Introduction to Interconnect

Application
Intec
Financial
Automatic
Interconnect
Reconciliation
Manager
v7.1

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 Intec Interconnect v7.1

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 Introduction to Interconnect Billing
Interconnection is central to the development of a multi-operator telecoms market. In
the single operator environment when a customer makes a phone call, the incumbent
operator manages the end-to-end process of delivering the call to its destination and
then bills the customer for it.
The benefits of a multi-operator environment would be very limited if customers were
only able to talk to people connected to the same operator, so operators are required
to interconnect their networks together and pass interconnect traffic to each other.
The customer should be unaware that a call has been carried across multiple networks.
The operator, with whom the originating customer has a contract, collects the money
for the call from the customer and the other operators involved in delivering the call
claim their costs back at agreed interconnect rates.
For the new entrant, interconnection is an immediate issue because it needs to send
calls from its customers to destinations outside its network. The easiest way of
doing this is to hand the calls over to the incumbent operator to deliver. In the early
days of operation, a new entrant can expect over 90% of the calls it carries to either
originate or terminate outside its network.

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 Interconnect Process
Telecom operators send/receive data (calls or SMS) to/from other
operators. If these calls are within the network then telecom operator
can send/receive them without interconnecting. If this sending/
receiving of calls is to/from other operators (outside the network) then
both the operators needs to be interconnected i.e. both operators should
have a network based interconnect to send/receive calls to/from the
network.
Interconnection is the physical linking of a carrier's network with
equipment or facilities not belonging to that network. The term may
refer to a connection between a carrier's facilities and the equipment
belonging to its customer, or to a connection between two (or more)
carriers. Interconnect business is financial transaction between two
operators for exchange of services.

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 Interconnect Process

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 Need for Interconnect Billing
Not all carriers have their own network in all countries
Specific carriers have competitive advantage in specific
countries
Leveraging the reach and efficiency of other carriers
against your own
Verify incoming invoices and accurately invoice other
operators for the traffic that passes between them
Establishing long-term business relationships to ensure a
slice of the pie
Settlement mechanism across variety of access networks
(fixed and mobile, NLD and ILD)

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 Intec Interconnect - Application
Architecture
Application Overview
InterconnecT is the world’s most comprehensive and
powerful settlements system. It handles every kind of
traffic - from simple voice to the most advanced data
and content services - in a single, highly-integrated
platform. It helps operators across the globe to
improve profit margins, meet strict regulatory and
audit compliance requirements and comply with the
broadest range of global standards.

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 Application Architecture
The application (Intec Interconnect) logical architecture
divides into two broad components:
Batch Component: Batch components run scheduled
processes and daemons on one or more servers or processing
boxes to process EDR data.
Online Component: The Online component provides a user
interface from a client workstation. This interface enables
users to insert and modify configuration data, schedules and
initial parameters, correct invalid EDR entries, perform bulk
loading of business data, launch a reporting interface, and
create and modify business data manually.

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 Application Architecture
The application uses the Oracle database management
system to provide two logical categories of databases:
Central database: The Central database is used to
store system configuration values, security values and
message logging data.
Application database: The application database is
used to store application-specific and business data.

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 Upstream and Downstream for
Interconnect
Upstream Areas of Interconnect
1. Mediation
2. IDAM
 Downstream Areas of Interconnect
1. Data Warehouse Interface
2. Revenue Assurance
3. ERP

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 Login Process
To login to Interconnect client application, enter the
below URL in the web browser.
For PRD Environment: [Link]
For TST Environment: [Link]
Note: FTP location is [Link] (gnnict21)
Note: FTP location is [Link] (gnnict81)

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 As soon as one accesses the link, a page will appear similar to one in the screen shot
below. The hyperlink in the page will start the application on the remote system.

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 A login screen will appear and entering the credentials will start the
application

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 Reference Data
Data must be entered into the application for the correct
rating of all the calls. This loaded data is known as the
Reference Data.

