Functional Description

Category:  Prepaid

This is a variant of the prepaid call application where a user has an account provisioned with prepaid balances.  While other pre-paid applications identify a user account by dialing a special code or entering a PIN, the ANI pass-through identifies a user by looking up one or more ANI's pre-configured to the user.  In most cases, the user simply registers their existing ANIs.  This allows simpler, quicker user identification and ease of use by bypassing the need to enter PIN numbers.

How it works:
A user with a provisioned prepaid account calls in to a prepaid IVR which authorizes user to dial the destination number.  NAS keeps track of rates, credit available and CDR/billing at the end of the call.  Important differences between a regular prepaid call and the ANI pass through are as follows:

• No user account in NMS.  Users' prepaid accounts are stored in NAS only.
• Caller's ANI used to locate user's prepaid account on NAS.

Functional diagram below.

Functional Diagram

Initial Configuration & Setup

The following installation steps are required for setting up this feature.

Operational Behavior

• Call Handling
• Multiple calls can be made in sequence in one session with the IVR, as long as funds are available ("call chaining").  This is also shown in the functional diagram above.  If calls are chained, each successful call to the destination will have a separate CDR entry on the NMS, with details in a "batch".  There will also be a corresponding CDR entry for each call, on the NAS.
  
• If a caller's ANI is not found in the ANI table, the prepaid IVR will drop the call immediately.  A CDR on the NMS will have a call release reason of "RS: Account Invalid".  No CDR will appear on the NAS.
• If the ANI lookup to Account is successful, announce the Account Balance to the caller.
  
• If the destination number is not routable, the IVR will play an "invalid destination" announcement and return to the user prompt to enter another destination number.  This sequence repeats until the user enters a routable (valid) number.
• If the caller has insufficient funds to make a call, the prepaid IVR will drop the call.  A CDR on the NMS will have a call release reason of "RS: Out of Fund".  No CDR will appear on the NAS.
• While talking, if the remaining available talk time dropped below the configured "Duration Warning Limit", whisper the remaining talk time to the caller.
• While talking, if the caller press the end call digit sequence (e.g. ***), release the callee, and prompt the caller for the next destination.
  
• If the caller's account runs out of funds during a call, the prepaid IVR will drop the call.  A CDR on the NMS will have a call release reason of "RS: Out of Time".  A corresponding post-rated CDR with the same call release reason will appear on the NAS.
  

• Configuration
  
• The number of simultaneous calls per user and domain can be limited via a domain configuration.  (in the case where parallel calls are originated from two or more ANI's (devices) belonging to the same user.)  From the NAS UI menu Domains --> Domains, select a domain to edit.  A dropdown box allows selection of the limits.  Setting it to zero (default) means 'unlimited'.  See snapshot below.