Geneva Overview.

Geneva Overview

Geneva Overview MENU Introduction
Batch Processing – Rating and Billing Introduction Modules and Architecture Payment and Accounting Geneva Features Public Interface and Development Some Important Learnings

Geneva Overview Why the name Geneva?
Are the other tools for handling billing or is Geneva the only one? How does Geneva handle different plans that we subscribe to? Does Geneva handle only billing related to Telephony services? Geneva and IRB are one and the same or are they two different tools?

Objectives Hi! I’m David. Do these questions also come in your mind? I have been in BSS since last 7 years. I will try and answer all your questions in this session on Geneva Overview. David This course gives you and idea of Geneva COTS products. Geneva is a product from Convergys Company. Current version for this Billing product in the market is RBM 5.4. The course describes the various modules of Geneva.

Objectives At the end of the course, you will be able to:
Know more about Convergys Understand the Geneva architecture List down the Geneva client and server volume processing applications Understand basic terminologies used in Geneva Describe the elements of billing catalog and rating catalog Understand key features of Geneva Describe end-to-end rating and billing process flow in Geneva

Introduction About Convergys
First before we go ahead, lets talk about the company that gave us this product Convergys Corporation based in Cincinnati, Ohio is a global leader in billing and BSS. They serve the needs of global communications and media industry. Convergys provides customer relationship services, outsourced human resources management, consulting and professional services, billing services, and multichannel self-care technology system to its clients.

Introduction Most of its clients are companies in the telecommunications, financial services, technology, government, and employee care markets. Main products in the market are – Infinys Rating and Billing (IRB) – the new avatar of Geneva, Dynamic Decisioning Solution (DDS), ICOMS.

Introduction Now let’s understand what is Geneva
And that’s an introduction to GENEVA in 2 days. Any questions? So you’re selling billing systems? Not holidays in Switzerland? Yes

When were you thinking of travelling.
Which means that Geneva works across technologies and domains. Geneva is independent of service delivery technology Support for both Network as well as Non Network services, support for various VAS (Value Added Services)

Introduction Operations Support Systems Network Network Management Systems North Bound Business Intelligence, Portal, CRM, Rating, Billing Payments, Debt Management, Revenue Assurance, Fraud Management, Settlements Business Support Systems South Bound

Introduction Business Support Systems Network Management Systems Network Operations Support Systems North Bound Order Management, Provisioning, Network Inventory Management South Bound

Introduction Fault Management, Performance Management, Mediation North
Operations Support Systems Business Support Systems Network Network Management Systems North Bound Fault Management, Performance Management, Mediation South Bound

Introduction WI FI Network, Wireless Network, GSM North Bound
Operations Support Systems Business Support Systems Network Management Systems Network North Bound WI FI Network, Wireless Network, GSM South Bound

Now let’s understand the various charges which Geneva can bill
Introduction Now let’s understand the various charges which Geneva can bill Periodic charges such as telephone line rental and cable TV subscription One-off costs such as connection fees Metered usage, such as electricity supply Events such as telephone calls Support for charging during suspension, reactivation Support for charging activities such as SIM change, Rate plan change, VIP/Golden number etc. AND Any combination of different products and services on separate or no consolidated bill

Fully Convergent Billing
Introduction: Basis of Pricing Before we understand various modules, let’s understand how Geneva was designed Geneva was designed as a fully convergent billing system from the beginning There are no pre-conceptions about the nature of services offered They can be anything: Message: , unified messaging Minute: telephony, video conferencing MB: wireless LAN access, disk storage View: video-on-demand KWh or equivalent: electricity, gas Litre: water Click: click-through advertising Seat: software application rental $: commission on purchase Bullet: interactive games Touchdown: sports update video clips P E R Geneva is a convergent billing system that delivers active revenue management. It can be used to generate a single bill for range of services right from telephony to financial services. Specially the services where the usage is metered or events are captured and billing is based on this usage or events. Fully Convergent Billing

Which are the services which are billed by using Geneva?
Introduction: Basis of Pricing – New Services Which are the services which are billed by using Geneva? Any service for where it is possible to collect event records can be billed using Geneva Voice: per minute, geography, time of day, call type SMS, per message, MT/MO Mobile Data: per MB, APN, QoS, location Stock Quote: no, of tickers, exchange, delayed/real-time Video: type of movie, day of week, free viewing period And many others Due to its flexible service configuration facility

Introduction: Key benefits
Heard that Geneva tool is being used in many countries. Can it be configured for different languages, different currencies? What about taxation laws?

Yes, Geneva can handle all this and more. Let’s take a look.
Introduction: Key benefits Yes, Geneva can handle all this and more. Let’s take a look. New products and service launch life cycle with minimal software change Multi Invoicing company support Multi Language support for GUI Multi Currency support for tariff Multi Technology and market support Multi Taxation model support Flexible Predictable and pricing configuration Configure and use multiply automatic payment systems within and across countries e.g. BACS-Germany, BACS-France Flexibility pricing through various option such as overriding, discounts loyalty points, bonus schemes, packaging etc.