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 Reference data configuration
The reference data must be enter in an hierarchical manner that is shown below :
Organisation Group
Organisation
Point of Interconnect
Network Address
Network Node
Path
Product
Agreement
Agreement Parameter
Rating Scenario
Rating Scenario Determination
Rating Component
Rating Rule
Tier
Tier Derivation Style
Time Premium
Calendar
Rating Calendar
Rate
Billing Period

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 CDR PROCESSING
Defining format: It indicates which network operators make use of the network
address for billing purposes.
Input File Format Tab: Provide an ID and Name on the Input File Format tab of
the Detail section. Only external ("EXT") formats can be created on this window.
Record Tab: Manage the Input File record details on the Record Tab of the Detail
Section. To add the record type to the list of record types in a record of the input
file, use the Add New button. If a record has a header or trailer section, specify
these as the record type and insert the length as its number of ASCII characters in
the Detail Section of the Record Tab.
Record Type: The values available for selection are: DTL-Detail Record, TRL-
Trailer Record, TTL-Total Record, HDR-Header Record.
Record Length: Specify length of record by entering a numeric value in the
Record Length text field.
Field Tab: To add fields to a record format, select a field name, format mask,
justification for the field on the Field tab of the Detail section of the main panel

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 Batch Monitor
The Batch number displays the highest batch number. In other words, it displays the batch
number of the most recent batch rating job.
If there is no current batch job running, the Batch Number field will be empty. The Status
field displays the status of the current Batch. If the latest rating job is active the field will
display Active, otherwise the field will display Complete. The fields in this group box are
repopulated when the user clicks the Filter button in the Search Section or when an auto-
refresh is performed.
The Start Pricing button starts a new rating (pricing) job immediately. Once the Start Pricing
button is clicked the value displayed in the Status field will display "Scheduled". This
button will be disabled if there is a current Active Pricing job. The user has the ability to
then perform a refresh on the panel to ensure that the Status of Pricing becomes "Active". If
there is no active Pricing job and one has been scheduled the Status field will be set to
"Scheduled" and the Start Pricing button will be disabled.
The Stop Pricing button will stop the current running pricing job. This button will be disabled
if there is no Active pricing job. Once the Stop Pricing button has been clicked the Status
field will display "Terminating". Clicking the Filter button in the Search Section once the
Stop Pricing button has been selected will change the Status of pricing to complete.

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 Job Status
This panel displays the status of all transient and daemon
processes. The Search group on the panel holds filter options
for jobs and configurations. Configurations such as Archive,
Bulk Load, Bulk Export, Bulk Authorise, and Bulk Delete and
so on can be seen on this panel. The processing status of jobs
and configurations can be requested while jobs are processed.
The Job Status Monitor is used by Administrators to examine the
details of and control (stop, stop immediately) previously
scheduled jobs, possibly overriding the particulars of a
scheduled job. This monitor provides Administrators with a
view for troubleshooting and the administration and load
balancing of tasks on servers.

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 EDR Error Management
The panel is used to resubmit EDRs for Processing using the
Reprocess or Bulk Reprocess buttons once the corresponding
incorrect reference data has been fixed or missing reference data
has been added.
Reprocess the selected error EDR after the EDR or related Business
data have been modified by clicking the Reprocess button.
Display the EDRs for the view by clicking the EDR Drilldown
button.
Access the EDR Editor panel displaying the data from the error EDR
by clicking the EDR Editor Button.
Access the Product Group panel containing business reference data
for the selected error EDR to modify business reference data for
error EDRs by clicking the Reference Data button

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 Error Value Summary
The Error Value Summary panel allows the user to investigate the errors obtained
during Rating.
To filter EDRs and to select a view category for processed EDRs, use the options in the
Search Section. The drops down list boxes in the Search Section provide filter options.
Put the required valid data and reprocess all filtered EDR records on the Create
Schedule dialog by clicking the Re-process button.
The List Section displays a grid that allows multi-selection of rows.
If one or more rows in the grid are selected, these rows will be used in conjunction with
the Search section to determine criteria to mark Error EDRs. If no rows are selected, this
action will launch a Bulk Reprocess schedule with criteria as per Search section.
Display the EDRs for the view by clicking the EDR Drilldown button. Clicking the
EDR Drilldown button will open the Error EDR window.
Once you understand the error cause you can correct this by adding or modifying the
required valid reference data.
Reprocess the selected error EDR after the EDR or related Business data have been
modified by clicking the Reprocess button.

