“In God We Trust” – but in dollar flow we don’t

Margin protection & fraud prevention with real-time traffic controls – Part 3

In my last blog we talked about margin protection control and how to keep our margin in the green zone. However, in the ZIRA solution suite, margin control is just the tip of the iceberg that combines “the best of both worlds”—price control and automatic routing control. There is also one more innovative system solution introduced to the ZIRA family, born from the same principles as margin control, called “Online Credit Control & Netting.” This time we will dive into the world of online credit control, so lean back and enjoy the ride.

Trust your partners 99%, but keep the 1% for the benefit of the doubt

Simply said, ZIRA Online Credit Control & Netting is a solution that gives the Business User direct insight and full control of partner traffic in real time.
Online Credit Control & Netting is equipped with various ways of the latest network integration approaches; for one, there is the Diameter integration. Besides the Diameter, the solution uses the classic SIP redirect features. This gives Business User the possibility to control different call parameters with various sets of rules.
For example, the user has the possibility to set the limit for the maximum traffic amount they want to receive from a partner, which may be better defined as “controlling the credit exposure with a specific customer.” In other words, traffic flows on the network; it is redirected to “Online Credit Control & Netting,” which rates it and compares it with the set limits in real time.
With this limit reached, the system has the possibility to notify all stakeholders and continue monitoring the traffic, allowing it to flow or blocking the traffic in real time. It must be mentioned that there are a lot more features, like price control in real time or controlling the unwanted traffic by defining the high rates.
The same goes for “controlling the outgoing cost for specific suppliers”, where the user sets the desired limit on outgoing traffic.
Combining the control of incoming and outgoing traffic, we implemented one more option—“Netting.” It is used for Partner Operators, that are both Customer and Suppliers of traffic. The traffic amount is netted in real time and then compared with the set limit.