Geneva in Solution Architecture
Introduction: Geneva in Solution Architecture Now let us understand how Geneva can be used in Solution Architecture Geneva wears different hats Geneva can be used to: Stand alone System for B&CC (Billing and Customer Care) Part of an integrated solution Central Billing component of a multi-service environment Along side legacy system Delivers: True convergence: Across technologies / domains Models Supported: Wholesale, Retail, Roaming, Interconnect, Prepaid

Geneva in Solution Architecture
Introduction: Geneva in Solution Architecture A number of separate services a typically being supplied using different delivery technologies in order to provide convergent billing. Distinct single service systems with separate modules do not allow true convergence. They are expensive, inflexible, customer-hostile, prone to errors, slow to change. A single, consolidated billing and customer care system comprised of Geneva. There may be number of separate services using different technologies. Geneva can give a single consolidated bill for all the services used.

Introduction: Who are other players
Is there something which Geneva does not specialize in? Which are the core elements of Geneva? Does Geneva have any limitation? How is Geneva’s compatibility with other systems? Geneva is the only player in billing or are there others too?

Introduction: Who are other players
Now let’s see which are the other players in the market in Billing domain. AMDOCS-Ensemble, Enabler Keenon Arbor LHS BSCS V, VI, IX-R1, R2 UNICORN Price Maker ORACLE BRM RedKnee Legacy System There are other players too who provide billing services but Geneva is one of the preferred tools.

Introduction: Core Elements of Geneva
Let’s understand which are the core elements of Geneva Geneva can integrate very well with best of the breed systems. Rating and Billing are the core elements of Genova Although it provides some functionality in other areas for start-up operators, it does not pretend to be a customer care, provisioning, mediation or finance system New World Service Provider Mediation & Provisioning Rating Convergent Billing CRM Voice Telephony PARTNERS GENEVA PARTNER Data Services Internet Utilities Financial Services

Modules and Architecture

Modules and Architecture: Client Modules
Now that we have known what Geneva is and can do. Let’s go a step ahead. Let see what all components Geneva has. We shall also see the architecture of Geneva and sequence of configuration.

Modules and Architecture: GPARAMS
GRAPAMS is a very important table for system wide settings and having a global impact The settings in this table should not be changed frequently Parameters are arranged here sub-domain wise Example: Parameters starting with SYS, RATE, BG etc.

Modules and Architecture: How to Configure?
Let us see the steps on how we can configure Geneva. Starting with System Configuration and ending with Customer Account Maintenance i.e. Bottom Up Approach. Bottom Up Approach Customer Account Maintenance Rating Catalog Maintenance Billing Catalog Maintenance Product Configuration System Configuration Final Step - CAM Usage Charges Configuration Non Usage Charges & Discounts Product, Product Event Mapping, Product Tax Mapping Base Line Configuration Data – ICO, Currency, Tax etc

Modules and Architecture: Geneva Architecture
Event Mediation Pre-rated Intelligent networks and real-time mediation systems integrated for convergent pre-ray operation/commerce management Networks Provisioning and Network Management CRM and Order Entry Geneva Customer Service Agent Customer & Account Maintenance Web Self-care APIs, Geneva Enhanced Care APIs Event File Interface Carrier Grade Real Time Messaging Interface Event Rating Rating Catalogue Rating Catalogue Maintenance Product Configuration System Setup Billing Catalogue Products Rated Events Billing Financial Data Bill Data Financial Export Payments Bill Products 3rd Party Bill Formatting Finance System ₤ $ € 5 4 2 Bills Billing Catalogue Maintenance 3 1

Modules and Architecture: System Configuration
Now let’s understand the importance of System Configuration Module. Configuration of Master data required by other Geneva modules such as: Bill Formatters Financial Entities File Group, File Type Invoicing Company Taxation Structure Event Definitions Customer attributes Receivables Bottom Up Approach Customer Account Maintenance Rating Catalog Maintenance Billing Catalog Maintenance Product Configuration System Configuration

Modules and Architecture: Product Configuration
Now let’s understand why we need to configure Product Configuration Module. Configuration of Master data required by other Geneva modules such as: Product Family Product – Parent, Child Subscription Product Attributes Product Event Mapping Controlling Visibility of Product Taxation Bottom Up Approach Customer Account Maintenance Rating Catalog Maintenance Billing Catalog Maintenance Product Configuration System Configuration

Now let’s understand how product configuration is done Product Configuration allows you to create, define and modify products and product hierarchies Product/Families Product families & product hierarchies Summary Summary of product families & products Attributes Custom product Attributes Event Types Assign types of events to products Tax sets Assign suitable tax codes to products

Let’s understand how products are related to Product Family Product Family: Groups of related products Logical grouping done based on Technology/Domain/Market Residence for products Product Family Example Telephony Product Family: T1 Line Fixed Line DSL Call waiting etc. as products GSM Family, GPRS Family, Broadband Family etc.