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 Repricing
Rated EDRs and Daily Summaries can be repriced. Re-
Rating may be required if Reference Data has been
updated, for example where new or corrected
Reference Data applicable to Rated EDRs has been
entered. The Structural and Summary Level Repricing
panel provides an interface for such repricing.
 Re-rating can take place in two forms:
Summary-Level Repricing
Structural Repricing

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 Reprocessing
The panel (Administration | Error Management | Error
EDRs) is used to resubmit EDRs for Processing using
the Reprocess button after the corresponding incorrect
reference data has been fixed or missing reference data
has been added.

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 Automated Reconciliation

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 AR Overview
Interconnect Automated Reconciliation (IAR) helps operators to
minimize both interconnect payments and the costs associated
with bill reconciliation through automation and tighter
reconciliation processes.
IAR is a powerful solution to the problem of settling large and
complex interconnect bills between telecoms operators.
Such bills commonly represent tens or even hundreds of millions of
Pounds of both revenue and cost to carriers, and even small delays
and inaccuracies in settlement can have a substantial impact on
cash flow and profitability.
It enables information to be compared at multiple levels of detail
ranging from the comparison of billing summaries to the
comparison of EDRs.

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 Flowchart for the Reconciliation Process
Agreements
1. Setup File formats
Rule Templates

Extract CDRs Local CDR File

2. Obtain partner CDR file

3. Match CDRs Match Statistics

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 Benefits of Interconnect AR
Swift Settlement and Payment
Cost Effective Solution
Flexibility
Automated Comparison
Cash-flow management
Streamlined and Timely
Adherence to Common Agreed Process
Discrepancy Detection at Initial Stages
Higher Security

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 Need of Interconnect AR
There are many reasons why the two accounts of the
same thing may vary so widely, including the
following:
Out of Date Rates
Numbering Errors
Day Elements
Duplicate and Ineffective Calls
Rounding

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 Architecture of Reconciliation
Reconciliation Solution ties the order data to payment
activity data from the payment network, taking
automated action to resolve discrepancies and charge
backs per the defined business rules, and generating
exception reports to enable targeted, efficient, staff
action.

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 Concepts of IAR

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 Agreements
An Agreement is used to describe the physical agreement
with an Interconnect operator and includes the names
of the operators used in the agreement, the validity
period of the agreement as well as a set of system and
user parameters.
When setting up agreements users specify the operators
who have agreed to reconcile. The agreement is
applicable only during the specified validity period.

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 Aggregation
For accounting and reconciliation purposes operators
need to categorize the billable traffic data into
manageable levels for aggregation.
The Interconnect AR module processes billable traffic
data in the form of Aggregation Units (AUs). The Aus
are at a higher level of aggregation than the summaries
of the Interconnect system.
The format of the AU is user-defined. Since the system
works with charges in the form of AUs the definition
of Aus is an important setup in the Interconnect AR
module.
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 Exchange
The aggregated data at the AU level is exchanged
between the operators for reconciliation.
The AUs and CDRs are exchanged by way of files.
There are two types of file formats:
Incoming file format: Incoming file format is Partner
CDR Format.
Outgoing file format: Outgoing file format is Franchise
CDR Format.

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 Reports
All reports are ordered from the Reports menu and are
generated on the basis of the parameter values you
specify.
In interconnect AR main report is VTCM Match job
statistics report.
The VTCM Match Job Statistics Report shows
matched results per matching rule. This enables users
to see how many calls and how much call time
(aggregated) were matched.

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 VTCM (Volume Traffic CDR Matching
The VTCM functionality is used for matching high
volumes of traffic CDRs.
This is achieved through the extraction of CDR data
from the database and matching this with data received
from a partner interconnect operator.

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 Steps for Volume Traffic CDR Matching
Step 1: VTCM ->VTCM
Step2: Extraction
Extraction is the process of extracting data from the
databases and creating CDR files. The extract process
creates files with one or more of the CDR attributes (Call
start date; Call start time; A number; B number; Call
duration).

