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Implementation of billing system for x-play services of telecom operator with

resource development & management process

Conference Paper · March 2012

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 Recent Researches in Applications of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Implementation of Billing System for x-play services of Telecom

Operator with Resource Development & Management Process

Anel Tanovic
Department for IT development of multimedia services BH Telecom d.o.o. Sarajevo
Obala Kulina Bana 8
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
anel.tanovic@bhtelecom.ba

Alvin Huseinovic
Department of Computer Science and Informatics
University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Electrical Engineering
Zmaja od Bosne bb
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
ahuseinovic@etf.unsa.ba

Abstract: - Implementation of Billing system in Telecom Operator is one of the most challenging operations
that each Telecom Operator has to implement. This operation is particularly important if the Billing system is
used for x-play services of Telecom Operator. X-play service includes IPTV, VoIP, Internet and Mobile
Telephony. Something what is particularly important is to choose the right IT Service Management standard or
process from this standard that is needed to implement this system. Most widely used standard in the
telecommunications industry is eTOM standard and implementation of this system falls under the strategy and
under the Resource Development & Management Process. This document describes the development of the
Billing system for the x-play service of Telecom Operator by using principles of the Resource Development &
Management Process. The conclusion of the paper should show how successful is the proposed model of
Billing system after its implementation in a Telecom Operator in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Key-Words: - eTOM, Resource Development & Management, IPTV, VoIP, VOD, Internet, Information
system, Billing system.

1 Introduction system and information about consumption for each

Enhanced Telecom Operations Map (eTOM) is the
most popular standard for IT Service Management
in the telecommunications industry [1], [2]. The
process that is responsible for creating IT systems or
services is called the Resource Development &
Management proces [2], [3]. This process is
responsible for the design and implementation of
information system, Billing system and SAP system
of Telecom Operator. The process gives instructions
to teams and explains steps how to implement each
of these systems that are essential for the normal
operation of the Telecom Operator.
X-play service of Telecom Operator includes in
one package a combination of these services: IPTV,
VoIP, Internet and Mobile Telephony [3]. Formed
Billing system should regularly collect information
about users of x-play services from the information
user from: IPTV, VoIP, Internet or Mobile
Telephony platform (Figure 1) [6].
Telecom Operator, which development of Billing
system is shown in this document, has a total of 4
packets of x-play service: Phone (it includes IPTV
and VoIP), Net (it includes IPTV and Internet), Full
(it includes IPTV, VoIP and Internet) and Premi (it
includes IPTV, VoIP, Internet and Mobile
Telephony) [5]. Services with additional charge
include: VoIP traffic, Mobile Telephony traffic,
Video On Demand (VOD), the using of additional
TV channels (PLUS package), the using of
additional HD TV channels (HD package), the using
of an option of 2 STB's, Message Waiting Indicator
(MWI) option and the option of restriction of VoIP
number in the phone book [5]. Figure 1 describes all
components of Billing system.

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 Recent Researches in Applications of Electrical and Computer Engineering

some x-play service

USERNAME The name of user NO
USERSURNAME The surname of user NO
USERPHONE The VoIP number of user NO
USERADDRESS The address of user NO
USERCITY The place of user NO
VODREGION The VOD region of user NO
The parameter that indicates
2 STB if the user has 2 STB’s YES
The parameter that indicates
PLUS if the user has a PLUS YES
package of additional TV
Figure 1. Components of Billing system channels
The parameter that indicates
HD if the user has a HD package YES
The second chapter of the paper describes the of additional TV channels
development of the Billing system which is The parameter that indicates
connected to the data that the system receives from MWI if the user has an additional YES
option of Message Waiting
the information system. The third chapter describes Indicator in his VoIP
the development of part of system which defines telephone
price categories of x-play packages, additional IPTV The parameter that indicates
PHONEBOOKPE if the user uses the option of YES
and VoIP services, VOD packages, VoIP traffic and RMISSION the restriction of his VoIP
the traffic of Mobile Telephony. The fourth chapter number in the Phone Book
describes the development of a part of system that
TABLE II. TABLE NETUSER1
collects data about consumption of users from
The name of the The meaning of the field The field
network elements for IPTV, VoIP and Mobile field indicates
Telephony. The fifth chapter describes the the price
formation of the final table for Phone, Net, Full and The unique identification
USERID number of the user who has NO
Premi package without the included value of added some x-play service
tax and with the included value of added tax. USERNAME The name of user NO
Results of testing of the proposed model of the USERSURNAME The surname of user NO
USERADDRESS The address of user NO
Billing system are attached in the conclusion of the USERCITY The place of user NO
work, after its release into production in a Telecom VODREGION The VOD region of user NO
Operator in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The parameter that indicates
2 STB if the user has 2 STB’s YES
Previous research that the authors have worked The parameter that indicates
in this field is based to the improvement of the PLUS if the user has a PLUS YES
existing model of eTOM standard by comparison to package of additional TV
channels
ITIL V3 standard. The name of the article that the The parameter that indicates
authors have written is: „Improvement of eTOM HD if the user has a HD package YES
standard from the ITIL V3 standard“, and it is now of additional TV channels

