Thanks Avi, that looks like a neat little solution for billing. Unfortunately my requirements are for pre and post-pay billing and rating so i'm looking for options for a comprehensive package. I'm having a good look at the products listed on the wiki page http://wiki.freeswitch.org/wiki/Billing_Solutions of which ASTPP looks the best so far but i'm not finding answers in the documentation so i'm reaching out to the community for peoples experience. Thanks again ______________________________ Callum Guy Developer X-on Framlingham Technology Centre Station Road, Framlingham, Suffolk, IP13 9EZ T 0333 332 0116 E callum.guy@x-on.co.uk X-on is a trading name of Storacall Technology Ltd a limited company registered in England and Wales Registered Office : Avaland House, 110 London Road, Apsley, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HP3 9SD Company Registration No. 2578478 This email has been sent from X-on.The contents and attachments are confidential to the sender and the intended addressees.If the message is received by anyone other than the addressee please return the message to the sender by replying to it and then delete the message from your computer without copying or disclosing the contents to anyone.Opinions, conclusions and statements of intent in this email are those of the sender and do not bind X-on unless confirmed by authorised representatives independently of this message.While best endeavours have been taken to avoid transmission of viruses, it is the responsibility of the recipient to scan for these.Please note emails sent to and from X-on are routinely monitored for record keeping and quality control, to ensure regulatory compliance and prevent unauthorised use of our systems. Please consider the environment before printing this email. On 30 January 2014 11:36, Avi Marcus <avi@avimarcus.net> wrote:

I ended up writing my own rating system...

It sets the rate before hand, has a channel limit per account, and will schedule a cutoff when the balance reaches 0. It's not perfect for pre-bill (when you allow multiple channels and it's near 0 balance) but it's pretty good and has a full trail in the CDRs (as long as nothing crashes...)

<action application="log" data="DEBUG Setting user outbound channel limit to 3."/> <action application="limit" data="hash outbound 1435 3"/> <action application="log" data="DEBUG Remaining for 1 channel: 543 minutes - 32597 seconds."/> <action application="export" data="nolocal:api_on_answer=sched_transfer +32597 ${uuid} cutoff_incall"/>

-Avi

On Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 3:29 PM, Callum Guy <callum.guy@x-on.co.uk> wrote:

...

Hi All,

I have been looking at some options for handling pre and post pay billing operations and wanted to ask the community for any feedback they might have.

The obvious starting choice would be mod_nibblebill however i am unclear about the maturity of this module and its flexibility with ever changing rates and destinations, although I could probably work around it if stable. Part of me also wonders if inclusion of billing in heartbeat events is going to affect performance at peak times.

Another option being considered is the following and i'd be keen to hear from anyone with experience of this software:

http://portaone.com/portabilling/

It offers complete pre and post pay billing solution via radius, sounds like a clean and simple implementation but i'm struggling to anyone who has used it for a realistic review!

Thanks,

Callum

_________________________________________________________________________ Professional FreeSWITCH Consulting Services: consulting@freeswitch.org http://www.freeswitchsolutions.com

FreeSWITCH-powered IP PBX: The CudaTel Communication Server http://www.cudatel.com

Official FreeSWITCH Sites http://www.freeswitch.org http://wiki.freeswitch.org http://www.cluecon.com

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_________________________________________________________________________ Professional FreeSWITCH Consulting Services: consulting@freeswitch.org http://www.freeswitchsolutions.com

FreeSWITCH-powered IP PBX: The CudaTel Communication Server http://www.cudatel.com

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FreeSWITCH-users mailing list FreeSWITCH-users@lists.freeswitch.org http://lists.freeswitch.org/mailman/listinfo/freeswitch-users UNSUBSCRIBE:http://lists.freeswitch.org/mailman/options/freeswitch-users http://www.freeswitch.org