What is a product in Geneva? Products are items purchased or leased by a customer Product may be real object (e.g. mobile hand set on rent) Service that is delivered (e.g. mobile subscription) Parent Product: purchased without dependencies Basic line rental is a parent product Child Product: dependent on parent product purchase Call Waiting, Call Line ID, Call Forwarding can be child products

In Geneva for ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that you want to charge, you must have a product Although Product Configuration is not an application to define charges,but unless otherwise you have product you can not define charges either Once you define a product, charges [usage/non usage] can associated with it but if you don’t have a product, you can not define charges at all

Let’s find out what is an event and how it associated to Product
Modules and Architecture: Product Configuration Event Let’s find out what is an event and how it associated to Product Event: Single billable occurrence of a product usage A telephone line rental product generates telephone call events GSM Mobile product generates, Voice call as well as SMS event Event generating products have to be associated with the appropriate evet types They are instances of product usage They are chargeable entities They can have attributes Example: Telephone call will have attributes such as called number, calling number, time of the call, duration etc. They are associated with the event generating products Geneva allows configuration of events as per requirements

More about Events Configuration of Event happens in System Configuration Mapping of event to product happens in Product Configuration Usage charges for event are configured in Rating Catalog Maintenance Application Events are rated by Rating Engine based on applicable rate plan used by customer Example of events Generating Product GSM product can generate voice call event as well as SMS event GPRS product can generate 3G Voice call, 3G data download as event

Price Plan and Rate Plan Ex: Customer has procured a GSM Product “GSM product” has “GSM Price Plan” GSM product has 2 evets which are associated to it- 1: Voice 2: SMS That’s why GSM Product has 2 Rate Plans- 1: Voice Rate Plan 2: SMS Rate Plan Customer Account GSM Product Voice Rate Plan SMS Rate Plan GSM Price Plan Price Plan Configured in BCM Holds non usage charges such as one time, recurring charges etc. Rate Plan Configured in RCM Logic for usage charges for a product’s event

Tax Geneva supports multiple taxation models such as: VAT / GST: Value Added Text, Goods & Services Text UST: US Taxation Model BRT: Brazillian Taxation Model Every taxation model has different attributes by which Geneva operator can define elements for taxation VAT / GST Configuration: Configured Tax set and Tax codes for each product which will describe the tax levied on a product UST Configuration: Assign a valid US tax category / US tax code combination for each product

Subscription Stat TV Product ZEE Package Product 1 Product 2 Charges Customer Account CATV Subscription Subscription is configured in Product Configuration whereas charges for subscription are configured in Billing Catalog Maintenance It is like non event generating product

Modules and Architecture: Billing Catalog Maintenance
Now let’s understand the importance of Billing Catalog Maintenance Module. Billing Catalog Maintenance is used to configure: Non-usage charges such as one time & recurring charges Filters and Discounts Override pricing Bonus Points, Loyalty Points, Redemptions etc. Package Billing Catalogues containing price plans Bottom Up Approach Customer Account Maintenance Rating Catalog Maintenance Product Configuration System Configuration Billing Catalog Maintenance

Now let’s see how Billing Catalog Maintenance module is configured Configuration

Configuration Now let’s understand the importance of Billing Catalog Maintenance. Used to define: Tariffs for products Packages and tariffs for package Discounts and Filters Bonus Points and Loyalty Schemes Geneva’s BCM Flexible pricing mechanism for products Allows to introduce competitive products and discounts to customers Can create, test and publishing billing catalogs in multiple currencies for multiple invoicing companies and for different parts of market segments

Now let’s understand which are the Attributes of Billing Catalog Billing catalog has following attributes: A Pricing Currency, Invoicing Company and Status (Design, Live etc.) Billing Catalogs of Multiple Invoicing Companies and Multiple Currencies can co-exist and live with harmony in one Geneva instance Billing Catalog ICO AirTel CURR INR Status Live Billing Catalog ICO AirTel CURR INR Status Design Billing Catalog ICO Vodafone CURR Pound Status Live Billing Catalog ICO Idea CURR INR Status Live Billing Catalog ICO Idea CURR INR Status Design Billing Catalog ICO Idea CURR Pound Status Live

Now let us look at the Billing Catalog and it’s constituents
Modules and Architecture: Billing Catalog Maintenance Now let us look at the Billing Catalog and it’s constituents Price Plan A price holder for non usage price of product along with revenue codes Price Plan Types Public, Private, Packaged and Competitor Price Plan and Tax Price Plan can be Text Inclusive or Tax Exclusive Types of Prices Normal as well as during suspension: Initiation, Periodic, Termination / Reactivation Price Plan Price Customization Plan’s Prize can be customized for specific customer segment Price for Product + Package Price Discounts & Filters Bonus Schemes & Loyalty Points Budget Payment Plan & Payment Discounts Billing Catalog Price Plan and Packages

Now let us understand the Types of Price Plan. Public: All tariffs created for general allocation to customer account Example: For all customers (public) GSM is charged at Rs. 500 Private: Tariff for particular customers Example: For PLH employee, GSM charges are Rs. 300 Package: Used only for packages created by using different products Example: For all customers (public) GSM is charged at Rs. 500 But if they take GSM along with Cable TV then same GSM will be charged Rs. 350 Comparison: Prices to compare with competitor’s price Example: In AirTel Billing catalog, one can set prices offered by Idea for comparison purpose and AirTel can set their prices in comparison with Idea product prices Please Note: Private, Public and Package price plans are available for sell. These price plans are available in CAM (Customer Account Maintenance) or CRM (Customer Relationship Management) System.

