3 Setting Up Revenue Assurance Manager for Pipeline Batch Rating

This chapter describes how to configure Oracle Communications Billing and Revenue Management (BRM) Revenue Assurance Manager to collect revenue assurance data from pipeline batch rating.

Before reading this chapter, you should be familiar with the following tasks and concepts:

Configuring Revenue Assurance Manager

To set up Revenue Assurance Manager for pipeline batch rating, you need to complete the following tasks:

Configuring Event Notification

Revenue Assurance Manager uses event notification to collect data on written-off EDRs and set up revenue assurance alerts. See "About Using Event Notification to Generate Revenue Assurance Data" for more information.

Before you can use Revenue Assurance Manager, you must configure the event notification feature as follows:

  1. If your system has multiple configuration files for event notification, merge them.

    See "Merging Event Notification Lists" in BRM Developer's Guide for more information.

  2. Ensure that the merged file includes the entire event notification list in the BRM_Home/sys/data/config/pin_notify_ra file.

  3. (Optional) If necessary to accommodate your business needs, add, modify, or delete entries in your final event notification list.

    See "Editing the Event Notification List" in BRM Developer's Guide for more information.

  4. (Optional) If necessary to accommodate your business needs, create custom opcodes for event notification to trigger.

    See "Triggering Custom Operations" in BRM Developer's Guide for more information.

  5. Load your final event notification list into the BRM database.

    See "Loading the Event Notification List" in BRM Developer's Guide for more information.

    Note:

    In addition, your business needs may require that you use event notification to call opcodes when other objects are created in the BRM database.

See "Using Event Notification" in BRM Developer's Guide for more information.

Selecting Aggregation Scenarios

Aggregation scenarios determine what revenue assurance data is collected from pipelines and how that data is grouped. See "About Aggregation Scenarios" for more information.

You may be able to use one or more of the preconfigured scenarios supplied with Revenue Assurance Manager. Each scenario groups data differently. See "Using Revenue Assurance Aggregation Scenarios" for detailed descriptions.

If none of the preconfigured aggregation scenarios satisfies your business requirements, you can create your own. For details, see "Creating New Aggregation Scenarios for Revenue Assurance" and Pricing Center Help on instructions for defining an aggregation scenario.

You must associate aggregation scenarios with control points in the registry of the FCT_Aggregate module. See "Configuring the FCT_AggreGate Module to Collect Revenue Assurance Data".

Loading Scenarios into the Pipeline Manager Database

You must load aggregation scenarios into the Pipeline Manager database before you can use them. Scenarios that you create are loaded into the database by Pricing Center at the time of creation.

To load scenarios into an Oracle Pipeline Manager database, run the following command against the Pipeline Manager database from the Pipeline_Home/database/oracle/scripts directory:

% sqlplus user/password@database RevenueAssurance_Scenarios.sql

where:

  • Pipeline_Home is the directory in which you installed Pipeline Manager.

  • user is the Pipeline Manager user ID.

  • password is the Pipeline Manager user password.

  • database is the Pipeline Manager database alias.

Identifying Control Point Locations for Revenue Assurance Data

You configure control points in pipeline locations where you want to collect revenue assurance data. You associate an aggregation scenario with the control point to determine the data that is collected. See "About Control Points" for more information.

The exact locations where you place control points depend on the data you are collecting. It is often useful to insert control points before and after a critical point in the pipeline. For example, you can insert a control point before and after rating so that you can analyze the impact on EDRs.

You place a control point in a pipeline by inserting an instance of the FCT_AggreGate module at the desired point in the pipeline. You specify the control point ID and aggregation scenario in the module registry. See "Configuring the FCT_AggreGate Module to Collect Revenue Assurance Data" for more information. Each control point ID must be unique system-wide.

Configuring the FCT_AggreGate Module to Collect Revenue Assurance Data

You insert the FCT_AggreGate module at locations that you identify to collect revenue assurance data. You define a control point and associated aggregation scenario in the registry of each FCT_AggreGate module that you insert.

Note:

If an aggregation scenario requires one or more iScripts, you must specify them in the Function Pool section of the pipeline registry. See "Using iScripts to Derive Grouping Fields" for more information.

You also configure other options in the module registry, including details about control and result files. These are standard options unrelated to revenue assurance. See "Setting Up Pipeline Aggregation" in BRM Configuring Pipeline Rating and Discounting for more information.

To configure an FCT_AggreGate module for revenue assurance:

  1. Add the FCT_AggreGate module to the pipeline registry at the desired location.

  2. Configure the module for revenue assurance data:

    • In the Scenarios section of the registry, create a block for the scenario by entering the scenario name. For example, enter RA_03 to use the Service Type scenario.

    • For the ControlPointId parameter, enter an ID for the control point you are defining. The control point ID must be unique and have maximum of 30 characters. For example, if you use the Service Type scenario, you might define the CP_PostRatingBatchStat_Svctype control point.

