA Manager then performs the following:

• Authenticates users by validating their device ID.

• Authorizes customers to access GSM services.

• Reauthorizes users to continue a GSM session.

• Records information about GSM sessions while they are in progress.

• When the session ends, rates the usage, debits the customer's prepaid balance, and records information about the session in the BRM database.

For more information, see "About Performing AAA for Prepaid GPRS Services".