Now let’s see where we configure Price Plan Attributes Price Plan Details Price plan attributes Price targeted for particular market

Price Plan: Product Charging
Modules and Architecture: Billing Catalog Maintenance This is the place where we configure Initiation, Periodic and Termination charges Price Plan: Product Charging

Price Plan features Which are the features of Price Plan? Parametric price feature: Quantity based pricing Contracted price feature: Price based on contract duration Price overriding feature: Ability to change price of product within set limits by a CSR who has authority Customized pricing: Targeted towards particular segment of market Competitive price setting: To come out with lucrative pricing scheme to beat competitors Prorating and Advance: Charging features Revenue codes: For revenue analysis purpose When setting up prices for price plans: “No charge” can be used in place of zero: This prevents zero charges to be displayed on the bill All other prices must be numeric

Example 1 Example 2 Init -0, RC - 20% Init +100, RC - 50% Public Plan Init 500 RC Public Price Plan Init RC 800 Packaged Price Plan Init 200 RC 500 Init -10%, RC - 100 Packaged Plan Init 450 RC 400 Competitor Plan Init 100 RC 1000 Init -50, RC - 20% Tariff hierarchies can be set p so that child prices can be inherited from parent price Child prices can be absolute value. Difference from the parent tariff. A percentage of parent tariff. Private PP Init 400 RC 320

This is the price inheritance example. Which helps us to reuse the existing Price plans and to create a new price plan.

Price for Product + Package Price Discounts & Filters Bonus Schemes & Loyalty Points Budget Payment Plan & Payment Discounts Billing Catalog Price Plan and Packages Let’s understand what is Package Price Plan and why it is used Package Price Plan: Marketing scheme to sell bundled products at competitive prices Products form any technology/domain can be packaged Products can be defined as Mandatory/Optional within package Packaged products can be shared in customer hierarchy

Package and its Contents
Modules and Architecture: Billing Catalog Maintenance This is the way by which packages are configured in Billing Catalog Maintenance Package and its Contents

Price for Product + Package Price Discounts & Filters Bonus Schemes & Loyalty Points Budget Payment Plan & Payment Discounts Billing Catalog Price Plan and Packages Now let’s understand why Discount are important for Telecom Operators Discount: Is a powerful way of giving better pricing Means of customer attraction and retention Supports both ratings as well as billing time discounts Supports single product as well as cross products discounts Configuration of discount requires filters Filters: Are used to filter down the candidate entities for Discount Evaluation as well as Discount Application purpose

Evaluation Criterion specifies what needs to be evaluated in order to get Discount. Application Criterion specifies what will be received as a part of Discount after fulfilling evaluation criterion. Discount are created as a part of price plan Geneva allows discounts to be calculated At Rating time: Less scope At Billing time: More scope

Application Criterion
Modules and Architecture: Billing Catalog Maintenance Evaluation Criterion could be: Discount based on Service Revenue Event charges only, Product charges only All Charges Customer Loyalty Quantity: Number of Accounts, Services etc. Application Criterion could be: Absolute or Percentage discount Flat or tiered discount Free units (messages, minutes) as discount Note: Discount Required Filters! IF Evaluation Criterion THEN Application Criterion

Filter It is a mechanism for selecting subset of a product attributes and/or events for inclusion in discount Used to decide whether A product attribute or event attribute contributes to the evaluation of a discount A product or event should have a discount applied (application or discount) Filter Types allowed in Geneva Global Account Specific: If Operator wants to give discounts based on some features which are specific to customers and not global. These Discount are applicable to a specific account(s).

Highest Usage: Example 1: 10% discount on Top 10 telephone calls w.r.t. to cost. Example 2: Top 3 calls in a month based on duration are free or Top 3 calls based on Cost in a month a free Composite AND: a filter that combines two or more simple filters which have been defined previously using AND logic Scenario: 10% Free on Telephone International calls AND made on Sunday. In this scenario Two GLOBAL Filters created: 1 – International Call Filter: Called party no starts with – Sunday Call Filter: Event Day = Sunday. Then create filter called “International Call on Sunday” of type COMPOSITE AND which ANDS. International Call Filter and Sunday Call Filter

Composite OR: A filter that combines two or more simple filters which have been defined previously using OR logic. Scenario: 10% Free on Telephone International calls OR Telephone calls made on Sunday. In this scenario Two GLOBAL Filters can be created: 1 – International Call filter: Called party no starts with – Sunday call filter: Event Day = Sunday. Then create filter called “International Call or Sunday Call” of type COMPOSITE OR which OR. International Call filter and Sunday Call filter.