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 Steps for Volume Traffic CDR Matching

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 Steps for Volume Traffic CDR Matching
Step 3: Extract jobs
All jobs and results are stored per interconnecting
operator and agreement. Navigate to the 'Extract Jobs'
folder for viewing and creating extract jobs.

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 Steps for Volume Traffic CDR Matching
Once it is finished successfully. You can check that CDR
data is extracted and stored at path:
For TST:
/ict_test_ar/product/iar/VTCM//<agreement_name>/<
Franchise _name>/new/
Step 4: Put CDRs of billing operator at path:
For TEST:
/ict_test_ar/product/iar/VTCM//<agreement_name>/<
Billing _Operator_name>/new/

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 Steps for Volume Traffic CDR Matching
Step 5: Define “Rule Templates”

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 Steps for Volume Traffic CDR Matching
Step 6: Define “Match Jobs”
Matching is the process where file sets are compared using
matching rules. In some cases files supplied by other
operators contain prefixes to A or B numbers. In such cases
users could first try to match based on the full number. If
this is not successful users could try to match on a substring.
CDR matching can be based on the A number or B number
with several substring rules, the Call duration, with a
maximum duration offset or on the Call start date and time,
with a maximum clock offset to cater for different switch
clocks.

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 Steps for Volume Traffic CDR Matching

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 Steps for Volume Traffic CDR Matching
Once it is completed successfully. You can see the Match Statistics in
Match jobs->Match Statistics.

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 FINANCIAL MANAGER

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 Financial Manager Overview
Interconnect Financial Manager is an Interconnect sub-
system that focuses on financial operations.
Main functionalities:

Invoice design, generation and control

Account Tracking

ERP interface

Reports generation

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 Architecture of FM
Financial Manager was built based on distributed services architecture.
This architecture provides a set of components to perform operations
from connections and importations – retrieving data from source
systems - to distributions – producing the outputs.

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 Basic Components
Financial Manager has a set of basic components required to perform its
operations. These components can be presented either as services or batches
in the system.
Services are components that are available to perform operations requested only
by batches or by themselves. In the other hand, batches are components that
perform their operations requested by the user, using services or not.
As Financial Manager extracts data from Interconnect system, there is a
component called Connector, that is a service, and it is responsible to search and
retrieve data from Interconnect database and maps it into Financial Manager data
model. The Connector is used by Aggregator component, which is a batch, to
obtain data that will be summarized in Financial Manager database.
The outputs produced by Financial Manager are based on data aggregated by
both components described above and they are generated by a component called
Distributor, that is a service, and it is responsible to produce the invoice and ERP
interface files and reports as well. The available formats to generate the outputs
are CSV, PDF, XLS, HTML and XML.

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 Basic Components
Financial Manager can also import data from flat files. For that, a component
called Importer is available as a batch and supports positional and delimited text
plain files.
There is a specific component to import data of operators from Interconnect. This
component is a batch called Synchronizer that makes access through the
Connector. Its functionality is retrieve all operators from Interconnect to be used
for invoicing, ERP interfacing and reports purposes in Financial Manager. Also,
this component can import users from Interconnect that will be used to login in
the system.
Another component that is responsible to raise alarm events is called Alarm that
operates as a batch. This component can send e-mails or SMS messages, when
available, to notify users about some conditions when they are reached.
Financial Manager also has 3 other components that act as services and are
responsible to make things work: Scheduler – controlling the components
activation and execution, Data processor – preparing data to produce the outputs
and Service Manager – managing all services available in the system.

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 Administration
Financial Manager has some configurations to be
defined to make the system operational. These
configurations are made through the GUI.
The system administration comprises the groups and
users creation, system configuration, batches and
services management.
Groups and users are responsible to define the access
and also privileges for end users.