On a side note, if there are enough people interested in building their own platforms, then perhaps we can use one of the Wednesday or Friday conference calls for a Q&A session. I'd be happy to share some of my own experiences, which might help others in the future avoid the same mistakes, or at the very least let them know what their getting into. I'm sure others would be happy to give their thoughts too. One bit of advice I will give though - Ship it. Don't make the same mistakes I did trying to find/build perfection, it doesn't exist. If it floats, ship it. Cal On Thu, Jan 30, 2014 at 2:57 PM, Cal Leeming [Simplicity Media Ltd] < cal.leeming@simplicitymedialtd.co.uk> wrote:

Hi Callum,

X-on finally realized their systems need upgrading huh? ;)

I spent some time researching this after I found FS, and quickly came to the conclusion that building our own was pretty much the best way forward if you want full control. There are tons of options out there, the only one that even came close to what we wanted was ITSPtec, and even that wasn't very good.

If you have a talented team of in-house programmers, then build your own and be prepared to spend 6 months minimum before you have anything close to a working beta. There are several ways you can do this, but seriously this is not a small task and there are an unbelievable amount of things to take into consideration.

If you want something out of the door quickly, review the features/pros/cons of each available solution and decide which one best fits your needs.

Cal

On Thu, Jan 30, 2014 at 1:29 PM, Callum Guy <callum.guy@x-on.co.uk> wrote:

...

Thanks Avi, that looks like a neat little solution for billing. Unfortunately my requirements are for pre and post-pay billing and rating so i'm looking for options for a comprehensive package.

I'm having a good look at the products listed on the wiki page http://wiki.freeswitch.org/wiki/Billing_Solutions of which ASTPP looks the best so far but i'm not finding answers in the documentation so i'm reaching out to the community for peoples experience.

Thanks again

______________________________

Callum Guy Developer

X-on Framlingham Technology Centre Station Road, Framlingham, Suffolk, IP13 9EZ

T 0333 332 0116 E callum.guy@x-on.co.uk

X-on is a trading name of Storacall Technology Ltd a limited company registered in England and Wales Registered Office : Avaland House, 110 London Road, Apsley, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HP3 9SD Company Registration No. 2578478

This email has been sent from X-on.The contents and attachments are confidential to the sender and the intended addressees.If the message is received by anyone other than the addressee please return the message to the sender by replying to it and then delete the message from your computer without copying or disclosing the contents to anyone.Opinions, conclusions and statements of intent in this email are those of the sender and do not bind X-on unless confirmed by authorised representatives independently of this message.While best endeavours have been taken to avoid transmission of viruses, it is the responsibility of the recipient to scan for these.Please note emails sent to and from X-on are routinely monitored for record keeping and quality control, to ensure regulatory compliance and prevent unauthorised use of our systems. Please consider the environment before printing this email.

On 30 January 2014 11:36, Avi Marcus <avi@avimarcus.net> wrote:

...

I ended up writing my own rating system...

It sets the rate before hand, has a channel limit per account, and will schedule a cutoff when the balance reaches 0. It's not perfect for pre-bill (when you allow multiple channels and it's near 0 balance) but it's pretty good and has a full trail in the CDRs (as long as nothing crashes...)

<action application="log" data="DEBUG Setting user outbound channel limit to 3."/> <action application="limit" data="hash outbound 1435 3"/> <action application="log" data="DEBUG Remaining for 1 channel: 543 minutes - 32597 seconds."/> <action application="export" data="nolocal:api_on_answer=sched_transfer +32597 ${uuid} cutoff_incall"/>

-Avi

On Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 3:29 PM, Callum Guy <callum.guy@x-on.co.uk>wrote:

...

Hi All,

I have been looking at some options for handling pre and post pay billing operations and wanted to ask the community for any feedback they might have.

The obvious starting choice would be mod_nibblebill however i am unclear about the maturity of this module and its flexibility with ever changing rates and destinations, although I could probably work around it if stable. Part of me also wonders if inclusion of billing in heartbeat events is going to affect performance at peak times.

