Pre-Call Announcement Functionality

Call Control Framework (CCF) pre-call announcement functionality enables you to play announcements to the caller before connecting them to the dialed number.

When a subscriber makes a call, CCF sends an initial quota request to MATRIXX Engine. If the subscriber is low on funds and this is the final amount of quota that the Charging Server can grant, then rating can indicate this by setting LastUnitInfo when it rates the MtxDiamRoMsg for this quota request. The engine can also return the IDs of one or more announcements to play, or the ID of a VoiceXML (VXML) script to run to remind the subscriber to top up their funds. In addition, a VXML script can collect information (such as whether the subscriber tops up) that enables CCF to decide what course of action to take next, for example, whether to release or continue the call.

For playing pre-call announcements, CCF supports only the Camel Application Part 2 (CAP2) protocol and protocols that are compatible with CAP2. For example, for CAP3 and CAP4, CCF supports only pre-call announcement functionality that is also available for CAP2.

For VoiceXML scripts, CCF also supports the Capability Set 2 (CS2) protocol ScriptRun and ScriptEvent operations.

CCF sends the list of announcements to play to a specified announcement pod in PlayAnnouncement operations. If the PostRating profile selected during rating has an announcement prompt collect pricing component assigned to it, CCF instead sends the announcements list in a PromptAndCollectUserInformation (PACUI) operation. The PACUI operation allows the caller to interrupt an announcement by pressing digits on their handset. The digits collected can then be used to determine how the call is progressed. See the discussion about PACUI announcements for more information.

You use the following types of announcement servers to play pre-call announcements:

  • An external Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system; a stand-alone piece of equipment that houses a specialized resource function (SRF).

    When using an external IVR, MATRIXX Engine instructs the Mobile Switching Center (MSC) or service switching point (SSP) to establish a voice path to the IVR. The IVR then establishes a new TCAP dialog to MATRIXX Engine. Network Enabler routes messages of this dialog to the sub-domain dealing with the original dialog with the MSC or SSP. Network Enabler can route to any processing pod in the sub-domain. If you want the announcement pod to route announcement related voice traffic to the Network Enablers nearest to the engine handling the call, you can add the list of the Engine ID to SCF ID mappings to use to the announcement pod configuration during pricing configuration.

  • An SRF that is internal to the MSC or SSP.

Features of CCF pre-call announcement functionality are:

  • CCF can play up to 16 pre-call announcements to the caller.
  • CCF supports both fixed recordings in pre-call announcements, and announcements that contain variable parts, such as place holders for balances, dates, times, and amounts.
  • CCF sends the list of announcements to play in PlayAnnouncement operations or PACUI operations. CCF sends each announcement that has variable parts in a separate operation. CCF sends consecutive fixed announcements in the same operation.
  • CCF ensures that the capacity of the TCAP message is not overflowed by sending a maximum of three PlayAnnouncement operations, or one PACUI operation, in one TCAP message. For information about the combinations of fixed and variable announcements CCF can send in a TCAP message, see the discussion about announcements limits in TCAP messages.
  • CCF determines whether to play an announcement or to run a VXML script based on the response from MATRIXX Engine to the initial quota request message from CCF.
  • CCF can reauthorize calls on answer or reauthorize calls immediately after running the VXML script, depending on configuration.
  • When playing announcements to the caller, CCF sets the requestAnnouncementComplete parameter in CAP2 PlayAnnouncement operations to true only after playing the last announcement in the list, otherwise CCF sets it to false. When set to true, the IVR sends a SpecializedResourceReport operation after playing the last announcement.
  • CCF always sets the disconnectFromIPForbidden parameter in CAP2 PlayAnnouncement operations and CS2 scriptRun operations to true. When set to true, the IVR stays connected to the MSC or SSP after playing the announcement. CCF sends a DisconnectForwardConnection operation to the MSC to disconnect the IVR after the last announcement.
  • Optionally, CCF can send the ResetTimer operation to the MSC before playing an announcement or running a VXML script. CCF sets the MSC timer value to the timeout for the specific announcement or script plus a tolerance amount to give the timer on MATRIXX Engine time to expire before the MSC timer.
  • CCF plays only announcements that contain a single elementary message ID or a list of elementary message IDs. Although CCF can use the language ID to identify elementary message IDs, CCF does not send it in PlayAnnouncement or PACUI operations.

For information about the parameters sent in PlayAnnouncement and PACUI operations, see the discussion about supported CAP operations between CCF and the MSC.