Rating usage at telecom volume
Rating is where most billing projects stall. Call detail records arrive in a format nobody documented, at a volume that makes row-by-row processing impossible, and the pricing rules change the week after go-live.
OpenBRM integrates OpenRate, an open source rating engine designed for this problem. It processes in the order of a thousand CDRs per second, and a parser for a new record format is typically a few hours of work rather than a project.
Record formats it handles
- Delimited files — CSV and its many dialects
- Fixed-length records
- Binary formats including TAP and ASN.1 encodings
- Records fed directly from a database table
- Real-time interfaces including Diameter and RADIUS
Batch and real time in one engine
A prepaid MVNO needs a rating decision before the call connects. A wholesale interconnect settlement needs to reprocess a month of traffic after a rate card is corrected. These are usually two products. In OpenBRM they are the same engine configured differently, which means one set of rate cards and one place where pricing logic lives.
From rated usage to an invoice
Rated usage does not sit in a separate silo. It flows into the same billing run as subscription charges and one-off fees, so a customer with a monthly plan, an equipment fee and 4,200 rated minutes receives a single invoice with all three on it. Bundled credits are consumed first, then overage is rated at the applicable tier.
Who this is for
Fixed and mobile operators, MVNOs and MVNEs, VoIP providers, internet service providers, and anyone settling interconnection traffic. If your charges depend on what customers actually consumed rather than a flat monthly figure, this is the part of OpenBRM that matters most.
Documentation · Subscription management · Interconnection billing services