Lucent Technologies 8.2 User Manual

Issue 1

April 2000

Features and technical reference 

1195

Call Charge Information 

DEFINITY ECS provides two ways to know the approximate charge for calls 
made on outgoing trunks:

■

Advice of Charge — for ISDN trunks

Advice of Charge (AOC) collects charge information from the public 
network for each outgoing call. Charge advice is a number representing the 
cost of a call; it is recorded as either a charging or currency unit.

■

Periodic Pulse Metering — for non-ISDN trunks

Periodic Pulse Metering (PPM) accumulates pulses transmitted from the 
public network at periodic intervals during an outgoing trunk call. At the 
end of the call, the number of pulses collected is the basis for determining 
charges.

Call-charge information helps you to account for the cost of outgoing calls 
without waiting for the next bill from your network provider. This is especially 
important in countries where telephone bills are not itemized. You can also use 
this information to let employees know the cost of their phone calls, and so 
encourage them to help manage the company’s telecommunications expenses. 
Note, however, that you cannot necessarily use this information to dispute 
telephone bills with the network provider.

You need to request either AOC or PPM service from your network provider. In 
some areas, your choice may be limited. Your Lucent Technologies representative 
can help you determine the type of service you need.

This service is not offered by the public network in some countries, 
including the US.

The availability of AOC and PPM varies from one country to the next. In some 
countries, AOC information is received automatically for each call. In others, the 
system must request AOC information for each call.

In some countries, the public network sends call-charge information only at the 
end of a call. In others, the public network sends information during a call as well. 
PPM is available over the following trunk types:

■

CO

■

DIOD

■

FX