Download Overview of Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management Systems

Overview of Revenue Assurance
and Fraud Management Systems
Revenue Assurance(RA)
• Increased focus on RA due to
– Regulatory pressure of reporting revenue
– Increasing pressure to show more profit
– Struggle for existing revenue management
systems
to
keep
with
technological
breakthrough(introduction of new network
elements in the network)
– Complex revenue management systems
Revenue Leakage
• Revenue leakage is the difference between
revenue supposed to be earned and the actual
revenue (actual cash) realized.
• Causes of revenue leakage
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Incomplete customer records
Accumulated CDR errors
Incorrect rating
CDR late to mediation
Corrupt CDRs
Failure to create CDRs
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Possible leakage points
Signaling errors on switch
System capacity mismatches (Overflow)
Misaligned processing or logic rules
Failure to activate or provision the customer correctly
Failure to track customer activity properly
Improper registration and management of network inventory
Mediation related
– Failure to filter records correctly
– Incorrect application of customer Identifiers
– Incorrect formatting of CDRs
– Dropped records
– Duplicate records
• Billing related
• Usage beyond billing stop
• Incorrect Call plans
• Billing errors
• Late billing
• Over Discounting
Possible leakage points
• Collections Dunning Related
– Failure to track old accounts
– Misapplication of credits
– Inefficient and ineffective dunning practices
– Failure to feed back the dunning lessons to Marketing ,
sales and product planning groups
Provisioning and customer service related leakages
• Physical circuits not ceased when account terminated
• Over Provisioning
• Improper update of customer status
• Provisioning without notification of billing start
RA defined
• Revenue management Chain: The systems and
operations that are concerned with the direct
capture ,processing and collection of revenues
• Revenue Assurance: The process of guaranteeing
that the revenue management chain is
functioning as specified Or
• Revenue assurance is a business process to
detect ,probe correct revenue leakage, to
minimize opportunity loss, to minimize/ avoid
costs.
IN
Network
Element
Subscriber
Records
Usage
Records
RA- Solution Architecture
Third party
content
Provider
Mediation
Postpaid Subscriber
Records
Interconnect
Usage Records
Postpaid Usage
Records
CRM
Postpaid
Billing System
Provisioning
System
PMS
Subscriber Records Payment
Records
Payment
Records
Subscriber
Records
Usage
Records
Subscriber
Order Status
Configuration Data & Content Usage
Records
Business Rule
Interconnect
Billing System
Usage
Records
Rating Configuration
Data
Accessory
Details
Configuration
Data
Data Capture Layer
Adapters
DC Adapter
CDR Adapter
Data Capture
Others
Adapters
Profile
Adapters
DC Engine/DC Bus
Analysis Server
Analysis Engine
Reports Engine
-7-
Rule Engine
Real time KPIs and Alarm
Inventory
Management
System
DC Repository
RA Functional Scope
The primary scope for RA is mentioned below:
 Subscriber Profile Verification across
• Network Element
• Intelligent Network
• CRM
• Post-paid Billing System
 Usage Verification across
• Switch
• Mediation
• Post-paid Billing
• Interconnect Billing
• Third party contents
 Payment Verification between PMS and Post-paid billing system.
 Configuration Verification
• Network Element
• Mediation
• Interconnect billing
 Call Testing System – to verify rating output of Post-paid Billing System.
 Configuration of Alarms and KPI Reports
Subscriber Reconciliation
• Subscriber Instance and Services reconciliation between CRM & Postpaid
Billing
• The Purpose of reconciliation of subscriber records between CRM and
Postpaid Billing is
• Subscriber Instance reconciliation
• Identify Subscribers present in CRM and not present in Postpaid
Billing
• Identify Subscribers present in Postpaid Billing and not present
in CRM
• Subscriber Services reconciliation
• Identify Subscriber services present in CRM and not present in
Postpaid Billing
• Identify Subscriber services present in Postpaid Billing and not
present in CRM
Subscriber Reconciliation
• Subscriber Instance and service reconciliation between Network Element
and Postpaid Billing
The Purpose of reconciliation of subscriber instance Network Element and
Postpaid Billing is
• Subscriber Instance reconciliation
• Identify Subscribers present in Network Element and not present in
Postpaid Billing
• Identify Subscribers present in Postpaid Billing and not present in
Network Element.
• Subscriber Services reconciliation
• Identify Subscriber services present in Network Element and not present
in Postpaid Billing
• Identify Subscriber services present in Postpaid Billing and not present in
Network Element.
Subscriber Reconciliation
• Subscriber Instance and service reconciliation between Network Element
and CRM
•
The Purpose of reconciliation of subscriber instance between Network Element
and CRM is
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Subscriber Instance reconciliation
Identify Subscribers present in Network Element and not present in CRM
Identify Subscribers present in CRM and not present in Network Element.