Single Set Discount: A discount in which assessment and discount set are same. It is used if discounts application is Rating or Tax. For Rating time discounts are assessment and discount set must be same. Example 1 : 10% free on further International telephone calls if usage of telephone calls is more than 500 Rs. Example 2 : SMS at half cost after 100 SMS

Billing time (not possible during Rating Time). A discount in which assessment and discount set are different. This Discount is applicable at Billing Time (not possible during Rating Time). Example: 10 SMS free if telephony usage in a month is beyond 500

Different types of discounts are possible as follows: Event Discount: 10% of fixed line calls for spending more than $100 on mobile Product Discount: For every 10 telephone lines get one free Billing Discount: Top 3 calls in terms of revenue will be given 25% discount Package Discount: Free broadband internet access if you take Cable TV Bill (Payment Method) Discounts: 5% discount of monthly bill if you pay by direct debit Friend and Family Type of Discount: 50% on call to 3 Friends and Family numbers Free Units Type of Discount: 10 SMS free per month, 100 minutes free per month

Now let’s understand Bonus Schemes and Loyalty points
Modules and Architecture: Billing Catalog Maintenance Now let’s understand Bonus Schemes and Loyalty points A mechanism in Geneva to give free units based on previous pattern of revenue Customers can have bonus scheme if they purchase a product which has a bonus scheme attached. A product whose usage is monitored may be different to the product that was purchased to qualify the scheme. Example: If customer takes standard subscription to internet, they will get 2 hours of free telephone calls for every 10$ spent on cable TV. Loyalty Points Awarded against usage, purchases or rentals Accumulated over a period of time May be exchanged at will against specified redemption options Price for Product + Package Price Discounts & Filters Bonus Schemes & Loyalty Points Budget Payment Plan & Payment Discounts Billing Catalog Price Plan and Packages

Budget Payment Plan & Payment Discounts
Modules and Architecture: Billing Catalog Maintenance Price for Product + Package Price Discounts & Filters Bonus Schemes & Loyalty Points Budget Payment Plan & Payment Discounts Billing Catalog Price Plan and Packages Now let’s understand Budget Payment Plan Concept A plan for payment against service or set of services. Can be tracked for deviation in planned payment and service charges and corrective measures can be taken. Payment Method Discounts Discount offered if certain payment scheme is selected.

Check Your Knowledge Start

Billing Catalog Maintenance DOES NOT include:
Discounts and Filters Packages and tariffs for packages Mapping of event to product Bonus Points and Loyalty schemes

The four types of Price Plans are:
Public, Package, Business, Comparison Public, Private, Package, Comparison Custom, Private, Package, Direct Group, Private, Package, Comparison

Price Overriding is: Ability to change price of product within set limits by an authorized CSR Ability for a customer to change price of product within set limits Ability to change price of product within set limits by an authorized Vendor Ability to change price of product within set limits by authorized dealer

The Results

Modules and Architecture: Rating Catalog Maintenance
Scope Bottom Up Approach Customer Account Maintenance Rating Catalog Maintenance Product Configuration System Configuration Billing Catalog Maintenance Now let’s understand the importance of Rating Catalog Maintenance Also we will able to understand which are the main entities of Rating Catalog which we can configure in Rating Catalog Maintenance.

In Rating Catalog Maintenance we can do configuration of Rate Plans to identify Usage charge. Cost Band: Distance based charging Time Rate: Time of the day based charging Event Class: Additional parameters based charging Charge Segments: Non-linear charging Costing Rules: Fine tuning of charges In Rating Catalog Maintenance Module we can Test the Rate plans.

Configuration Rating Catalog Maintenance (RCM) is used to: Create, test and publish rating catalogs in multiple currencies for multiple invoicing companies and for different parts of market segments Configure Rate plan which contains usage charges for product’s events based on Distance, Time, Volume etc. Rating Catalog Maintenance (RCM) gives support for: Various charging models: Linear, Non linear On Net and Off net charging QoS or CoS based charging Multidimensional rating facility

Important feature: Facility for test a rate plan before making it live
Modules and Architecture: Rating Catalog Maintenance Geneva’s Rating Catalog Maintenance (RCM) Provides Flexible pricing mechanism for product’s event Can create, test and publish rating catalogs in multiple currencies for multiple invoicing companies and for different parts of market segments Important feature: Facility for test a rate plan before making it live

Rating Catalog Tabs Cost Bands Charging Bands (geographical) Time Rates Time Rules Event Classes Event Sub-type Charge Segments Volume Rules Costing Rules Scale & Cost Rounding for an event Rate Plans Actually Holds Usage Prices Plan hold actual usage charges: Rate Plan: Gold Voice 500 Peak Local:5Rs./Min Off peak Local: 3Rs./Min Peak STD: 10Rs./Min

Rating Catalog & Rate Plan Constituents Cost Band (Where) A tab where various bands can be configured based on distance. Each band can be charged differently. Example: STD, ISD, LOCAL, On Net, Off Net Cost Bands + Time Rates Event Classes Charge Segments Costing Rules Prices Rating Catalog Rate Plan

Rating Catalog & Rate Plan Constituents Time Rate (When) A tab where various time slots can be identified and tagged so that charging can vary as per the time of the day. Geneva has facility to configure weekend days, week days as well as overrides Example: STD, ISD, LOCAL, On Net, Off Net Cost Bands + Time Rates Event Classes Charge Segments Costing Rules Prices Rating Catalog Rate Plan

Rating Catalog & Rate Plan Constituents Cost Bands + Time Rates Event Classes Charge Segments Costing Rules Prices Rating Catalog Rate Plan Event Class (How) A tab where special event parameters can be configured. Example: Direct Dial Call, Operator Connected Call, QoS A, QoS B etc.

