What is CDR Mediation?
CDR mediation is the intermediary process to CDR billing, which follows CDR Collection. It is the process of conversion of call detail records into a data format, usable by the mobile service providers for billing purpose along with some other downstream applications.
It becomes quite important to make sure that calls are billed to the right entity, on the basis of right tariffs. CDR Mediation consists of multiple steps for processing.
Uses of CDR Mediation
Basically, a CDR mediation platform possesses the following functionalities:
- Collection and validation of call detail records
- Filtering out the non-billing relevant CDRs
- Collating
- Integration of CDRs from different input sources
- Aggregation of partial CDRs linked to same call
- CDR normalization through format change
- Business transformation of data
In a telecommunication billing scenario, CDR mediation is among the very first steps that follow the receipt of a CDR. The mediated CDR is sent to a rating engine for calculating the CDR’s associated charges. Now-a-days, the rating engines have become more necessary for the telecom billing systems in order to meet the growing variation in the consumer requirements for the different service offerings.
At core, CDR mediation involves data transfer between different systems with or without modification of data initiating from network elements to OSS/BSS systems. The efficient billing mediation systems serve end-to-end functionality for the mobile operators. CDR mediation software perform various operations ranging from data collection to downstream distribution to different modules such as retail billing, business intelligence, interconnect settlement, fraud detection and revenue assurance.
CDR Mediation Process
Below is a list illustrating some necessary steps preparing VoIP Call Details Record for billing:
Normalization
It is a process that cleans up the CRDs generated by switching equipment of inconsistent or unnecessary information or formats the destinations on the basis of a consistent numbering plan.
The normalization process includes:
- Caller ID normalization
- Destination Normalization
- Disconnection Code normalization
Rating
Rating is the process through which each call is assigned a price on the basis of a rating table. The ratings may apply differently for NCN related traffic than for PSTN related traffic.
Export
Communication with the external systems can be realized in commonly understandable formats like XML and CSV.
High-performance CDR Processing
The CDR Mediation server gathers the raw CDRs that are recorded, parses the CDRs and then forwards them to the external billing system. The mediation server can record the raw CDRs from multiple CDR sources. Additionally, the server can parse, store as well as format the CDRs as per the requirement of some external applications.
Enhanced system management with CDR Mediation
The CRD Mediation server also includes browser-based management system. This can be used for configuration as well as alarm management. Additionally, the management system can also generate call statistics, reports, graphs etc. to help the mobile service providers balance the network traffic. These statistics, graphs, reports etc. also indicate the service quality delivered by the mobile service carrier.