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Subscriber Services reconciliation
Identify Subscriber services present in Network Element and not present in CRM
Identify Subscriber services present in CRM and not present in Network Element.
Fulfillment of new orders
• Timely Fulfillment of new orders
• The Purpose is to ensure timely fulfillment of
new orders without any delay
• Identify the orders which are failed at
provisioning due to some problem
• Identify the orders which are pending at
provisioning
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Usage Reconciliation
Objective of Usage Reconciliation module is to reduce/remove revenue leakage due
to CDRs not transmitted successfully across Network Element to Billing System
Usage Reconciliation Between Different Systems
Following usage reconciliations are carried out in this module:
Control log level and CDR level reconciliation between Network Element and
Mediation
Control log level and CDR level reconciliation between Mediation and Postpaid Billing
Control log level and CDR level reconciliation between Mediation and Interconnect
Billing
Rated CDR level reconciliation between Retail Billing and Interconnect Billing
xDR level reconciliation between Postpaid Billing and Third Party Content Provider
Call type and specific destination wise control Log Level report from Mediation
Control Log Level Traffic analysis
Control Log level and CDR level Rejected CDR analysis at Mediation, Postpaid billing
and Interconnect billing
Missing CDR file sequence at Mediation, Postpaid billing and Interconnect billing
Aging of rejected CDRs at Postpaid billing
Aging of rejected CDRs at Mediation
Aging of rejected CDRs at Interconnect Billing
Usage Reconciliation
• Control log level and CDR level reconciliation between Network
Element and Mediation
• The Purpose of usage reconciliation between Network Element
and Mediation is:
• Identify discrepancy in CDR count, MoU between files received
from Network Element and Mediation through control log
reconciliation
• For selected files,
– Identify CDRs present in Network Element and not in
Mediation
– Identify CDRs present in both Network Element and
Mediation, but have different MoU
Usage Reconciliation
• Control log level and CDR level reconciliation between
Mediation and Postpaid Billing
• The Purpose of usage reconciliation between Mediation
and Post Paid Billing System is:
• Identify discrepancy in CDR count, MoU between files
received from Mediation and Post Paid Billing System
through control log reconciliation
• For selected files,
• Identify CDRs present in Mediation and not in Post Paid
Billing System
• Identify CDRs present in both Mediation, and Post Paid
Billing System but have different MoU
Usage Reconciliation
• Control log level and CDR level reconciliation between
Mediation and Interconnect Billing
• The Purpose of usage reconciliation between Mediation
and Interconnect Billing System is:
• Identify discrepancy in CDR count, MoU between files
received from Mediation and Interconnect Billing System
through control log reconciliation
• For selected files,
• Identify CDRs present in Mediation and not in
Interconnect Billing System
• Identify CDRs present in both Mediation, and Interconnect
Billing System but have different MoU
Usage Reconciliation
• Rated CDR level reconciliation between Retail Billing
and Interconnect Billing
• The Purpose of Rated CDR reconciliation between
Retail Billing and Interconnect Billing System is:
• For Sample CDRs
• Identify Rated CDRs for which operator is being paid
but subscriber is not charged.
• Identify Rated CDRs for which subscriber is charged
but operator is not being paid.
Usage Reconciliation
• xDR level reconciliation between Postpaid Billing and
Third Party Content Provider
• The Purpose of xDR reconciliation between Postpaid
Billing and Third Party Content Provider is:
• For sample xDRs
• Identify xDRs present in Postpaid Billing and not in
Third Party Content Provider.
• Identify xDRs present in Third Party Content Provider
and not in Postpaid Billing.
Reject CDR analysis
• Control Log level and CDR level Rejected CDR
analysis at Mediation, Postpaid billing and
Interconnect billing
• The Purpose of this module is to identify the
CDRs rejected at the Mediation, Postpaid
billing and Interconnect billing due to wrong
format (addition of new field in the CDR
format) or abnormal situation.
Missing CDR files
• Missing CDR file sequence at Mediation,
Postpaid billing and Interconnect billing
• Purpose
• To identify the CDR files
• Sent by Network Element but missing at
Mediation
• Sent by Mediation but missing at Post Paid
Billing System
• Sent by Mediation but missing at Interconnect
Billing System
Payment reconciliation
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Objective
The objective of payment reconciliation module is to reduce/remove revenue
leakage due to discrepancies across different system and to achieve this, perform
reconciliation/verification of payment information across different systems.