    • For the TableName registry entry, enter the name of the scenario that you defined earlier.

      Note:

      The value of the TableName entry is used as the name of the output files for the scenario. Using the scenario name for this entry makes it easier to associate files with the scenarios from which they were created.

    • Add the registry parameter IncludeProcessingTimestamps and set it to TRUE.

    • Enter values for the standard FCT_AggreGate parameters, such as Threshold, TempDir, DoneDir, CtlDir. See "About Aggregation Scenarios" in BRM Configuring Pipeline Rating and Discounting for more information.

    • Enter a semicolon (;) for the FieldDelimiter.

    • Add the parameters IncludeErrorEDRs and IncludeInvalidDetailEDRs and set them to TRUE.

      Note:

      When configuring scenarios that do not use grouping based on the field EDRStatus, do not specify the IncludeErrorEDRs and IncludeInvalidDetailEDRs parameters.

The following example shows FCT_AggreGate configured for control point CP_PostRatingBatchStat_Svctype using the Service Type aggregation scenario (RA_03):

# Aggregation
--------------------------------------------------
# AggreGate
{
 ModuleName = FCT_AggreGate
 Module
 {
  Active                   = TRUE
  ScenarioReaderDataModule = ifw.DataPool.ScenarioReader
  Scenarios
  {
   RA_03
   {
    TableName       = RA_03
    Threshold       = 10000
    TempDir         = ./data/aggregate
    DoneDir         = ./data/aggregate
    CtlDir          = ./data/aggregate
    FieldDelimiter  = ;
    ControlPointId  = CP_PostRatingBatchStat_Svctype
    IncludeErrorEDRs            = TRUE
    IncludeInvalidDetailEDRs    = TRUE
    IncludeProcessingTimestamps = TRUE
  
  ResultFile
  {
   IncludeFormat  = FALSE
   TempSuffix     = .tmp
   DoneSuffix     = .dat
   WriteEmptyFile = FALSE
  }
  ControlFile
  {
   IncludeFormat  = FALSE
   Suffix         = .ctl
   DataFilePath   = TRUE
  }
 }
}

Using iScripts to Derive Grouping Fields

Review the description of the scenario you are using to see if it requires any iScripts. Scenarios use iScripts to derive grouping fields such as EDR Status, Revenue Stream, and Output Stream.

If required, you need to specify the iScripts in the FunctionPool section of the registry file, before the FCT_AggreGate module. See the description of FCT_IScript in BRM Configuring Pipeline Rating and Discounting for more information.

See the description of the following iScripts in BRM Configuring Pipeline Rating and Discounting for more information on where to enter these iScripts:

  • ISC_SetEDRStatus

  • ISC_SetOutputStream

  • ISC_SetRevenueStream

  • ISC_SetRevenueFigures

The following iScript must be placed at the beginning of the pipeline to ensure that the batch ID is inserted before any further processing of the mediation batches.

  • ISC_SetAndValidateBatchInfo

Configuring SimpleSample Files

Configure the SimpleSample files to map the batchIDs of the EDRs. This is a mandatory step for Revenue Assurance Manager to work correctly.

You can find the SimpleSample files at: Pipeline_Home/opt/ifw/formatDesc/Formats/Sample.

To configure the SimpleSample files:

  1. Open the SIMPLESAMPLE_v1.dsc file using a text editor such as Notepad.

  2. Find the following line:

    SERVICE                     AscString();

  3. Add the following lines before the aforementioned line:

    BATCH_ID                    AscString();
ORIGINAL_BATCH_ID           AscString();
SUSPENDED_FROM_BATCH_ID     AscString();
EVENT_ID                    AscString();

  4. Save and close the file.

  5. Open the SIMPLESAMPLE_v1_InMap.dsc file using a text editor such as Notepad.

  6. Find the following line:

    "020"                     -> DETAIL.RECORD_TYPE;

  7. Add the following lines before the aforementioned line:

    BATCH_ID                 -> DETAIL.BATCH_ID;
ORIGINAL_BATCH_ID        -> DETAIL.ORIGINAL_BATCH_ID;
SUSPENDED_FROM_BATCH_ID   -> DETAIL.ASS_SUSPENSEEXT.SUSPENDED_FROM_BATCH_ID;
EVENT_ID                  -> DETAIL.EVENT_ID;

  8. Save and close the file.

  9. Open the SIMPLESAMPLE_v1_InGrammar.dsc file using a text editor such as Notepad.

  10. Find the following line:

    edrInputMap( "SIMPLESAMPLE_V1.DETAIL.STD_MAPPING" );

  11. Add the following lines before the aforementioned line:

    edrAddDatablock( DETAIL.ASS_SUSPENSE_EXT );

  12. Save and close the file.

Adding Control Points to Flows

Flows are ordered sets of related control points. You group control points into flows so that you can search for and view them conveniently in Revenue Assurance Center. When you view a flow in Revenue Assurance Center, its control points are displayed in the order in which they were defined.