Rating Catalog & Rate Plan Constituents Cost Bands + Time Rates Event Classes Charge Segments Costing Rules Prices Rating Catalog Rate Plan Charge Segment (How long/How big) A tab where in one can configure step wise charging (non linear charging) Example: 1st one Minute no charge, next 3 Minutes – 3 Rs./Min and there on 2 Rs./Min.

Rating Catalog & Rate Plan Constituents Costing Rule (Fragmentation/Rounding) This tab allows the configuration of scale and cost rounding for an event This will also take care of charging of call cross through peak and going towards off peak Example: How to charge if a call duration is 17 seconds, should be charged for 17 seconds or a minute? If cost of call is Rs. 2.23, then how to round charges. If a call starts in peak and ends in off peak how to calculate charge etc. is defined here. Cost Bands + Time Rates Event Classes Charge Segments Costing Rules Prices Rating Catalog Rate Plan

Rate Plan – All put together

Geneva Rate Plan 5 Dimensions Geneva Rate Plan Event Attribute Mapping Distance Based: Costband Local, LD, international, etc. Home zone, office zone, etc. Sale item, new release, etc. CDR, EDR, IPOR, proprietary, etc. Telephone Call Called Number Calling umber Duration Start date & Time Call Type Content Purchase Customer ID Content Provides Content Type Promotion Info No. of Instances Time Based: Time Rate Peak rate, off peak rate Weekday, weekend Volume Based: Charge Segment Mb, Kb, packets Seconds, minutes Data Transfer MB Sent/Received Latency Customer Type Location Port Shopping Brand Model Quality Quantity Purchase Date Event Category: Event Class Operator Assisted, Direct Dialed Success, Failure QoS (premium, standard) Round & Fragmentation: Costing Rule

This way by using contents of CDR, attributes for rate plans will be identified. Example: Cost Band (Distance based) Time Rate (Time based) Charge Segment (Volume based) Event Class (Event category based) Costing Rule (Rounding & Fragmentation) By using the combination of these attributes. Usage charges will be defined in Rate Plan.

Testing of Rate Plan Without running the RATE process, in Geneva we can Test the Rate Plan. In Test Rate Plan we can capture a scenario and Test the Rate Plan which we have configured.

Rating Catalog Tab DOES NOT include:
Cost Bands Time Rates Event Classes Package Price

Example of Cost Band would be:
STD, ISD, LOCAL, On Net, Off Net Peak, Off Peak Direct Dial Call, Operator Connected Call 1st one Minute no charge, next 3 Minutes -3 Rs./min

If a call starts in peak and ends in off peak how to calculate charge etc. is defined
Time Rates Cost Bands Costing Rule Event Classes

Geneva has facility to configure weekend days, week days but not overrides.
True False

A tab where various time slots can be identified and tagged so that charging can vary as per the time of the day is Time Rate. True False

Geneva has a facility to test a rate plan before making it live.
True False

A tab where special event parameters can be configured is Charge Segment.
True False

Costing Rule also take of charging of call cross through peak and going towards off peak.
True False

The Results

Modules and Architecture: Customer Account Maintenance
Importance Customer Account Maintenance application: Is one of the GUI based front end module of Geneva Is a mini CRM written in Delphi It is used to maintain end-to-end life cycle of customers, their accounts and products/services Bottom Up Approach Rating Catalog Maintenance Product Configuration System Configuration Billing Catalog Maintenance Customer Account Maintenance

It includes: Creation and maintenance of Customers Creation and maintenance of Accounts Maintenance of products and services purchased by customers Billing, Adjustments, Payments, Customer notes etc. With the help of this application, we can model lifecycle of an individual subscriber as well as company customer.

Now let us understand the main entity in Geneva – Customer. A person/company who purchases products/services, uses it and is legally obliged to settle invoices Customer can purchase product(s) or package(s) It is possible to model company hierarchy in Geneva by building up customer hierarchy No restriction on the number of levels in the hierarchy

Head Office Regional Office 1 Branch 1 Branch 2 Regional Office 2 Branch 3 Branch 4

Let’s find out what ate the Attributes of Customer Customer Type It can be Residential or Business customer Customer belongs to Invoicing Company Invoicing Company decides the products, plans as well as taxation Market Segment Segmentation of customer base for better pricing Controls the product, packages and tariffs that are available for sale to customer Geneva allows you to cater for market segments in billing catalogs: Specific product and package combinations for specific customers Customers can optionally be assigned to a market segment which can restrict the products and packages available to that customer

ICO, Market Segment Invoicing Company Each account is owned by a single invoicing company The invoicing company refers to the part of a Geneva operator that is legally operational within a single tax jurisdiction Geneva requires an ICO for each tax jurisdiction that the Geneva operator is registered in, whether via subsidiaries or multiple organizations It is an identity of the operator The one who provides telecom services to the customers and in turn charges by sending invoices It controls the available price plans for the customers It also controls availability of products as well as their taxation Customers and accounts are registered with invoicing company Example: Idea, Vodafone AirTel etc.

