Beginning with Communication Manager Release 4.0 or later, use the QSIG Supplementary Service - Advice of Charge feature to extend charging information from the public network into the private network. The charging information that many service providers supply is extended from a gateway enterprise system to the end user’s enterprise system. The charging information can then be displayed on the user’s desktop.
Information can be extended and displayed either:
At intervals during the call and at the end of the call, or
Only at the end of the call
QSIG stands for Q-Signaling, which is a common channel signal protocol based on ISDN Q.931 standards and used by many digital telecommunications systems. Only charge information received from the public network with ETSI Advice of Charge, and Japan Charge Advice is extended into the QSIG private network.
The following describes a call flow with the QSIG Supplementary Service - Advice of Charge feature:
A user places a call through the private telecommunication network (PTN) and into the public switching telecommunication network (PSTN).
Charging information from the PSTN is conveyed to the gateway switch either:
At intervals during the call and at the end of the call, or
Only at the end of the call
This is determined by Communication Manager administration, and by subscription, at the gateway switch, of Charge Advice with the PSTN Service Provider.
If Communication Manager is the gateway, CDR information may be recorded at the gateway and routed to the user’s switch for recording there as well. This enables accounting the call to an end user in addition to recording the trunk used.
If there is a tandem node in the call path, the tandem node may also send call record data to a CDR port.
If the tandem node is a Tenovis I55, the record can contain charge information.
If the tandem node is Communication Manager, the record is passed without Communication Manager doing anything with it.
Customer options that are required for the feature are ISDN, QSIG Basic Call and QSIG Basic Supplementary Services. These options are typically activated by enabling the Communication Manager - Enterprise Edition RFA file.
To use this feature, you must have adjunct devices that are capable of logging or interpreting CDR output formats that record ISDN Call Charge.
Existing PRI, BRI, and H.323 hardware interfaces providing QSIG and bearer transport are used for this feature.