in proceedings for the Journal of Global Information

TABLE III. TABLE FULLUSER1
Management [9]. The name of the The meaning of the field The field
field indicates
the price
The unique identification
2 Implementation of the Billing USERID number of the user who has NO
some x-play service
system for data from the information USERNAME The name of user NO
USERSURNAME The surname of user NO
system USERPHONE The VoIP number of user NO
Tables I, II, III and IV show new tables in the USERADDRESS The address of user NO
formed database of Billing system that this system USERCITY The place of user NO
should get from the central information system of VODREGION The VOD region of user NO
The parameter that indicates
Telecom Operator [4]. Each table should include 2 STB if the user has 2 STB’s YES
users from all 4 packages of the x-play service [6], The parameter that indicates
PLUS if the user has a PLUS YES
[7]. package of additional TV
channels
TABLE I. TABLE PHONEUSER1 The parameter that indicates
The name of the The meaning of the field The field HD if the user has a HD package YES
field indicates of additional TV channels
the price The parameter that indicates
The unique identification MWI if the user has an additional YES
USERID number of the user who has NO option of Message Waiting

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 Recent Researches in Applications of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Indicator in his VoIP TABLE V. THE PRICE OF X-PLAY SERVICES

telephone The name of x- The price of x-
The parameter that indicates play service play service
PHONEBOOKPE if the user uses the option of YES PHONE package Price 1
RMISSION the restriction of his VoIP NET package Price 2
number in the Phone Book FULL package Price 3
PREMI package Price 4
TABLE IV. TABLE PREMIUSER1
The name of the The meaning of the field The field TABLE VI. THE PRICE OF ADDITIONAL IPTV SERVICES
field indicates The name of The price of
the price additional IPTV additional
The unique identification services IPTV services
USERID number of the user who has NO 2 STB Price 1
some x-play service PLUS Price 2
USERNAME The name of user NO HD Price 3
USERSURNAME The surname of user NO MWI Price 4
USERPHONE The VoIP number of user NO PHONEBOOKPE Price 5
USERADDRESS The address of user NO RMISSION
USERCITY The place of user NO
VODREGION The VOD region of user NO
The parameter that indicates TABLE VII. THE PRICE OF VIDEO ON DEMAND PACKAGE
2 STB if the user has 2 STB’s YES The name of The price of
The parameter that indicates VOD package VOD package
PLUS if the user has a PLUS YES Category 1 Price 1
package of additional TV Category 2 Price 2
channels Category 3 Price 3
The parameter that indicates Category 4 Price 4
HD if the user has a HD package YES
of additional TV channels TABLE VIII. THE PRICE OF CALLS FROM ONE VOIP NETWORK TO THE
The parameter that indicates ANOTHER VOIP NETWORK
MWI if the user has an additional YES The name of calling The price of
option of Message Waiting VoIP network calling VoIP
Indicator in his VoIP network
telephone
The same operator Free
The parameter that indicates
The state operator 2 Price 11
PHONEBOOKPE if the user uses the option of YES
The state operator 3 Price 22
RMISSION the restriction of his VoIP
The state 1 Price 1
number in the Phone Book
The state 2 Price 2
The state n Price n