Another option being considered is the following and i'd be keen to hear from anyone with experience of this software:

http://portaone.com/portabilling/

It offers complete pre and post pay billing solution via radius, sounds like a clean and simple implementation but i'm struggling to anyone who has used it for a realistic review!

Thanks,

Callum

_________________________________________________________________________ Professional FreeSWITCH Consulting Services: consulting@freeswitch.org http://www.freeswitchsolutions.com

FreeSWITCH-powered IP PBX: The CudaTel Communication Server http://www.cudatel.com

Official FreeSWITCH Sites http://www.freeswitch.org http://wiki.freeswitch.org http://www.cluecon.com

FreeSWITCH-users mailing list FreeSWITCH-users@lists.freeswitch.org http://lists.freeswitch.org/mailman/listinfo/freeswitch-users UNSUBSCRIBE: http://lists.freeswitch.org/mailman/options/freeswitch-users http://www.freeswitch.org

_________________________________________________________________________ Professional FreeSWITCH Consulting Services: consulting@freeswitch.org http://www.freeswitchsolutions.com

FreeSWITCH-powered IP PBX: The CudaTel Communication Server http://www.cudatel.com

Official FreeSWITCH Sites http://www.freeswitch.org http://wiki.freeswitch.org http://www.cluecon.com

FreeSWITCH-users mailing list FreeSWITCH-users@lists.freeswitch.org http://lists.freeswitch.org/mailman/listinfo/freeswitch-users UNSUBSCRIBE:http://lists.freeswitch.org/mailman/options/freeswitch-users http://www.freeswitch.org

_________________________________________________________________________ Professional FreeSWITCH Consulting Services: consulting@freeswitch.org http://www.freeswitchsolutions.com

FreeSWITCH-powered IP PBX: The CudaTel Communication Server http://www.cudatel.com

Official FreeSWITCH Sites http://www.freeswitch.org http://wiki.freeswitch.org http://www.cluecon.com

FreeSWITCH-users mailing list FreeSWITCH-users@lists.freeswitch.org http://lists.freeswitch.org/mailman/listinfo/freeswitch-users UNSUBSCRIBE:http://lists.freeswitch.org/mailman/options/freeswitch-users http://www.freeswitch.org

Haha yeah, had a few run-ins with x-on in the past, fun times :P Let us know how you get on - and feel free to join in on the Friday conference call, there's always people there happy to give their two cents. Cal On Thu, Jan 30, 2014 at 3:09 PM, Callum Guy <callum.guy@x-on.co.uk> wrote:

Thanks Dan - it'll take me a while to digest the docs on your website, and i'm actually watching your screencast on youtube at the moment to try and get a feel for the systems features and how it might integrate.

Also thanks for your response Cal, the self build would indeed be my preferred choice. In all honesty i'm mailing for my own interest at this time so i should probably have remembered to send from my personal address.. Highly amused by "X-on finally realized their systems need upgrading huh? ;)" - have you dealt with my employer before?! X-on are, of course, always upgrading our systems.

______________________________

Callum Guy Developer

X-on Framlingham Technology Centre Station Road, Framlingham, Suffolk, IP13 9EZ

T 0333 332 0116 E callum.guy@x-on.co.uk

X-on is a trading name of Storacall Technology Ltd a limited company registered in England and Wales Registered Office : Avaland House, 110 London Road, Apsley, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HP3 9SD Company Registration No. 2578478

This email has been sent from X-on.The contents and attachments are confidential to the sender and the intended addressees.If the message is received by anyone other than the addressee please return the message to the sender by replying to it and then delete the message from your computer without copying or disclosing the contents to anyone.Opinions, conclusions and statements of intent in this email are those of the sender and do not bind X-on unless confirmed by authorised representatives independently of this message.While best endeavours have been taken to avoid transmission of viruses, it is the responsibility of the recipient to scan for these.Please note emails sent to and from X-on are routinely monitored for record keeping and quality control, to ensure regulatory compliance and prevent unauthorised use of our systems. Please consider the environment before printing this email.

