|
Term |
Description |
|
AAA Server |
Authentication, Authorization and Accounting
Server. |
|
Access Scheme |
Access schemes can be used to limit subscribers'
access to the network during specified periods. DCP uses two values
to enforce network access restrictions: a maximum number of
simultaneous logons for each user and time frames defined in an access
scheme. An access scheme may apply to a group of users. |
|
Account |
DCP entity containing general subscriber
information. |
|
Account Hierarchy |
An account hierarchy is a number of accounts, which
are related to one another for the purpose of invoicing. The
relationship is established by assigning one or more sub-accounts to a
master account. Each sub-account can
itself be a master account, in that it may have sub-accounts assigned
to it. DCP imposes no restrictions on the depth and complexity of
account hierarchies. An account hierarchy allows a user to determine
whether to invoice accounts individually or through the master
account.
See also Master Account and Sub-account |
|
Account Type |
See Billing Cycle. |
|
Accounting |
The post-processing of rated CDRs. Examples of
accounting actions are: •
Discounts/promotional offers, e.g. free minutes.
• Discount operations performed in real-time.
• Revenue distribution across customer
hierarchies.
Most accounting functionality is connected with
billing. |
|
Accounting Engine |
The Accounting Engine receives billing events from
the Rating Engine. The Accounting Engine uses the billing events to
update the account balances, and checks whether the updated accounts
have exceeded their credit limit. |
|
* ACE |
SBC legacy billing system. |
|
ACL |
Access Control List. |
|
Activation Code |
DCP can generate activation codes and PIN codes for
users of, for example, the Web Self-Registration interface that
provides end-users with access to specific services offered by the
service provider (e.g. Internet access). |
|
Adjustment |
Positive or negative adjustment to an account. |
|
ADSL |
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. A technology
for transmitting digital information at a high bandwidth on ordinary
telephone lines to homes and businesses. Unlike dial-up services,
ADSL is a continuous connection. ADSL is asymmetric in that it uses
most of the channel to transmit downstream to the user and only a
small part to receive information from the user. ADSL also provides
analog communication on the same line. |
|
Agent |
(See CSR) |
|
API |
Application Program Interface.
Application Programming
Interface. |
|
AS |
Application Server. |
|
Assessment |
A variable used to evaluate a threshold, i.e. an
Assessor Value. The assessment is within the Discount Set. |
|
Assessor |
A versioned object defined in the user interface to
select billing events according to a set of criteria and aggregate
their values. The application of Assessors to billing events results
in the creation of Assessor. Values.
Assessor Values serve as the basis for determining whether a discount
should apply and to calculate the amount of the discount. Assessor
API A programming interface used by the Discounting Engine to retrieve
Assessor Values from the database. |
|
Assessor Process |
A software module/process that supports discounting
in DCP by detecting which Assessors are associated with an account and
by calculating Assessor Values. |
|
Audit Trail |
DCP keeps audit trail information as part of the
user's account record. All activities within an account's history are
recorded through the audit trail. Audit trails are also an aspect of
most DCP elements, e.g. products, rate schemes, VAT schemes, etc., to
allow tracking of who changed what and when. It will no longer apply
only to accounts. |
|
Authentication |
The verification of a claimed identity. It
typically takes place when a subscriber attempts to access online
services. It is also a process of determining that the subscriber is
known to the system and therefore can therefore be granted access. DCP
supports the authentication protocol known as RADIUS as standard.
Support for other protocols can be added as required. |
|
Authorization |
The determination of whether a particular right can
be granted, for example, the right of access to a resource or
application. It is a process of determining whether resources required
for an online session to be established are available (such as IP
address, port, etc.). If the resources are available when a user known
to the system attempts to log on, the logon is authorized by the
system. |
|
Backdoor Files |
A group name for inputs to CPM other than DCP, i.e.
Finance Unbillable, Credit Card Reject, Credit Card Chargeback files
or the ACE Re-bill file. |
|
Billing Cycle |
A billing cycle is a period of time associated with
one or more subscriber accounts for billing purposes. All billing
events (charges) applied to an account during a billing cycle are
reflected in an invoice generated after the billing cycle has ended. |
|
Bill Cycle Run |
DCP bill generator. Process
aggregates billing events and produces Financial Transaction Header
records. Records are used for optional invoice generation or bill
file generation.
A process designed to manage generation of invoices
in DCP. It consists of a number of discrete phases handled by
different DCP subsystems. Each billing cycle run begins with selection
of accounts to process. Subsequent phases include calculation of
invoice data (Financial Transactions), document generation (creation
of actual invoices and document images), and commitment of the
generated invoice data, invoice documents and invoice images to the
database. Each phase can be run manually or automatically. In manual
mode, the user can execute the phase, review its output, undertake
corrective action, view statistics for the stage, cancel the stage
(roll-back) or move to the next stage. |
|
* Billing Eligibility |
Not on a Zero-rated Bill plan, e.g. 60-day-free
Dial, In-region Move, Complimentary. |
|
Billing Event |
Each line item from a purchase shopping basket will
be stored in DCP as a billing event.
A database record reflecting the monetary value of
a service usage session or a product subscription charge; the monetary
values of billing events are applied to accounts to adjust the
outstanding balance. DCP also uses billing events to apply payments,
discounts, etc. |
|
Billing Event Type |
Each Billing Event will be stored with a specific
Billing Event Type. Billing Events can be aggregated and invoiced by
Billing Event Types.
Billing Event Type Category of billing events. For ordering and
sorting items on invoices. |
|
Bridge |
A device that connects and passes packets between
two network segments that use the same communications protocol.
Bridges operate at the data link layer (layer 2) of the OSI reference
model. In general, a bridge will filter, forward, or flood an incoming
frame based on the MAC address of that frame. |
|
BTN |
Billing Telephone Number. Synonym with an account
signed up for Telco billing. |
|
Cache |
A small fast memory holding recently accessed data,
designed to speed up subsequent access to the same data. |
|
Campaign |
A previously defined marketing campaign that
resulted in the customer buying the product, which can then be
selected when adding a product to an account in DCP. |
|
CARA |
Classification and Rating Administration.
Institution determining ratings for Movies.
-
G - General Audiences
-
PG - Parental Guidance Suggested
-
PG-13 - Parents Strongly Cautioned
-
R - Restricted
-
NC-17 - No One 17 And Under Admitted
|
|
Category ID |
01 for movies… This DCP
EDR field value is validated against the Incoming Product ID values in
the CPM Database. |
|
CC |
Credit Card |
|
CDR |
Content Data Record – also called CSR and EDR. (See Transaction)
Call Detail Record. A CDR can only be defined as
part of a service type (but is required only if the services based on
the service type are to be rated – true for most services). CDRs are
used internally within DCP for rating. In post-rating, a CDR reflects
a subscriber’s usage of a service during one session or it reflects a
subscription charge. In pre-rating, a CDR corresponds to a pre-rating
request from the network element (pre-rating CDRs are also referred to
as PRDRs). CDRs are created by Mediation Agents or by the Charge
Generator and sent to Rating Engines, which use them to perform
pre-rating and post-rating calculations. Post-rating CDRs can also be
added to a store of historical information and used to generate
statistical information. Several post-rating CDRs can be generated for
a single session. Each CDR includes a unique identifier, a
subscription ID, timestamp information and other attributes that vary
depending on the service type with which it is associated. |
|
CDR Collection Point |
DCP collects details of the subscribers’ use of
services at CDR Collection Points. They are typically, but not
exclusively, log files. The information they collect can be considered
as raw call data. CDR Collection Points are associated with network
elements. CDR Failstore A repository of CDRs for which the rating
process or mapping failed. It is configured during DCP installation.
In DCP, there are two types of CDR fail store – fail store(s) used by
Rating Engines and fail stores local to Mediation Agents. A Rating
Engine fail store may be either a disk based file or it can be a set
of database tables where failed CDRs are saved. A fail store holds
each failed CDR, an error code and a description of the cause of
failure. See also Mediation Agent Fail store |
|
CGI Common Gateway Interface |
A set of rules that describes how a web server
communicates with another application running on the same computer and
how the application (called a CGI program) communicates with the web
server. Any application can be a CGI program if it handles input and
output according to the CGI standard. |
|
CHAP |
Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol. A
security feature supported on lines using PPP encapsulation that
prevents unauthorized access. CHAP itself does not prevent
unauthorized access; it merely identifies the remote end. The router
or access server then determines whether that user is allowed access. |
|
Charge Generator |
A software module in DCP that generates CDRs
reflecting product subscription charges (activation/termination and
recurring charges) and submits these CDRs to a Rating Engine. The
principles of its operation are similar to those of a Mediation Agent. |
|
Classification |
A text string that identifies sub-categories among
billing events of the same type, time bands, or other objects used in
discounting. For example, a billing event type category "usage charge"
may include billing events that result from execution of different
rating scripts or different nodes in a Rate Scheme. A classification
traces the underlying CDR's path through the rating process, and
allows DCP to distinguish between billing events within the category
"usage type". Classifications make it possible to discount usage of
specific products, subscriptions, or to offer discounts for usage at
specific times. |
|
Commercial Service |
DCP entity defining commercial attributes and
features of a service.
An entity, which defines a service that can be sold as part of a
product. It can be regarded as a specific instance of a service type
with further information about business rules (e.g. how to rate the
CDRs). A commercial service can define parameters and/or provide
values for parameters defined on the underlying service type. Rating
scripts (post-rating and if appropriate also pre-rating) are
associated with commercial services.
DCP entity defining
commercial attributes and features of a service. |
|
Commercial Service Subscription |
An entity, which represents a subscription to, a
specific commercial service included in a product. An account may
subscribe to zero, one or more commercial services. End-users do not
subscribe to commercial services directly, but subscribe to commercial
services through a product. A commercial service subscription can
provide values for parameters defined on the underlying commercial
service and service type. See also Product.
DCP entity representing a subscription to a
specific Commercial Service included in a Product. |
|
Consumer |
A person purchasing content from
the Merchant. End-user subscribing to MTB service (same as
Customer). The consumer’s Username and
Password is authenticated by SBC’s MPS. |
|
Content |
An internet data item that is purchased from a
Merchant via a shopping cart – examples are a: movie, game, song,
ringtone, picture, ebook, video, etc. |
|
Content Provider |
(See Merchant) |
|
Content Category |
A grouping of similar Content – i.e. Movies, Games,
Music, Ringtones, Graphics, Digital Photos, eBooks, Videos, etc. |
|
CORBA |
Common Object Request Broker Architecture. |
|
CPM |
Content Partner Management - Intec application that
was combined with DCP and other interfaces to create the Intec MTB
product. |
|
Credit limit |
The maximum amount allowed for purchasing content
during a bill cycle. Post paid over multiple bill cycles; control
outstanding balance. |
|
* CRM |
SBC Customer Relationship Manager. |
|
CS |
See Commercial Service. |
|
CSR |
Content Service Record – also
called CDR and EDR. (See Transaction) |
|
CSR CCR |
Customer Service Representative
(Customer Care Representative). The person who handles customer
requests such as finding account balances or billing errors over the
customer help line. Someone who works with Helpdesk, Accounts, and
Provisioning in DCP for a service provider, and deals with
subscribers' accounts. |
|
CSS |
See Commercial Service Subscription. |
|
Customer |
A person purchasing content from
the Merchant. End-user subscribing to MTB service (same as
Consumer). The customer’s Username and
Password is authenticated by SBC’s MPS. |
|
DCP |
Dynamic Charging Platform - Intec application that
was combined with CPM and other interfaces to create the Intec MTB
product.
A modular system designed to support the business
operations of a provider of IP-based communications services in terms
of active mediation (DCP Base), rating and balance management (DCP
Realtime Rating and Balance Management modules) and invoicing and
customer care (DCP Billing and Customer Support module). Where an
installation does not include the optional modules, the DCP Base
System is capable of interacting with any existing OSS/BSS solution
providing rating and balance management and/or invoicing capabilities. |
|
DHCP |
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol |
|
DIA |
Dedicated Internet Access |
|
Discount |
Action States which billing events are to be
discounted and by how much. Once the Discount Conditions have been
satisfied (if any are defined), all Discount Actions connected to a
Discount Rule are carried out. |
|
Discount Condition |
Describes the criterion for qualifying under a
Discount Rule, i.e. a value to compare with. |
|
Discount Rule |
A set of zero or more Discount Conditions and one
or more Discount Actions that are to be applied when a Discount
Condition is fulfilled. |
|
Discounting |
A rule-based process of reducing standard charges
applicable to accounts and products. Discounting is defined through a
number of versioned objects such as Discount Models (which include
Discount Rules, Discount Conditions and Discount Actions). |
|
Discounting Engine |
A software module invoked by the Financial
Transaction Generator to apply discounts to accounts. Its output is
discount-billing events; therefore it is executed before the Financial
Transaction Generator produces Financial Transactions. |
|
DNS |
Domain Name Service
Domain Name System. System used in the Internet
for translating names of network nodes into addresses. |
|
Document Converter |
A program developed to the specification of the
service provider to produce paper or electronic invoices. It uses the
output of the Financial Transaction Generator and also document
modeling information, contact details, method and terms of payment
data and other relevant information lodged in the database. |
|
DSL |
Digital Subscriber Line |
|
DSLAM |
DSL Access Multiplexor |
|
DTD |
Document Type Definition.
Defines legal building blocks of an XML document. |
|
Dynamic IP |
Temporarily assigning an IP
address to a requesting Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
computer from a pool of IP addresses. The temporary IP address is
called a dynamic IP address. |
|
EDR |
Event Data Record – also called CDR and CSR. (See
Transaction.)
DCP creates retail CDRs and sends them to CPM for
settlement. |
|
End (Rating) Filter |
The final rating filter in a rate scheme. End
filters are the only rating filters to which a series of chargeable
attributes are attached. The chargeable attributes attached to an end
filter are assigned monetary values to allow the calculation of a cost
for the CDR. See Rating Filter. |
|
Enrollment |
The act of establishing an
active MTB customer. |
|
Enumeration |
Enumerations give an administrator the option to
define the contents of various drop-down lists in DCP. |
|
ESRB |
Entertainment Software Rating Board. Institution
determining ratings for Games.
-
EC – Early Childhood
-
E – Everyone
-
T – Teen
-
M – Mature
-
AO – Adults Only
-
RP – Rating Pending
|
|
Fail store |
See CDR Fail store. |
|
Financial Transaction |
Output of the Financial Transaction Generator;
contains all the information required in an invoice regarding an
invoice account and its sub-accounts for one or more billing periods.
A Financial Transaction reflects service usage, subscription charges,
one-off charges, discounts, tax (VAT), products, services, billing
events, etc. It is typically used as basis for creating paper and
electronic invoices. |
|
Financial Transaction Generator |
The DCP Transaction Financial Generator retrieves
call-pricing information from the master database and uses it to
generate invoicing information (Financial Transaction Records) that
can be used by software outside DCP to create paper and electronic
invoices. |
|
FSP |
Functional Specification (Intec) |
|
FTG |
Financial Transaction Generator.
DCP Billing Engine which generates the data for invoices. FTG runs in
the BillCycleRun Calculation phase. |
|
FTH |
Financial Transaction Header.
Contains header information like total invoice amount, due date,
transaction date etc. of an invoice and is stored in database table. |
|
* Franchise ID |
This DCP EDR field value is
validated against the Franchise ID value in the CPM database. For
SBC, valid value is “SBC”. |
|
Fulfillment |
A notification from the Merchant to DCP that a MTB
is complete. |
|
Gateway |
A gateway is a special-purpose device that performs
an application layer conversion of information from one protocol stack
to another. |
|
GL code |
General Ledger code. Each billing event type can
have a GL code. The GL code is used for invoicing or aggregating
information for submission to a legacy billing system. GL codes are
defined through Accounts Receivable UI. |
|
GUI |
Graphical User Interface. A computer environment
that represents programs, files, options etc. by means of icons, menus
and dialog boxes. |
|
Helpdesk |
The Helpdesk allows the service provider's CSRs to
track problems/cases reported by customers. When a customer calls the
hotline, the user creates a case report that describes the
problem/case in detail. |
|
HTTPS |
HyperText Transport Protocol (Secure). |
|
IDL |
Interface Definition Language.
Language used for defining interface specifications for CORBA. |
|
IDW |
Internet Data Warehouse |
|
IETF |
Internet Engineering Task Force consisting of over
80 working groups responsible for developing Internet standards. The
IETF operates under the auspices of ISOC. |
|
IIOP |
Internet Inter-ORB Protocol. |
|
IMS |
Internet Management System developed by Digiquant
A/S, precursor of DCP. |
|
Incoming Partner ID |
This CPM database field value is validated against
the DCP EDR field Merchant ID. |
|
Incoming Product ID |
This CPM database field value is validated against
the Category ID from an incoming EDR. |
|
IP |
Internet Protocol. Network layer protocol in the
TCP/IP stack offering a connectionless internetwork service. IP
provides features for addressing, type-of-service specification,
fragmentation and reassembly, and security. Defined in RFC 791. |
|
ISP |
See also Service Provider. |
|
ISP-VN |
See also Service Provider. Internet service
provider - Virtual Network. ISP-VNs are subdivisions of a network made
by a service provider. This is often done in order to lease parts of
the network to other service providers, and for this reason the
ISP-VNs are often considered as service providers within a service
provider. An ISP-VN is created by logically grouping a specific number
of the ports on the NASs within a POP or across several POPs. |
|
IT |
Integrated Technologies |
|
Job Queue |
See Billing Cycle Run Job Queue. |
|
LCP |
Link Control Protocol. Protocol that establishes,
configures, and tests data-link connections for use by PPP. |
|
LDAP |
Lightweight Directory Access
Protocol. A protocol for identifying organizations, individuals,
files and devices in a network, e.g. the Internet or an intranet. |
|
MA |
See Mediation Agent. |
|
MAC |
Address Standardized data link layer address that
is required for every port or device that connects to a LAN. Other
devices in the network use these addresses to locate specific ports in
the network. Addresses are 6 bytes long and are controlled by the
IEEE. Also known as a hardware address, MAC-layer address, or physical
address. |
|
Master Account |
DCP term denoting the root node of an account
hierarchy, i.e. an account which does not have a master account.
A master account is an account
in the DCP account hierarchy that has sub-accounts. There can be
several levels of sub-accounts and a sub-account can itself be a
master account (it may have sub-accounts assigned to it). Sub-accounts
can be invoiced through master accounts, and then the invoicing
information for master accounts aggregates the invoicing information
for the sub-accounts. DCP imposes no restrictions on the depth and
complexity of account hierarchies. See also Account Hierarchy and
Sub-account. |
|
Mediation |
The initial processing of CDRs. This includes
extending them with additional information such as subscriber
identification and field validation, as well as translating CDRs into
an internal format. |
|
Mediation Agent |
A program associated with a network element and
responsible for creating and sending CDRs for a specific service type
to a Rating Engine. A Mediation Agent creates both pre-rating and
post-rating CDRs. |
|
Mediation Agent Fail Store |
A repository local to the Mediation Agent, where
CDRs that could not be processed by a Rating Engine are stored along
with error codes and error messages. The Mediation Agent typically
re-submits the CDRs for rating when Rating Engines become available. |
|
Mediation Layer |
Mediation Layer is a software layer in DCP that
consists of programs that create CDRs and submit them to a Rating
Engine for rating. Examples of such programs are Mediation Agents and
the Charge Generator. |
|
Member ID |
Unique identifier of MTB subscriber. |
|
Merchant |
Provider of content. Merchant or vendor that has
partnered with SBC for allowing their products to be purchased. |
|
Merchant ID |
Unique identifier of Merchant or
partner that is consistent throughout MTB (same in both DCP and CPM
modules – a maximum of 6 characters and must be ALL CAPS.)
This DCP EDR field value is
validated against the Incoming Partner ID value in the CPM database. |
|
Merchant Profile |
For each Merchant or partner,
the following required data constitutes their Merchant Profile:
-
Merchant ID
-
Support Email Address
-
Support Phone Number
-
Merchant’s Public Name
-
Successful URL
-
Failure URL
-
IP Address
-
Default Reservation Duration
|
|
Merchant SDK |
Merchant Software Development
Kit. Merchants use this to establish connections to MTB.
The Merchant API is the server
side software which with a Java servlet implementation contains the
business logic needed for Merchants to submit reservation, extension,
cancellation, and fulfilment requests. The Merchant SDK is the
client-side software kit installed on the Merchant server which
enables communications with the API. It is the responsibility of the
Merchant to integrate to the SDK. |
|
MOP |
Method of Payment. |
|
* MPS |
SBC Member Profile System –
where the customer’s Member ID is authenticated – verified that they
have an SBC DSL account/subscription. |
|
* MSR |
SBC’s Merchant Service
Representative |
|
MTB |
Micro Transaction Billing. |
|
MTB Account |
Account in DCP subscribing to MTB commercial
service. (See Primary Account.) |
|
MTB Line Items |
Purchase information specific to
a single item of content downloaded by the consumer (i.e. content
type, charge amount, …). |
|
MTB Subscriber |
|
|
MTB Transaction ID |
|
|
Mutex |
A mutual exclusion object that
allows multiple threads to synchronize access to a shared resource. |
|
NAS |