Let’s find out, what all Customer
Modules and Architecture: Customer Account Maintenance Customer Purchase Products/ Services Gets Invoice Make Payment Communicates with CSR Log Complaints What all Customer can do through CAM Let’s find out, what all Customer can do through CAM

Now let us understand which is an invoiced entity It is an entity which is invoiced i.e. invoices are generated at account level Can be Pre-pay or Post-pay It has currency – Accounting currency and Information currency Can have budget center underneath which are used for reporting purpose Products/services are associated to account/budget center Unlike customer hierarchy, Account is a flat structure i.e. in Geneva, we can not have Account hierarchy

Customer Hierarchy Customer AC Customer Hierarchy In Geneva Customer Hierarchy is allowed. One Parent Customer can have zero, one or more child customers. Customer can have one or more Accounts.

One Customer can have one or more accounts. Please note! In Geneva, Account hierarchy is not possible. Customer Account

Contact Contact is nothing but reach out details of a customer Types of contacts Statement contact for sending statement regarding account Billing contact for sending invoices Budget center contact for sending budget center reports Product contact for correspondence relating to product Note: An account will have always one Billing Contact at any point in time

Product Chargeable entity in Geneva i.e. Charges (usage or non-usage) are put against Products only Is configured in Product Configuration application but associated with Accounts or may also be with Budget Centers in CAM application May or may not generate events Event Generating product: GSM Product – Voice call event, SMS Event Non Event Generating product: Call Forwarding, Call Waiting For event generating products, Product to Event mapping is done in Product Configuration

Product Charges are associated with a product and the can be one-off, recurring or usage charges Non usage charges: configured using Billing Catalog Maintenance Usage charges: configured using Rating Catalog Maintenance

As a operator, you can sell an individual product or a product as a part pf a package Now let’s understand what is a Package? Packaging is a marketing strategy to sell a group of products at better price Configuration of Package pricing happens in Billing Catalog Maintenance application Package has predefined contents Products within a package can be mandatory or optional

Product/Package Allocation Scenarios In this scenario, one customer has purchased three products. In this “GSM GPRS Compo Package” is a Package and “GSM”, “Cable” are products. In Geneva, Products or Services are added to an Account and not at customer level Account can have zero, one or more Product or Packages Account GSM Cable GSM GPRS In this example, one account has three products GSM GPRS Combo Package One Invoice Generated as there is one Account

Product/Package Allocation Scenarios Let’s understand this scenario. One customer has three accounts each with one product. As there are three accounts, three invoices are generated. Account Account Account Account GSM Budget Center Fixed Cable Three invoices are generates as there are three accounts

Product Life Cycle During the lifecycle of product instance purchased by customer it can go through various states. Active Product can generate events/calls Suspended/Deactive products can not generate events Charging for product is possible in Active as well as Suspended state Pending Active Deactive Suspended

Budget Center It’s a reporting entity for an Account Report contains same data as bill, bur are sent for information purpose rather then as a payment request These reports are produced at the same time when the account is billed Reports may be sent to one or more contacts captured through CAM while configuring an account Is associated with an account and may be within a hierarchical structure PLH Customer PLH Account BC ESG-T BC ESG-B BC ESG-T Muscat BC Report

Cost Center Is used to subdivide a product’s event by separating the usage of a single event source Is set up at account level Consider a scenario, where different users of the account, with each person’s telephone calls being listed and subtotal separately. If Cost Centers are used there will still be only one final bill total. Customer Account Cost Center Product

CAM – Customer, Account & Products Let’s check the hierarchy in CAM

Now let’s understand what are disputes and adjustments? Do they favor the customer or the operator? Dispute Is a record of customer query raised against a bill only More than one dispute can be raised against a single bill Adjustments can be raised, when disputes are accepted Every dispute may not be valid and hence it can be rejected Adjustment Method of crediting or debiting an account after a bill has been issued Generally done as a part of response to dispute nevertheless adjustments without disputes are also allowed

Example Dispute: Customer calls CSR and says “I have not made so and so event” Process: Investigation Outcome: Accept dispute, perform adjustments or reject

A person or company who purchases products/services, uses it and is legally obliged to settle invoices Customer Account Contact Product

Packaging: Is a record of customer query raised against a bill only
Is a marketing strategy to sell a group of products at better price Is a method of crediting or debiting an account after a bill has been issued Is a reporting entity for an Account

__ is used to subdivide a product’s events by separating the usage of a single event source
Budget Center Cost Center Package Rate

A product may or may not generate event
True False

Non usage charges are configured using Rating Catalog Maintenance
True False

Example of Non Event Generating product is Call Forwarding, Call Waiting
True False

In Geneva, Products or Services are added to an Account level and not at customer level
True False

Adjustments without disputes are not allowed
True False

In Geneva, we can not have Account hierarchy
True False

The Results

Batch Processing (Rating & Billing)

Further, how does Geneva handle the billing and the payment?
Rating & Billing: Batch Processing There are so many plans we are offered and accordingly we are charged and billed. How does Geneva handle this complex project? Further, how does Geneva handle the billing and the payment? Since this is the complex project, there is always a chance of an error, how does it monitor and control the process? To add to the complexity, Geneva needs to handle a huge volume of transactions, how does it handle that?