On 30 January 2014 14:57, Cal Leeming [Simplicity Media Ltd] < cal.leeming@simplicitymedialtd.co.uk> wrote:

...

Hi Callum,

X-on finally realized their systems need upgrading huh? ;)

I spent some time researching this after I found FS, and quickly came to the conclusion that building our own was pretty much the best way forward if you want full control. There are tons of options out there, the only one that even came close to what we wanted was ITSPtec, and even that wasn't very good.

If you have a talented team of in-house programmers, then build your own and be prepared to spend 6 months minimum before you have anything close to a working beta. There are several ways you can do this, but seriously this is not a small task and there are an unbelievable amount of things to take into consideration.

If you want something out of the door quickly, review the features/pros/cons of each available solution and decide which one best fits your needs.

Cal

On Thu, Jan 30, 2014 at 1:29 PM, Callum Guy <callum.guy@x-on.co.uk>wrote:

...

Thanks Avi, that looks like a neat little solution for billing. Unfortunately my requirements are for pre and post-pay billing and rating so i'm looking for options for a comprehensive package.

I'm having a good look at the products listed on the wiki page http://wiki.freeswitch.org/wiki/Billing_Solutions of which ASTPP looks the best so far but i'm not finding answers in the documentation so i'm reaching out to the community for peoples experience.

Thanks again

______________________________

Callum Guy Developer

X-on Framlingham Technology Centre Station Road, Framlingham, Suffolk, IP13 9EZ

T 0333 332 0116 E callum.guy@x-on.co.uk

X-on is a trading name of Storacall Technology Ltd a limited company registered in England and Wales Registered Office : Avaland House, 110 London Road, Apsley, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HP3 9SD Company Registration No. 2578478

This email has been sent from X-on.The contents and attachments are confidential to the sender and the intended addressees.If the message is received by anyone other than the addressee please return the message to the sender by replying to it and then delete the message from your computer without copying or disclosing the contents to anyone.Opinions, conclusions and statements of intent in this email are those of the sender and do not bind X-on unless confirmed by authorised representatives independently of this message.While best endeavours have been taken to avoid transmission of viruses, it is the responsibility of the recipient to scan for these.Please note emails sent to and from X-on are routinely monitored for record keeping and quality control, to ensure regulatory compliance and prevent unauthorised use of our systems. Please consider the environment before printing this email.

On 30 January 2014 11:36, Avi Marcus <avi@avimarcus.net> wrote:

...

I ended up writing my own rating system...

It sets the rate before hand, has a channel limit per account, and will schedule a cutoff when the balance reaches 0. It's not perfect for pre-bill (when you allow multiple channels and it's near 0 balance) but it's pretty good and has a full trail in the CDRs (as long as nothing crashes...)

<action application="log" data="DEBUG Setting user outbound channel limit to 3."/> <action application="limit" data="hash outbound 1435 3"/> <action application="log" data="DEBUG Remaining for 1 channel: 543 minutes - 32597 seconds."/> <action application="export" data="nolocal:api_on_answer=sched_transfer +32597 ${uuid} cutoff_incall"/>

-Avi

On Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 3:29 PM, Callum Guy <callum.guy@x-on.co.uk>wrote:

...

Hi All,

I have been looking at some options for handling pre and post pay billing operations and wanted to ask the community for any feedback they might have.

The obvious starting choice would be mod_nibblebill however i am unclear about the maturity of this module and its flexibility with ever changing rates and destinations, although I could probably work around it if stable. Part of me also wonders if inclusion of billing in heartbeat events is going to affect performance at peak times.

Another option being considered is the following and i'd be keen to hear from anyone with experience of this software:

http://portaone.com/portabilling/

It offers complete pre and post pay billing solution via radius, sounds like a clean and simple implementation but i'm struggling to anyone who has used it for a realistic review!

