1. ECE Implementing Charging
  2. Managing ECE Notifications
  3. Configuring Subscriber Preferences

11 Configuring Subscriber Preferences

In Oracle Communications Elastic Charging Engine (ECE), you can configure subscriber preferences such as how they want to receive notifications from the network.

Topics in this document:

Configuring Subscriber Preferences

BRM enables you to manage how each subscriber prefers to receive notifications from the network. For example, you can specify that a subscriber wants to receive notifications in French via SMS text messages.

By default, BRM enables you to manage the following subscriber preferences:

  • Preferred channel of communication: IVR, SMS, e-mail, and so on

  • Preferred language of communication: English, French, and so on

  • Number of days prior to which customer wishes to receive the notification

  • Interval between two successive notifications

  • Timestamp of the last notification sent to the subscriber

BRM stores information about each subscriber's preferences in a subscriber profile repository. BRM stores the types of preferences that you track and their default values in the /config/subscriber_preferences object. BRM stores each subscriber's preferences at the account level and the service level in individual /profile/subscriber_preferences objects.

For more information on the /config/subscriber_preferences and /profile/subscriber_preferences objects, see BRM Storable Class Reference.

Maintaining Subscriber Preferences with Customer Center

When in-session notifications are enabled, you can configure and maintain subscriber preferences by using Customer Center. During the account creation and modification process, you specify the subscriber preferences in the Customer Center Subscriber Preferences page.

Customer Center uses the configurations in the /config/subscriber_preferences_map object to dynamically list the preferences that a subscriber can configure. You can customize the information as necessary.

About Regulating Permissions to Update Subscriber Preferences

By default, all customer service representatives (CSRs) can access and update subscriber preferences. You can restrict a CSR's permissions to view and update a subscriber's preferences for services and accounts.

Configuring ECE to Enrich External Notifications with Subscriber Preference Information

You can configure ECE to enrich external notifications with subscriber preference information.

BRM enables you to manage how each subscriber prefers to receive notifications from the network. For example, you can specify that a subscriber wants to receive notifications in French (Language preference) via SMS text messages (Channel preference). All subscriber preferences set for customers in BRM are also stored in ECE.

You can configure ECE to enrich the following types of ECE external notifications with subscriber preference information:

  • Threshold breach notifications

  • Aggregated threshold breach notifications

  • Advice of Charge notifications

  • Credit limit ceiling breach notifications

  • Credit limit floor breach notifications

  • Subscriber life cycle state transition notifications

  • First usage validity initialization notifications

You can configure ECE to enrich each of the preceding external notifications with all subscriber preferences or with a subset of subscriber preferences.

If the same subscriber preference is defined as a customer preference and as a service preference, ECE uses the service preference. If a subscriber preference is not specified for the service but is specified for the customer, ECE uses the customer subscriber preference.

To configure ECE to enrich external notifications with subscriber preference information:

  1. If you do not have it, obtain the list of subscriber preference names you have set in your BRM system.

    When configuring ECE to enrich the external notifications with a subset of subscriber preferences, you must enter the name of the subscriber preferences as you previously set it in your BRM system.

  2. Access the ECE configuration MBeans in a JMX editor, such as JConsole. See "Accessing ECE Configuration MBeans".

  3. Expand the ECE Configuration node.

  4. Expand charging.notification.

  5. Expand Attributes.

  6. Set the subscriberPreferenceUpdateNotificationMode attribute to ASYNCHRONOUS.

  7. Select a notification type for which notification messages are to be enriched with subscriber preference information.

  8. Specify values for the following attributes:

    • enrichName: Enter subscriberPreferences.

    • enrichValue: Enter one of the following values:

      • No value: (Default) External notifications are not enriched with subscriber preferences.

      • Individual subscriber preferences: External notifications are enriched with a subset of subscriber preferences. Enter the name of each preference, separated by commas. The names must match the preference names set in your BRM system.

      • ALL: External notifications are enriched with all the customer's subscriber preferences.

For each notification type enabled to be enriched with subscriber preference information, ECE publishes subscriber preference information in the SubscriberPreferences block of the external notification messages.

The following is an example of the SubscriberPreferences block for a threshold breach notification enriched with the language subscriber preference of the customer. 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<Notification>
<NotificationType>THRESHOLD_BREACH_EVENT</NotificationType>
<PublicUserIdentities>
<PublicUserIdentity>6500000001</PublicUserIdentity>
</PublicUserIdentities>
<BalanceElementId>840</BalanceElementId>
<BalanceElementCode>USD</BalanceElementCode>
<CurrentBalance>-3.00</CurrentBalance>
<ThresholdAmount>-4</ThresholdAmount>
<ThresholdPercent>98.0</ThresholdPercent>
<BreachDirection>THRESHOLD_BREACH_UP</BreachDirection>
<DuplicateEvent>False</DuplicateEvent>
<SubscriberPreferences>
<SubscriberPreference PublicUserIdentity="6500000001:VOICE">
<SubscriberPreferencesInfo>
<PreferenceName>Language</PreferenceName>
<PreferenceValue>French</PreferenceValue>
</SubscriberPreferencesInfo>
</SubscriberPreference>
</SubscriberPreferences>
</Notification>

