Case Studies
Telecoms - WLR Provisioning System
The challenge
When they came to Ascent, Abacus Billing were already leading providers of convergent end-to-end billing and customer care product based solutions for tier 2 and tier 3 carriers worldwide. They also supplied call accounting (call logging) solutions to corporates. As an outsourcing provider for Abacus Billing telecoms software since 2005, Ascent was commissioned to design, develop and implement a Wholesale Line Rental (WLR) Provisioning System that would allow a key telephony reseller to supply lines and ancillary services.
WLR allows secondary telecoms suppliers to rent access lines on wholesale terms. Customers need to be able to choose how many lines they need (PSTN, HSPD, ISDN, etc) along with any associated services. The end client for this solution was a reseller for the WLR provider, which operates the largest fixed-line network in Ireland. Complete, end-to-end automated order management was required to handle complex interactions and reduce what had become a very large administrative burden.
The solution
Ascent Software was responsible for the complete design and construction of the WLR provisioning system. A web portal used multiple components including a front end, multiple database back ends and a windows service for processing, downloading and uploading automatically generated XML files to different parties.
The solution interfaces transparently with the reseller, with the WLR provider, with the billing engine and with the National Directory Database. End-users can cease/port/lease new lines and/or modify/terminate/open new services on each line. Complete, automated order management is part of the spec including all relevant acknowledgements and notifications.
A daemon (windows service) uploads, downloads and parses notification files, with subsequent reconciliation into Abacus databases and with upload via automated FTP into National Directory Database after polling processes. The solution is executed on a three-tier architecture and has been developed using VB.NET, SQL Server 2005, ASP.NET 2.0 with AJAX Extensions and XML-based processes for Order Capture, Provisioning, and Cease. The Ascent team comprised four team members, with each member focused on different aspects of the solution from the design and development of the daemon to testing.
The benefits
The reseller and all sub-resellers can now process all WLR line types with the added convenience of monitoring the status of every order and provisioned CLIs (Call Line Identifiers). End customers can add new accounts through the automated web interface and view order details and status. The portal also accommodates the reporting of customer faults. All change requests can be performed via the system, including the creation, modification or termination of services on existing lines based on the line type.
Our client is now providing customer self-care for the first time, with secure remote access and rapid response to customer needs. This is in contrast to the previous system which involved manual inputting and phone calls between different parties.
The entire provisioning process has been accelerated, and customers can start benefiting from their new services quicker. New requirements and market changes can also be implemented quickly thanks to a scalable architecture.
