PDF of this tutorial
Roaming
Mobility dictates a need for technology or standards that make it possible for different networks to talk to each other. Subscribers want to be able to use the same voice-activated services that they use in their home city when they travel to Phoenix. They also want the service to work in the same way. Roaming is one of the factors driving the WIN standards now being developed.
Customers can roam out of their local calling area or out of their service provider's area. Both of these situations require messaging data before the call is even put through to handle the setup, authorization, and proper billing for roaming services. All of these IN services require signaling system 7 (SS7) messages to be sent back and forth between various devices. In nonintelligent applications, calls are simply routed, connected, and then disconnected. Wireless applications require additional SS7 messages to make the service work. Intelligent networking is required for various validations and billing reciprocation of wireless calls.
Carrier Select
When customers make a wireline call they have no option as to their providers, but the wireless world is different. Wireless providers are making agreements with one another. There are options because of business partnerships and because many carriers have licenses in many different markets.
Carrier-select services can benefit both the provider and the subscriber. They allow providers to select, based on codes or automatic handset selection, the network that will be used to complete the call. This way, a carrier can secure calls with its business partners. For example, customers from Dallas roam to Chicago. When those customers travel (if they keep the same frequency band of the Dallas carrier) and make a call, it would normally be routed to the carrier's competitor—not its partner—in that area. However, with carrier select, the mode of a provider's phone could go out and automatically select the correct carrier.
These services also allow subscribers the choice of programming new, sophisticated handsets to route calls selectively, which could save them money if they know different network rates. As this is a convenience for the subscriber, carriers will offer these services as well. Whether for providers or subscribers, carrier-select services require IN messaging.
Hands-Free Operation
Hands-free wireless services are the most sought-after services for safety-minded customers today. They need features such as voice-activated dialing and feature activation, which require special technology that converts voice into data. By speaking "call mom" or "5551212," a call can be completed without physically dialing.
The network will migrate to using intelligent networking to route the call to the intelligent-peripheral devices that provide the special technology, such as voice recognition, that is necessary for hands-free, voice-controlled services. To get the message or voice signals routed to the devices that collect that information and translate it to data information requires special routing or intelligent networking. In a non–IN application, after the connection is made, the device or intelligent peripheral (IP) is connected to the call the entire time, even though the technology is only required for the dialing sequence. An IN application sends the message to the device, turns it on, translates the digits, removes it from the telephone circuit, and lets the call go on. As a result, an IN application is a more efficient utilization of IP facilities.
Fee Structure
Calls are being handed off among networks. After the call is handled properly, billing takes place. IN flags can be written right into the call record so that billing reflects the specific call handling. With so many different agreements, carriers may have negotiated different fee structures with each partner. Using an IN flag in the billing record makes processing fees between carriers much easier.
Wireless companies have always paid wireline companies for handling calls that terminate outside the wireless network—a majority of the calls. Money has always gone one way. As a result of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, billing can go both ways. Wireless companies can now get paid for calls coming into the wireless network. These changes make billing relationships more complex and will increase the need for IN flags.
Providers also will offer services such as calling party pays to make it easier for a wireless subscriber to receive calls at no charge. Again, these types of services drive a need for more centralized WIN capabilities.
Data-Service Capabilities
Handset displays allow customers to use various messaging services. One, called short message service (SMS), works much like a pager. It allows phones to send and receive messages in addition to making or taking telephone calls. SMS requires many SS7 messages just to set up the signaling and the mechanism to get the data through the wireless network. It requires a significant amount of checks and balances, finding the database, pulling up the message, encapsulating it with the right header information to route it to the correct user, and finally sending it out like a phone call. It may even go out over a data channel so that the user can receive a message while making a voice call at the same time. This gets complex and requires IN routing and authentication.