Customizing Subscriber Preferences

To customize the subscriber profile data configuration by using config_subscriber_preferences_map.xml file:

  1. Open the BRM_home/sys/data/config/config_subscriber_preferences_map.xml file.

  2. Edit the file, which includes examples and instructions. Table 11-1 describes the parameters in the file.

    Table 11-1 Elements That Store Subscriber Preferences

    Element Description

    Name

    Name of the preference

    ID

    The ID associated with the preference

    Type

    The type of value that the preference can be assigned, from one of the following types:

    • 1: STR (alphanumeric)

    • 2: INT (integer)

    • 3: ENUM (indicating that the preference is one of an ordered list of possible values. An array of values must be provided for this selection.) See the Values element in this table.

    • 4: DECIMAL

    • 5: TSTAMP (timestamp)

    For example, to provide a set of possible values, you set Type to 3, and enter an array of values for this preference in Values.

    String ID

    Used for Localization. The ID in the /string storable class that would be associated with the localized string associated with the preference. Customer Center uses this information to display the preference name in a localized string form.

    Default

    The field containing the default value the preference is to be assigned.

    Values

    An array list of values that the preference can assume. The Values array list is present only if the selection for Type is ENUM.

  3. For example, the following entry defines a new preference type called Subscription Level as the tenth preference for subscribers: 

    <SUBSCRIBER_PREFERENCES elem="10">
  <NAME>Subscription Level</NAME> 
  <SUBSCRIBER_PREFERENCE_ID>10</SUBSCRIBER_PREFERENCE_ID> 
  <STRING_ID>10</STRING_ID>
  <DEFAULT>Silver</DEFAULT>
  <TYPE>3</TYPE> 
  <VALUES elem="0">
  <VALUE>Silver</VALUE>
  </VALUES>
  <VALUES elem="1">
  <VALUE>Gold</VALUE>
  </VALUES>
  <VALUES elem="2">
  <VALUE>Platinum</VALUE>
  </VALUES>
</SUBSCRIBER_PREFERENCES>

    In this example:

    • The Name of the preference is Subscription Level.

    • The subscriber preference ID for the language preference is 10.

    • The string ID for the localizing string is 10.

    • The default value for the language preference is Silver.

    • The type of value is 3 (which is ENUM, and so an array of values follows).

    • The Values array lists the 3 possible subscription level selections: Silver, Gold, and Platinum.

  4. Save the config_subscriber_preferences_map.xml file.

  5. Open the BRM_home/apps/load_config/pin.conf file in a text editor.

  6. Add the following as the last entry:

    - load_config validation_module libLoadValidTCFAAA LoadValidTelcoAAA_init

  7. Save the pin.conf file.

  8. Load the updated file by running the load_config utility: 

    load_config config_subscriber_preferences_map.xml

    Note:

    • The load_config utility requires a configuration (pin.conf) file.

    • If you do not run the utility from the directory in which the configuration file is located, include the complete path to the file. For example:

      load_config BRM_home/sys/data/config/config_subscriber_preferences_map.xml

    For more information on the load_config utility, see "load_config" in BRM Developer's Guide.

  9. Stop and restart the Connection Manager (CM).

    To verify that the updated preference configurations were loaded, you can display the /config/subscriber_preferences_map object by using the Object Browser, or use the robj command with the testnap utility.

    For more information on the /config/subscriber_preferences_map object, see BRM Storable Class Reference.

Configuring Group Notifications

You can configure ECE to send credit limit and threshold breach notifications to multiple members of a sharing group. By default, only the member who triggered the breach is notified.

To configure group notifications:

  1. Confirm that group notifications are enabled as described in "Enabling In-Session Group Notifications in ECE".
  2. For group owners, set the ResourcesForSendingNotification subscriber preference at the account level to a comma-separated list of resource balance element IDs that the owner wants to send notifications for.
  3. For group members:
    1. Set ResourcesForReceivingNotification at the account level to a comma-separated list of resource balance element IDs that the member wants to receive notifications for. Values included in this list must also be listed in ResourcesForSendingNotification for the group owner.
    2. Set NotificationEnabledAgreements at the account or service level as a comma-separated list of sharing group names that the subscriber wants notifications for. For example:
      SharingAgreement12, Charge_Sharing14, DataSharing_143
      These sharing groups must contain the resources specified in ResourcesForReceivingNotification.
    3. Set OfflineNotificationEnabled at the account or service level to true if the group member wants to receive notifications when they are offline for breaches caused by other group members. The setting at the service level overrides the setting at the account level.

    Note:

    Because group owners can also be group members, an individual subscriber might have all of these preferences set in their subscriber profile.

You can set the values in Customer Center or by using the PCM_OP_CUST_SET_SUBSCRIBER_PREFERENCES opcode. See "Maintaining Subscriber's Charging Preferences Data" in BRM Opcode Guide for more information.