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 Account Management
Financial Manager has a module to manage invoicing and account tracking.
This module is responsible to allow the user to create, maintain and view
invoices and to add and view transactions and manage their types.
Invoices are outputs produced by Financial Manager based on an invoice type
that contains its data layout, filter and specific configurations.
New invoice types can be created by maintain functionality and are used by
generate functionality to produce the invoice files. The generated invoices can
be tracked and viewed by view functionality.
Transactions are records about financial operations that can be tracked in
Financial Manager. These transactions are defined by a specific type. Each type
contains its properties, standard or user-defined.
New transaction types can be created as well as its properties and a transaction
is the definition of values for an instance of a transaction type.
All transactions in Financial Manager are traceable, once they are recorded, and
can be viewed or presented on user-defined reports.

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 ERP Interfacing
Financial Manager has a module to manage ERP interfacing, accounts and entities
mapping. This module is responsible to allow the user to create, maintain and
view ERP interface files and to manage accounts and entities mapping for the
ERP system.
ERP interfaces are outputs produced by Financial Manager based on an ERP type
that contains its data layout, filter and specific configurations.
New ERP types can be created by maintain functionality and are used by generate
functionality to produce the ERP interface files. The generated ERP interfaces can
be tracked and viewed by view functionality.
Account mapping is the module responsible to keep the relation between some
criteria and account identifiers from the ERP system. This module can define a
relationship between the records presented on the ERP interface file and the
expected account in the ERP system.
Entity mapping is the module responsible to keep the relation between franchises
and operators and their client and supplier identifiers in the ERP system.

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 Analysis
Financial Manager has a module to produce financial
and validation reports. These reports are based on
financial data from Financial Manager by the same
source for invoices and ERP interfaces.
Financial reports summarize the information regarding
invoices, ERP interfaces and account tracking.
Validation reports provide an analysis regarding the
consistency between the data from Interconnect and
those included in the invoices and ERP interface files.
It also checks if the feedback information is available,
namely the number of files and records received by the
ERP system.
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 Alarms
Financial Manager has a module to notify users when
some conditions on financial data are reached. The
notification is sent by e-mail, when an address is
configured for users that are assigned to receive it.
Alarm conditions can be defined by the user on
aggregated data and there is a module to raise
notifications that can be executed on-demand or
scheduled.

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 Concepts of FM

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 ADMINISTRATION
General Administration allows the user to do following tasks:
Configure and manage user groups
Create and manage users and their privileges
System settings:
Language definition
Modules settings
E-mail and SMS server configurations
Upload images and templates
System Log and Audit Log
Batches and services are managed

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 Groups Menu
 A user group defines the access privileges to a set of users.
An user, with the proper privileges, can add, edit and delete
groups.

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 Users Menu
Adding a user’s account is made through the users listing
screen by clicking on the [add] button.

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 Batches Menu
Batches are binary modules that perform a task.

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 Services Menu
Services are binary modules needed by Financial
Manager to work properly.

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 Reference Data
Allows authorized users for each one of those modules
to create and maintain property types, generic rules,
taxes types an values, operators imported from
InterconnecT or new ones, aggregation keys to define
data structure for outputs, data layouts to define the
output formats and filters to define filtering criteria.

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 Properties Menu
Properties are attributes which can be associated both
to franchises and operators or associated to one or
another

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 Rules Menu
Financial Manager allows the user to define rules for several
purposes.
Example, certain operators use these rules to perform
currency conversions.
The rules screen also allows the following operations:
Remove: by clicking in the ‘garbage’ icon of the
corresponding line. This icon is only available when the
rule was already not configured.
Edit: by clicking on the label or name of the rule.
Add: by clicking on the [add] button.

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 Rules Menu

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 Taxes Menu
Taxes are placed in a hierarchic structure, named tree,
so the user can classify them accordingly dynamic
parameters to derive a tax value.

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 ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT

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 Invoicing Menu
This feature makes the configuration, generation and
view of invoices. The following functionalities are
available for invoices:
Generate Invoices
Maintain Invoices
View Invoices

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 Invoicing Menu

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 Generate Invoices
To access invoice generation setting definitions, click on account
management > invoicing > generate on the left menu of Financial
Manager.
The settings definitions are used to define invoices that will be generated
by the system. They are created based upon an invoice type defined in
maintain screen. A settings definition is composed by four steps:
Settings
Filter
Details
Schedule

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 Generate Invoices

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 Generate Invoices

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 Generate Invoices

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 Generate Invoices

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 Generate Invoices

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