Payment reconciliation between Payment Management System (PMS) and
Postpaid Billing System
The Purpose of reconciliation of payment records between PMS and Postpaid
Billing is
Identify payment records present in PMS and not present in Postpaid Billing
System
Identify payment records present in Postpaid Billing System and not present in
PMS
Identify payment records having different values in Postpaid Billing System and
PMS
RA Runtime Schedule
Fraud Management system
• Telecom Fraud
• Telecommunications fraud is an act of obtaining
telecommunication
services
and/or
the
instruments, equipment or devices with no
intention of paying for them or abuse of services.
Fraudsters’ motivation is either to make money or
to use services at no or reduced cost or to acquire
anonymity to mask criminal activities or obtain
the sheer thrill of challenging the telecom’s
network security
Fraud
•Fraud is broadly categories as:
– Usage Frauds: Frauds that are committed for the
purpose of using services without intention of
paying for them are categorized under Usage
Frauds.
– Subscription Frauds: Some subscribers obtain
subscription for services using false identity with
no intent to pay.
Minotaur FMS – Functional Architecture
Usage Data
Subscriber Data
Event Data Server
Customer Data Server
Partitioning, Filtering, Validation
Fraud Detection Engine (FDE)
Suspect Behavior Alert
Case History Builder & Internal Alarm Analysis
Alarms Collection, Case History Management, Case Outcome Analysis
Tickets
Case Manager
Administration, CM Configuration, Investigation Management
Fraud Analyst
- 25 -
Reports
FDE
Configuration
Manager
Rules, Thresholds, Lists, Profiling etc.
Case Outcome Server
Candidate Fraud Detector & High Usage Detector
Possible Fraud Scenarios
• Usage Fraud
– Misuse of another Subscriber’s services
– Misuse of operator’s services
– Running unauthorized private exchange
– Electronic device fraud
– Security issues
Usage data (i.e. EDRs) and usage pattern resulting from any such
activities is analyzed by FMS and input data is matched against
defined rule conditions and associated thresholds. Any deviation to
defined values / rules will generate alarms for the further
investigations. There is no limitation on number of rules that can be
defined in FMS. As per the requirement user can define any number
of rules / thresholds
Fraud Scenarios
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Subscription Frauds
Activation fraud
Adjustment in discounts or credits for a subscriber
Manipulation of credit limit for a subscriber
Change of applicable tariff plan
Incorrect application of payments
Subscriber data anomalies between Network Elements and Billing
Removal of suspensions, adding unauthorized services/lines
Fraudulent Subscriptions normally result in very high or abnormal usage
of services. This is alerted through usage alarms by setting various rules
on usage data as mentioned earlier. FMS has functionality to build and
store the profile of subscriber along with billing information. It also
stores the profiles previously classified as fraudsters. FMS also evaluates
Log files from the various systems (if they would be fed to FMS in
required format) like the CRM and Billing for suspect activity as it also
profiled user / system level activities
Resolution of Fraud Tickets
• The Intelligent alarm Analysis (IAA) server, will generate a ticket based
on the SBA’s, Behavioral History pertaining to the Services used by the
entity and scorecard
• The Ticket will be passed onto the Case Manager Server, where it is
redirected to users with particular roles. Here the type of fraud, priority
and workflow is taken into consideration while assigning the tickets
• The User / Subscriber Analyst with the appropriate role and privilege will
accept the ticket and classify it as either a fraudulent case or a non
fraudulent one.
• If the ticket is identified as a non fraudulent one, the User / Subscriber
Analyst will close the ticket marking it as a non fraud ticket closure. Here
the Case Outcome Server will update the entity profile in the CFD by
adaptive feedback to neural models, rules and known fraud case
histories. This will help in increasing the accuracy while checking the
profile violations against the defined rules.
Resolution
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The user / subscriber analyst task is to analyze and investigate each case and
then make a fraud or non fraud decision. It is general practice to have a set of
basic questions which if applied will give the user/analyst an idea of what has
occurred and also the ability to quantify the problem being investigated. A
checklist of questions would be as follows;
Who is the subscriber?
– New or Old subscriber , Residential, Business or VIP
– What combination of lines/services are installed
– Account history – when activated, any bills issued, paid, outstanding,
unbilled
– Subscriber details linked to BSNL employees
– Any links to previous identified fraud accounts
– Obtain contracts for further examination
– Additional call/reverse analysis to identify if subscriber linked to BSNL
employee
– Cross reference known fraudsters database
Resolution
• Not Fraud
– Make a note of the concerns on the FMS, If the usage
pattern recurs it should be investigated further
• Fraud
– Make a note of the concerns on the FMS, even if finally
determined to be non-fraudulent
– Take appropriate action such as call barring or
disconnection, in line with company guidelines
– Subject fraudulent account to post detection analysis
FMS Run time Schedule
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