You define flows in the pin_config_ra_flows file and load the flows into the database by using the load_pin_config_ra_flows utility. See "load_pin_config_ra_flows". Flows are stored as/config/ra_flows objects.

The load_pin_config_ra_flows utility overwrites existing flows. You must load a complete set of flows each time you run the utility.

To add control points into flows and load them into the database:

  1. Open the BRM_Home/sys/data/config/pin_config_ra_flows file in a text editor.

    This file includes instructions about the syntax to use to add control points to flows.

  2. Save and close the file.

  3. Use the following command to load your control points into the database:

    % load_pin_config_ra_flows pin_config_ra_flows

    If you do not run the utility from the directory in which the file is located, include the complete path to the file; for example:

    % load_pin_config_ra_flows BRM_Home/sys/data/config/pin_config_ra_flows

    Tip:

    If you copy the pin_config_ra_flows file to the directory from which you run the load_pin_config_ra_flows utility, you do not have to specify the path or file name. The file must be named load_pin_config_ra_flows.

To verify that the flows were loaded, you can display the /config/ra_flows object by using the Object Browser, or use the robj command with the testnap utility. See "Reading an Object and Writing its Contents to a File" in BRM Developer's Guide for more information.

Linking Rating, Rerating, and Write-Off Control Points

For Revenue Assurance Center to recognize original and current values for certain types of control points, you must link them and add the links to the BRM database. The control points that require linking include:

  • Rating to rerating.

  • Rerating to written-off.

  • Rating to written-off.

To link control points, you define the links in the pin_config_controlpoint_link file and then load them into the BRM database by using the load_pin_config_controlpoint_link utility. See "load_pin_config_controlpoint_link". Links are stored in the /config/link_controlpoint object in the BRM database. The PCM_OP_PROCESS_AUDIT_CREATE_AND_LINK opcode links /process_audit/batchstat objects based on the data in the /config/link_controlpoint object. See "About the Revenue Assurance Manager Opcodes" for more information.

Caution:

The load_pin_config_controlpoint_link utility overwrites existing links. You must load a complete set of links each time you run the utility.

Important:

The load_pin_config_controlpoint_link utility needs a configuration (pin.conf) file in the directory from which you run the utility. See "Creating Configuration Files for BRM utilities" in BRM System Administrator's Guide for more information.

To configure your control points into flows and load them into the database:

  1. Open the BRM_Home/sys/data/config/pin_config_controlpoint_link file in a text editor. This file includes instructions on how to add control points into flows.

  2. Save and close the file.

  3. Use the following command to load your control points into the database:

    % load_pin_config_controlpoint_link pin_config_controlpoint_link

    If you do not run the utility from the directory in which the file is located, include the complete path to the file; for example:

    % load_pin_config_controlpoint_link BRM_Home/sys/data/config/pin_config_controlpoint_link

    Tip:

    If you copy the pin_config_controlpoint_link file to the directory from which you run the load_pin_config_controlpoint_link utility, you do not have to specify the path or file name. The file must be named pin_config_controlpoint_link.

    See "load_pin_config_controlpoint_link" for more information.

To verify that the control point links were loaded, you can display the /config/controlpoint_link object by using Object Browser, or use the robj command with the testnap utility. See "Reading an Object and Writing its Contents to a File" in BRM Developer's Guide for more information.

Setting Up UE Loader to Load Revenue Assurance Data into the Database

UE Loader takes the revenue assurance data from the FCT_AggreGate output files and loads it into the BRM database. The following sections explain how to configure UE Loader.

Setting Up UE Loader Templates

UE Loader requires that each aggregation scenario have a separate UE Loader event input template in XML format to map the data generated by FCT_AggreGate to the input flist for the opcodes that data. Revenue Assurance Manager provides XML templates for each of the preconfigured scenarios.

See "About Rating Events Created by External Sources" in BRM Setting Up Pricing and Rating for more information about UE Loader.

Setting Up Batch Controller to Call UE Loader

Batch Controller runs programs such as UE Loader either when a specific event occurs or automatically at timed intervals. See "Controlling Batch Operations" in BRM System Administrator's Guide for instructions on how to configure Batch Controller to run UE Loader to load revenue assurance data into the database.

Most implementations use the occurrence-driven execution feature of Batch Controller to run UE Loader whenever FCT_AggreGate creates output files with revenue assurance data.

Important:

If you set up Batch Controller to load scenario data files periodically rather than by occurrence, make sure the files are loaded frequently. Revenue Assurance Center uses the time when records were loaded into the database when it searches for data in time range. For the revenue assurance data to be meaningful, it should be loaded into the database soon after creation.

Setting Up Revenue Assurance Manager to Collect Data on Written-Off EDRs

For written-off EDRs, Revenue Assurance Manager collects the original batch ID and the number of EDRs that were written off in the batch. See "About Collecting Revenue Assurance Data on Written-Off EDRs" for more information.

To collect revenue assurance data on written-off EDRs, do the following: