Abstract: A telecommunications service provider architecture integrates multiple architectures which include prepaid and post-paid processing systems. The convergent enhanced architecture provides performance, scalability, and efficiency consistent with a prepaid architecture and flexibility and configurability consistent with a post-paid system. The convergent architecture provides messaging interfaces between a telecommunications support architecture and a prepaid architecture or a combined rating and billing architecture. The messaging interfaces support message transfer between the processing systems in the architectures to provide information exchange including billing exchanges, rating exchanges, and customer management exchanges.

Abstract: An implementation foundation for a telecommunication service provider provides an efficient, robust, and reliable cornerstone for any new telecommunication service provider architecture. The implementation foundation includes a universally applicable data model that encodes the fundamental entities of interest to telecommunications service providers. The data model is free of constraints on any particular technology, and provides a reusable foundation for implementing new telecommunication service providers. The data model is composed of business entities that technically support business processes for a telecommunication service provider. As a result, new telecommunication service providers may be implemented in a rapid manner on a proven foundation, without complex and unwieldy customized technologies that rely on immensely complicated point-to-point message connections.

Abstract: A messaging interface provides the flexibility to allow interchangeability of underlying telecommunications service provider processing systems, such as billing systems. At the same time, the messaging interface extends the underlying functionality of the telecommunications service provider processing system to a series of business events defined as part of a common data model shared across multiple telecommunication service provider processing systems. The messaging may implement a mechanism for tracking the implementation of the business event in the underlying telecommunication service provider processing systems.

Abstract: A system extension for a billing system adapted to generate customer bills associated with the delivery of telecommunications products and services, wherein the billing system includes software instructions adapted to be executed on a computer server platform, a database for storing product configuration data for a plurality of product offerings and charging tariffs attached to the product offerings, and a user interface allowing a user to interact with and configure portions of the system, the system extension comprising: an editable derived attributes table that identifies a unit charge rate for tariffs attached to product offerings; and a charge calculation function for calculating a charge for a tariff attached to a particular product offering based on the unit charge rate identified in the derived attributes table for the tariff.

Abstract: A reverse rating system determines the duration for which a phone call or other transaction may continue, given an account balance on a pre-paid customer account. The duration may take into consideration multiple time bands, applicable discounts, rating plans and other characteristics of the customer account and telecommunications service. The telecommunications service provider may employ the duration information to determine when to disconnect an ongoing transaction. As a result, the telecommunications service provider avoids substantial revenue loses from continuing to allow a pre-paid customer to continue their transaction longer than their account balance will support.

Abstract: A configurable rating system provides the flexibility to define rating tariffs based on any number of input parameters, such as a service identifier, origin number, destination number, event type, or other parameter. At the same time, the configurable rating system simplifies the definition, debugging, and assignment of rating parameters which ultimately determine the calculated usage event rating. The configurable rating system implements a database table driven approach which may replace any number of custom rating functions with a single rating function which determines the appropriate charge amount regardless of the telecommunications product or service.

Abstract: A reverse rating system determines the duration for which a phone call or other transaction may continue, given an account balance on a pre-paid customer account. The duration may take into consideration multiple time bands, applicable discounts, rating plans and other characteristics of the customer account and telecommunications service. The telecommunications service provider may employ the duration information to determine when to disconnect an ongoing transaction. As a result, the telecommunications service provider avoids substantial revenue loses from continuing to allow a pre-paid customer to continue their transaction longer than their account balance will support.

Abstract: A reverse rating system determines the duration for which a phone call or other transaction may continue, given an account balance on a pre-paid customer account. The duration may take into consideration multiple time bands, applicable discounts, rating plans and other characteristics of the customer account and telecommunications service. The telecommunications service provider may employ the duration information to determine when to disconnect an ongoing transaction. As a result, the telecommunications service provider avoids substantial revenue loses from continuing to allow a pre-paid customer to continue their transaction longer than their account balance will support.

Abstract: An implementation foundation for a telecommunication service provider provides an efficient, robust, and reliable cornerstone for any new telecommunication service provider architecture. The implementation foundation includes a universally applicable data model that encodes the fundamental entities of interest to telecommunications service providers. The data model is free of constraints on any particular technology, and provides a reusable foundation for implementing new telecommunication service providers. The data model is composed of business entities that technically support business processes for a telecommunication service provider. As a result, new telecommunication service providers may be implemented in a rapid manner on a proven foundation, without complex and unwieldy customized technologies that rely on immensely complicated point-to-point message connections.

Abstract: A system is disclosed for serving a message from a centralized database to a catalog. A database message is parsed to create a catalog entity. The catalog entity transformed to a normalized object for a target system. The normalized object is transformed into a data structure for the target system. The data structure is written to the target system.

Abstract: A messaging interface provides the flexibility to allow interchangeability of underlying telecommunications service provider processing systems, such as billing systems. At the same time, the messaging interface extends the underlying functionality of the telecommunications service provider processing system to a series of business events defined as part of a common data model shared across multiple telecommunication service provider processing systems. The messaging may implement a mechanism for tracking the implementation of the business event in the underlying telecommunication service provider processing systems.

Abstract: A configurable rating system provides the flexibility to define rating tariffs based on any number of input parameters, such as a service identifier, origin number, destination number, event type, or other parameter. At the same time, the configurable rating system simplifies the definition, debugging, and assignment of rating parameters which ultimately determine the calculated usage event rating. The configurable rating system implements a database table driven approach which may replace any number of custom rating functions with a single rating function which determines the appropriate charge amount regardless of the telecommunications product or service.

Abstract: A system extension for a billing system adapted to generate customer bills associated with the delivery of telecommunications products and services, wherein the billing system includes software instructions adapted to be executed on a computer server platform, a database for storing product configuration data for a plurality of product offerings and charging tariffs attached to the product offerings, and a user interface allowing a user to interact with and configure portions of the system, the system extension comprising: an editable derived attributes table that identifies a unit charge rate for tariffs attached to product offerings; and a charge calculation function for calculating a charge for a tariff attached to a particular product offering based on the unit charge rate identified in the derived attributes table for the tariff.

Abstract: A telecommunications service provider architecture integrates multiple architectures which include prepaid and post-paid processing systems. The convergent enhanced architecture provides performance, scalability, and efficiency consistent with a prepaid architecture and flexibility and configurability consistent with a post-paid system. The convergent architecture provides messaging interfaces between a telecommunications support architecture and a prepaid architecture or a combined rating and billing architecture. The messaging interfaces support message transfer between the processing systems in the architectures to provide information exchange including billing exchanges, rating exchanges, and customer management exchanges.

Abstract: A reverse rating system determines the duration for which a phone call or other transaction may continue, given an account balance on a pre-paid customer account. The duration may take into consideration multiple time bands, applicable discounts, rating plans and other characteristics of the customer account and telecommunications service. The telecommunications service provider may employ the duration information to determine when to disconnect an ongoing transaction. As a result, the telecommunications service provider avoids substantial revenue loses from continuing to allow a pre-paid customer to continue their transaction longer than their account balance will support.