3 Implementation of price cathegories TABLE IX. THE PRICE OF CALLING FROM VOIP NETWORK TO THE MOB
NETWORK
for x-play packages The name of calling The price of
The next important step in the implementation of the MOB network calling
MOB
Billing system is to define the price categories of the network
basic x-play service, additional services, Video On The same operator Price 11
Demand service, VoIP Telephony and Mobile The state operator 2 Price 22
The state operator 3 Price 33
Telephony [8]. Table V describes prices of the basic The state 1 Price 1
packages for the x-play service, table VI describes The state 2 Price 2
prices of additional IPTV services, table VII The state n Price n
describes prices of the Video On Demand service,
TABLE X. THE PRICE OF CALLING FROM MOB NETWORK TO THE VOIP
table VIII describes prices of calls from one VoIP NETWORK
network to the another VoIP network or to Fixed The name of calling The price of
Telephony network, table IX describes prices of VoIP network calling VoIP
network
calls from VoIP network to the network of Mobile The same operator Price 11
Telephony, table X describes prices of calls from The state operator 2 Price 22
the network of Mobile Telephony to the VoIP The state operator 3 Price 33
network or to the network of the Fixed Telephony The state 1 Price 1
The state 2 Price 2
and table XI describes prices of calls from the The state n Price n
network of Mobile Telephony to the network of
Mobile Telephony too [6], [8]. In this prices are
included prices of SMS and MMS messages.

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 Recent Researches in Applications of Electrical and Computer Engineering

TABLE XI. THE PRICE OF CALLING FROM MOB NETWORK TO THE MOB the charging of
NETWORK video content
The name of calling The price of The name of video
MOB network calling VOD_CONTENTS_PACKA content category
MOB GE_NAME on which is based
network the charging of
The same operator Price 11 video content
The state operator 2 Price 22
The state operator 3 Price 33 TABLE XIII. TABLE VOIP
The state 1 Price 1 The name of the field The meaning of
The state 2 Price 2 the field
The state n Price n The unique
identification
USERID number of the user
who has some x-
4 Implementation of the Billing play service
USERPHONE User’s VoIP
system for data from network number
The telephone
elements RECEIVEDPHONE number of user
Billing system has to collect data from network who has received a
elements for IPTV, VoIP and Mobile Telephony and call
The time when the
it has to contain the data about consumption from CONSUMPTION_START call is started
Video On Demand service, VoIP service and The time when the
Mobile Telephony service [8]. All data are stored in CONSUMPTION_END call is finished
The time duration
the tables below and they are collected through the CONSUMPTION_DURATI of the telephone
records that are coming directly from the central ON call
server of one service. These records fill below tables
TABLE XIV. TABELA MOB
every 1 hour. Records from network elements are
The name of the field The meaning of the
formed by internal scripts on the servers of these field
servers that are implemented to run every 1 hour. At The unique
the entrance to the Billing system there is a script identification number
USERID of the user who has
that checks the validity of data and in a case of some x-play service
irregular data returns data to the network elements. USERMOBILEPHONE User’s MOB number
Data from the network element for the Internet does The telephone
RECEIVEDPHONE number of user who
not come because they all have fixed values. Table has received a call
XII describes data’s that are coming from network The time when the
CONSUMPTION_START call is started
elements and which are connected to VOD service The time when the
which has an additional payment, table XIII CONSUMPTION_END call is finished
describes data’s which are coming from the server The time duration of
CONSUMPTION_DURATI the telephone call
of VoIP service and table XIV describes data’s ON
which are coming from the server of Mobile
Telephony [6].

TABLE XII. TABLE VOD 5 Establishment of final consumption

The name of the field
USERID
ID_VOD_CONTENT
VOD_CONTENTS_NAME
CONSUMPTION_START
VOD_CONTENTS_PACKA
GE_UID
The meaning of
the field
for packages of x-play service
The unique When the Billing system collects data from the
identification tables described in chapter I and chapter III, and
number of the user
who has some x-
according to the defined price described in chapter
play service II, then it can make a final sum of consumption for
The unique one calendar month [6], [7]. Tables XV, XVI, XVII
identification
number of video and XVIII make a monthly sum of consumption by
content individual users for each package of x-play service.
The name of video Table XIX keeps a consumption of a VOD service
content
The time when the for each user as an additional service for IPTV, table
video content is XX keeps a consumption of each user for VoIP
bought telephony and table XXI keeps a consumption of
The unique
identification each user for Mobile telephony. Table XXII
number of video describes a total value of consumer’s price without a
content category
on which is based
value of added tax, and table XXIII describes a total