Call Detail Recorder (CDR)
Rating & Billing: Batch Processing Now let’s understand importance of Rating Catalog Maintenance. Also we will be able understand which are the main entries of Rating Catalog which we can configure in Rating Catalog Maintenance. Batch Processing Mediation Call Detail Recorder (CDR) Data Collection Data Processing Data Distribution Network

Rating & Billing: Batch Processing
Let’s understand the Process Flow in Geneva. Reformatted (CDR) Mediation Call Detail Recorder (CDR) Data Collection Network Rating RATE Billing BG Data Distribution BDW, BF Rating Support for: Duplicate Event check Pre-rated event & re rating Batch as well as real time rating Reject event maintenance & rating External rating algorithm

Rating & Billing: Batch Processing
Let’s understand the Process Flow in Geneva. Reformatted (CDR) Mediation Call Detail Recorder (CDR) Data Collection Network Rating RATE Billing BG Data Distribution BDW, BF Billing Support for: Various types of bill Test and production bill Copy and reissue bill Exception bill

Rating & Billing: Rating Logic
To work out of the usage charges various attributes need to be identified. Identify who should be charged for the event Identify the tariff and service profile for event occurrence Identify the unit of measurement for the event Identify the location of the event occurrence Identify the day & time of the event occurrence Identify the service(s) used in the event

Massaging/Third party
Rating & Billing: Rating Highlights We understood that running “Rating Batch process” means identify the Usage charges. Let’s check out what are the other Rating highlights. Geneva Rating TCP/IP Socket File Based Massaging/Third party Network Rating Engine is based on C technology. Any number of Rating engines can be run in parallel. The Geneva Rating Engine can run in a number of ways: Test Rating facility, External Rating algorithm flexibility Partial event rating, Pre-rated events, Event authorization Multi Dimensional rating i.e. rating on time as well as number of bytes downloaded or uploaded Re-rating, Rejected event rating Real Time: Accepting both, whole events and partial event, via a socket interface or message bus, and communicating with the network for receipt acknowledgement and price. Batch Processing: Rating events via a scheduling process within Geneva (this can also be set to run all the time in daemon mode to achieve real time batch processing)

Rating & Billing: Billing Highlights
We understood that running “Billing Batch process” means apply the fixed charges. Let’s check it out what are the other Billing highlights. Hierarchical Billing Billing the whole customer hierarchy at the same time Exception Billing Too low or too high bill (Low, High limits configurable) Test Bill, Production Bill facility Different Bill types Initial Bill, Suspension Bill, Final Bill, Post Final Bill, Credit note Support for Copy Bill Reissue Bill Following features are also supported Bill cancellation Undo Billing Billing Engine is based on C category. Any number of Billing engines can be run in parallel.

Rating & Billing: The Process
Customer Order Management System Customer Data Product Data Tariff Data Customer Query/Dispute Adjustments Network Mediation CDR Collection Interface Rating Engine Transaction Data Billing Engine Invoicing & Dispatch Other Billing Inputs Tax, Template Accounting & Dunning

Rating & Billing: System
In Geneva Batch processes also known as Volume Processing Applications (VPA) can be executed on Unix Box or by using System Monitor which is GUI Application of Geneva. Controls and Schedules volume processing applications Displays errors immediately Schedules tasks Displays log files Executes custom processes It is the graphical user interface for scheduling, configuring and running volume processing applications

Running Volume Processes
Rating & Billing: Running Volume Processes Let’s understand how the processes can be scheduled for the execution Schedule is a collection of tasks to be executed with timelines A task is collection (series) of process plans Process plans within task are sequentially ordered Tasks can be run either as part of schedule or request The process plan defines the way in which volume processing application runs Which VPA should be used? Which parameters will be given?

Running Volume Processes
Rating & Billing: Running Volume Processes Volume processes can be run from both System Monitor or from UNIX command line. For running the processes form System Monitor it has to be configured on the system monitor. Every volume process uses some of the system parameters and hence it is necessary to understand how different system parameters affect the behavior of a specific volume process. Many processes can be run with different command line parameters giving flexibility of operation. For example, Billing can be run for a single account through use of command line parameter.

CDR stands for Call Detail Record Call Detail Reconciliation
Call Direct Record Cost Direct Record

Rating Logic will identify
The unit of measurement Tariff and service profile Location All of the above

The GUI for scheduling, configuring, and running volume processing applications is:
System Monitor Rating Engine Billing Engine Rating Logic

The Results

Geneva Overview.

Similar presentations

Presentation on theme: "Geneva Overview."— Presentation transcript:

Similar presentations

About project

Feedback

Log in

Auth with social network:

Geneva Overview.

Similar presentations

Presentation on theme: "Geneva Overview."— Presentation transcript:

Similar presentations

About project

Feedback