The present invention provides a platform for supporting usage based and usage sensitive billing and operation services and systems for network service providers. The platform provides an environment that supports the collection of statistics and call records from various network (voice, data, etc.) elements, validation of the data, conversion of the data into a normalized format, and the configuration of a core provisioning process for rating the data and generating the appropriate billing charges.

Call detail records are generated for usage of a telecommunications service established in a telecommunications network, by monitoring messages in a signalling system for co-ordinating operation of the network and carried over signalling links in the signalling system between a service switching function entity and a service control function entity. Messages are selected that relate to instances of usage of the telecommunications service initiated by the service switching function entity to at least one signal switching point in the network. These selected messages are correlated in accordance with the usage instance to which they relate, and information in the correlated selected messages is used to derive a call detail record for an instance of usage of the telecommunications service.

A service selection gateway (SSG) which receives data indicating tariff switching points, and sends accounting records enabling accurate computation of traffic volumes in each switching duration is described. In one embodiment, a counter value indicating the traffic volume for each tariff duration is sent. In an alternative embodiment, at least one accounting record containing two counters is sent in each duration, with one counter indicating an aggregate count of traffic volume (e.g., since the subscriber started a session) and another counter containing a marginal (or incremental) value since a switching point. Such an accounting record can be sent at any time point in a tariff duration, and the traffic volume in each tariff duration can be computed accurately.

A system, method and apparatus is disclosed for capturing call processing failures in a telecommunication system occurring at a telecommunication switch control processor as the failures occur. The system includes a computing system adapted for communicating with the telecommunication system. The computing system includes one or more computers having one or more processors for executing logic instructions; a memory associated with the computing system for storing the instructions; a storage device adapted for communicating with the computing system for storing data; and a communication device associated with the computing system for establishing a communication link between the computing system and the telecommunication system. The logic instructions are executed by the computing system and cause the one or more processors to establish a communication link between the computing system and the telecommunication system; continually capture call processing failure data occurring at the telecommunication switch control processor; and store the captured call processing failure data to the storage device. The method includes establishing a communication link between a computing system and the telecommunication system; the computing system continually capturing call processing failure data occurring at the telecommunication switch control processor; and storing the captured call processing failure data to the storage device. The apparatus includes a computer adapted for communicating with the telecommunication system, the computer having one or more processors to execute logic instructions associated with one or more computer software programs and a memory for storing the logic instructions; a first adapter coupled to the computer for interfacing the computer to a server; a second adapter coupled to the computer for continually capturing call processing failure data at the telecommunication switch control processor; and a communication device coupled to the computer for establishing a communication link between the computer and the telecommunication system.

A method and system for generating and providing existing and new message accounting records in a standard format using call data obtained from switching and/or signaling networks is disclosed. A system for providing augmented billing messages includes a message accounting record creation apparatus being in communication with a signaling network and a switching network. The message accounting record creation apparatus receives call records from the signaling network and message accounting records from the switching network and outputs augmented message accounting records. Each of the augmented message accounting records is generated using one of the signaling network call records and one of the switching network message accounting records.