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 Recent Researches in Applications of Electrical and Computer Engineering

TABLE XXI. TABLE MOB2

value of consumer’s price with a value of added tax
The name of The meaning of the
and values in this table represent bills that each user the field field
has to pay. The unique
USERID identification number of
TABLE XV. TABLE PHONEUSER2
the user who has some
x-play service
The name of The meaning of the
the field field The total price of VoIP
BILLING service for each user
The unique identification
USERID number of the user who
has some x-play service TABLE XXII. TABLE USER1
The total price of the x- The name of The meaning of the
BILLING play service and the field field
additional IPTV services The unique
for each user USERID identification number of
the user who has some
TABLE XVI. TABLE NETUSER2
x-play service
The name of The meaning of the The total value of
the field field consumer’s price
BILLING without a value of added
The unique
tax
USERID identification number of
the user who has some
x-play service TABLE XXIII. TABLE USER
The total price of the x- The name of The meaning of the
BILLING play service and the field field
additional IPTV The unique
services for each user USERID identification number of
the user who has some
TABLE XVII. TABLE FULLUSER2
x-play service
The name of The meaning of the The total value of
the field field consumer’s price with a
BILLING value of added tax
The unique
USERID identification number of
the user who has some
x-play service

BILLING
The total price of the x-
play service and
6 Conclusion
additional IPTV The process of testing performances of
services for each user implemented Billing system is done 6 months after
its release into production. Then the number of users
TABLE XVII. TABLE PREMIUSER2
The name of The meaning of the
of x-play service was 10.000. The number of users
the field field of Phone package was 7.000, the number of users of
The unique Net package was 800, the number of users of Full
USERID identification number of
the user who has some
package was 1.900 and the number of users of
x-play service Premi package was 300 [5]. Table XXIV shows the
The total price of the x- number of users who has complained to the bill at
BILLING play service and
additional IPTV the end of sixth month and the number of eligible
services for each user claims after an internal review for all users.
TABLE XIX. TABLE VOD2 TABLE XXIV. THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS BY USERS THROUGH
The name of The meaning of the PACKAGES OF X-PLAY SERVICE AND THE NUMBER OF JUSTIFIED
the field field COMPLAINTS
The unique The name of The The number of
USERID identification number of package number justified complaints
the user who has some of
x-play service complai
The total price of VOD nts
BILLING service for each user Phone 14 0
Net 2 0
TABLE XX. TABLE VOIP2
Full 5 0
The name of The meaning of the Premi 1 0
the field field
The unique
USERID identification number of
The total number of complaints was 22. Internal
the user who has some review for each user has shown that all complaints
x-play service are not justified. All delivered accounts are entirely
The total price of VoIP
BILLING service for each user
correct according to applicable tariffs for IPTV [5],
VoIP, Internet service and Mobile Telephony [8].

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 Recent Researches in Applications of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Testing of 22 users has shown that the
implemented Billing system by the model described
in this document is entirely correct and it can be
used for further expansion of new x-play packages
of Telecom Operator. Future research in this field
will be based on the description of the development
of specific services of Telecom Operator by the
principles of eTOM processes.
8212; Exploits and Security Analysis, 3rd
International Conference on Information
Technology: New Generations, ITNG 2006, pp.
294-299, April 2006.
[9] A. Tanovic and F. Orucevic, Improvement of
the eTOM standard in comparison with ITIL V3
methodology”, in proceedings for International
Journal of Engineering.

Acknowledgment
The authors wish to thank experts from Telecom
Operator in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the
realisation of this project.

References:
[1] D. Byron, An Assessment of the
TeleManagement Forum’s eTOM Model, TM
Forum, March 2006.
[2] J.P. Reilly, M. Kelly, K.J. Willets and M.
Creaner, The eTOM – A Business Process
Framework Implementer’s Guide, TM Forum,
June 2009.
[3] K. Misra, OSS for Telecom Networks: An
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[5] A. Tanovic and F. Orucevic, Changing the
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ISBN: 978-1-61804-074-9 156

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