Thanks,

Callum

_________________________________________________________________________ Professional FreeSWITCH Consulting Services: consulting@freeswitch.org http://www.freeswitchsolutions.com

FreeSWITCH-powered IP PBX: The CudaTel Communication Server http://www.cudatel.com

Official FreeSWITCH Sites http://www.freeswitch.org http://wiki.freeswitch.org http://www.cluecon.com

FreeSWITCH-users mailing list FreeSWITCH-users@lists.freeswitch.org http://lists.freeswitch.org/mailman/listinfo/freeswitch-users UNSUBSCRIBE: http://lists.freeswitch.org/mailman/options/freeswitch-users http://www.freeswitch.org

_________________________________________________________________________ Professional FreeSWITCH Consulting Services: consulting@freeswitch.org http://www.freeswitchsolutions.com

FreeSWITCH-powered IP PBX: The CudaTel Communication Server http://www.cudatel.com

Official FreeSWITCH Sites http://www.freeswitch.org http://wiki.freeswitch.org http://www.cluecon.com

FreeSWITCH-users mailing list FreeSWITCH-users@lists.freeswitch.org http://lists.freeswitch.org/mailman/listinfo/freeswitch-users UNSUBSCRIBE: http://lists.freeswitch.org/mailman/options/freeswitch-users http://www.freeswitch.org

_________________________________________________________________________ Professional FreeSWITCH Consulting Services: consulting@freeswitch.org http://www.freeswitchsolutions.com

FreeSWITCH-powered IP PBX: The CudaTel Communication Server http://www.cudatel.com

Official FreeSWITCH Sites http://www.freeswitch.org http://wiki.freeswitch.org http://www.cluecon.com

FreeSWITCH-users mailing list FreeSWITCH-users@lists.freeswitch.org http://lists.freeswitch.org/mailman/listinfo/freeswitch-users UNSUBSCRIBE:http://lists.freeswitch.org/mailman/options/freeswitch-users http://www.freeswitch.org

_________________________________________________________________________ Professional FreeSWITCH Consulting Services: consulting@freeswitch.org http://www.freeswitchsolutions.com

FreeSWITCH-powered IP PBX: The CudaTel Communication Server http://www.cudatel.com

Official FreeSWITCH Sites http://www.freeswitch.org http://wiki.freeswitch.org http://www.cluecon.com

FreeSWITCH-users mailing list FreeSWITCH-users@lists.freeswitch.org http://lists.freeswitch.org/mailman/listinfo/freeswitch-users UNSUBSCRIBE:http://lists.freeswitch.org/mailman/options/freeswitch-users http://www.freeswitch.org

_________________________________________________________________________ Professional FreeSWITCH Consulting Services: consulting@freeswitch.org http://www.freeswitchsolutions.com

FreeSWITCH-powered IP PBX: The CudaTel Communication Server http://www.cudatel.com

Official FreeSWITCH Sites http://www.freeswitch.org http://wiki.freeswitch.org http://www.cluecon.com

FreeSWITCH-users mailing list FreeSWITCH-users@lists.freeswitch.org http://lists.freeswitch.org/mailman/listinfo/freeswitch-users UNSUBSCRIBE:http://lists.freeswitch.org/mailman/options/freeswitch-users http://www.freeswitch.org

Post-pay almost always has some sort of credit limit -- if only for fraud prevention. I have a user variable called cutoff. For prepaid, it's set to 0. For those I trust, I set it to a negative number. That's the number I use to calculate how much credit is left on their account. That way the same mechanism works for both prepaid and post-paid. -Avi On Thu, Jan 30, 2014 at 3:29 PM, Callum Guy <callum.guy@x-on.co.uk> wrote:

Thanks Avi, that looks like a neat little solution for billing. Unfortunately my requirements are for pre and post-pay billing and rating so i'm looking for options for a comprehensive package.