1 System Overview
What is ACS?
Definition
Advanced Control Services (ACS) is a service that allows customers to specify and configure the routing of calls to the telephone numbers of their choice. ACS is installed and run as a network service by a Telecommunications Operator (telco). The telco that has installed ACS can then offer its customers a range of service control-routing services using ACS.
ACS provides operators with the core capabilities and tools to deploy innovative call handling and charging services including:
- Personal numbering
- Incoming and outgoing call screening
- Free rate calling
- Premium rate calling
- Split rate calling
- Televoting
In combination with the ACS Control Plan Editor (CPE) tools, ACS provides intuitive high-level graphical tools that enable the operator to build services and features incorporating user interaction, call routing and charging features.
Control Plan Editor
CPE Introduction
The ACS Control Plan Editor (CPE) is a feature of ACS, that you access by clicking the Control Plans button on the ACS main screen.
The CPE is a graphical interface that allows you to build control plans. Service providers use control plans to route calls according to factors such as geographic location, or time of day, or to collect statistical information from the call as it is made. Other services, such as toll free, PIN authorization, call diversion, or announcements can also be configured using the feature nodes available in the ACS Control Plan Editor.
This topic provides CPE overview information in direct reference to the ACS main screen functions only. For example, the control plan and control plan template functions available from the ACS Numbers screen are documented within this guide.
For more information about the ACS Control Plan Editor, see CPE User's Guide.
What is a Control Plan?
The call-routing information for each customer is recorded in an ACS control plan. A control plan is a flowchart defining the decisions and actions made to determine the routing of a call. Control plans are created and maintained using the CPE.
Customers can have many control plans that route calls to many different telephone numbers. For example, a customer may be using a free phone service through ACS. The customer may want calls to be routed to a tollfree number during business hours, but outside business hours the customer may want all calls routed to a voice mailbox.
The control plan for that customer in ACS records these decisions (that is, send the call down different routes depending on time-of-day) and the resulting actions (that is, terminate the call to a tollfree number or terminate the call to a voice mailbox number).
The decisions and actions that can be made in a control plan are implemented in ACS using feature nodes.
Feature Nodes
Feature nodes are drag and drop icons used to create control plans. Feature nodes contain the call-routing information required for control plan construction.
A control plan may consist of many different feature nodes. Each feature node has one input and a number of outputs determined by the type of feature node. Each feature node output can lead to another feature node.
The output used when exiting a feature node during call processing is determined by the functionality of that feature node. For example, a "Day-of-Week" node has multiple outputs.
The output that is eventually used to process a call will depend on the current day of the week and an internal customer-defined mapping of the day of week to a particular output. Although a control plan defines the possible decisions that can be made while processing a call, it does not define the criteria used within the feature nodes to process an individual call (for example, the days of the week that map to the outputs on the node).
The feature node data that is required to run a control plan for a particular customer is known as the control plan data. It is the control plan data that defines a particular customer's customization of a control plan.
ACS also allows data to be collected based on the operations performed by the processing of the service. For example, a customer can use the Event Counting feature node to record the number of calls that were routed to a service number. This may help the customer decide the number of telephone lines and customer service operators needed to manage the volume of calls coming in.
ACS Customer and User Information
CPE Requirements
The following information needs to be configured before the ACS customer can begin to build control plans in ACS.
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | The customer's name must be registered in ACS by the system administrator. |
| 2 | A number of users should be registered for each customer. These users will be able to manage the ACS data for that customer. |
| 3 | All approved users must have a registered ACS user name and password to access the system. |
| 4 | The system administrator needs to configure toll free numbers and termination numbers for each customer. |
| 5 | Event counters must be registered if required by the customer. |
| 6 | All authorization codes must be mapped to termination numbers. |
The information listed here is managed in ACS using the various tabs in the Customer, Numbers and Resources screens.
Feature Node Requirements
Before a customer can use certain feature nodes in their control plans, the following information must be specified in the Configuration screen.
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | The feature nodes that the customer has in their control plans need to be specified using the Feature Sets tab . |
| 2 | Definitions for the dialed or dialed no prefixes numbers associated with each geographic region need to be configured on the Geography tab. This information is used by the Geographical Routing feature node. |
| 3 | The days of the year that can be defined as holidays (non-working days) need to be set up on the Holidays tab. This information is used by the Day-of Year feature node. |
| 4 | You need to specify names for each announcement that can be used in ACS. Announcements are usually recorded on the SSP or an IP and are set up on the Announcements tab. This information is essential for feature nodes that play announcements such as the Selection-dependent Routing node and the Play Announcement node. |
About Customer Resources
Making Public Holiday Sets
Public holiday sets are holiday sets that are available to all customers for use in their control plans. Using public holiday sets helps to prevent unnecessary duplication.
For example, it may be useful for the telecommunications provider to configure a public holiday set containing all the public holidays for the year. This will enable all customers to use the set of public holidays where their business may be closed, rather than each customer configuring their own set of public holiday days.
You configure public holiday sets on the Holidays tab in the ACS Configuration window. You must have system administrator level privileges. Only new holiday sets may be saved as public holiday sets. Once saved, it is not possible to change a public holiday set to non-public, or a non-public holiday set to public.
To save a holiday set as a public, select the Public check box in the New Holiday Set window. For more information about configuring holiday sets, see Holidays.
Making Public Announcement Sets
Announcement sets are announcements that are grouped together for convenience. By making some announcement sets public, the telco is able to provide certain announcements to all their customers without duplication. Public announcement sets are available to all customers for use in their control plans.
You configure announcement sets in the Announcements tab in the ACS Configuration window. You must have system administrator level privileges. Only new announcement sets may be saved as public announcement sets. Once saved, it is not possible to change a public announcement set to non-public, or to change a non-public announcement set to public.
To save an announcement set as a public, select the Public check box in the New Announcement Set window. For more information about configuring announcements, see Announcements.
Making Public Geography Sets
Public geography sets are geographical entries that are grouped together for convenience and that may be used in control plans by all customers. Making a geography set public helps the telecommunications provider to prevent duplication.
You configure public geography sets in the Geography tab in the ACS Configuration window. You must have System Administrator level privileges. Only new geography sets may be saved as public geography sets. Once saved, it is not possible to change a public geography set to non-public, or a non-public geography set to public.
To save a geography set as a public, select the Public check box in the New Geography Set window. For more information, see Geography Sets