Tariscope configuration to use the restriction feature with CUCM

Overview
Call restriction options
General settings
Do the following steps to configure the restriction feature:
Configuration of scripts for CUCM
Configuration option for CUCM
Administration and Monitoring
Licensing

Overview

Tariscope can be purchased with the additional feature called the Restriction feature.

limiting

The restriction feature allows the Tariscope administrator to set the restriction to the specific type of calls for a subscriber, group of subscribers, route or trunk. To apply the restriction feature it should be set a money limit or duration limit for a specific call type. The restriction is set for the month, week or day. The default period is one month. You can also set the start date of the next period. A specific type of calls is defined by a category. There are examples of categories that you can set:

only local calls,
only domestic long distance calls,
only international calls,
calls to specific telephone numbers,
and others.

A type of category is defined by the Tariscope administrator. When a subscriber has spent the money (time) that had been set to a specific call type, Tariscope executes a script. The script changes a subscriber configuration that restricts the subscriber access to the telephone network.

To use the restriction feature it should purchase a specific license.

Call restriction options

Tariscope supports two restriction options based on the method of obtaining information about the calls from the telephone system.

1. Restriction based on CDR information

In this case Tariscope gets information about calls only after the call ends. Therefore, there may be some excess of the set limit for some subscribers. At the time of exceeding the limit Tariscope Observer performs a script that sets an access restriction. Depending on the type of telephone system, the Tariscope administrator must select the appropriate script.

Tariscope includes scripts for the following telephone systems:

CS1000, Meridian 1 (Avaya-Nortel);
Aura, S8700/8500/8300, Definity (Avaya);
HiPath 4000 (Siemens);
3CX Phone System (3CX);
KX-TDA (Panasonic);
Asterisk,
Cisco Unified Communications Manager or CUCM (Cisco Systems).

If your PBX is not listed above, you can use a script that send an email. The script sends a message about an expenditure of the limit by a subscriber, and another message to the PBX administrator. Then it sets the access restriction for the subscriber.

2. Realtime monitoring

If a telephone system has API allowing to keep track of calls made at the current moment, Tariscope can restrict these calls with one-second accuracy. It calculates the cost and duration for each call that remains before the exhaustion of the limit. Once the limit is exhausted, the call is dropped. This allows to accurately control the company's budget. Tariscope performs a final calculation of the call cost after the call end and processing appropriate CDR. When the Realtime monitoring is used it is possible to apply the restrictions using scripts, but it is not mandatory. If you only use the Realtime monitoring, you must to configure the corresponding Tariscope services (Tariscope Main and Tariscope Observer).

This type of monitoring is supported for Asterisk and 3CX Phone System.

The following possibilities are also available for IP PBX 3CX Phone System:

the system can restrict a subscriber based on the state of his balance (for Tariscope Provider edition);
the system can prohibit to make calls from extensions which are absent in the Tariscope subscriber database.

General settings

To use the restriction feature, you must configure the basic parameters of Tariscope such as communication nodes, data collection subsystem, subscriber database, and rates. We will not consider these settings in this article, assuming that you have done all this settings.

Do the following steps to configure the restriction feature:

Enable the Restriction feature. To do this, on the All nodes configuration page, in the Control expenses (limiting) list, select an option that corresponds to your license.

limiting enable.en There are the following options:

Type	Description
Subscribers only	Tariscope only tracks the limits set for subscribers. When Tariscope gets a new call information for each category of restrictions it increases a sum of expenses.
Group only	Tariscope only tracks the limits set for subscriber groups. Limits of each subscriber will not be tracked separately, but they need to be set to mark the subscribers of the group, which may be restricted.
Routes/trunks	Tariscope only tracks the limits set for routes, trunks or gateways. There are no scripts for this option in the Tariscope installation package. You can add the scripts yourself or contact our support team.
Subscribers and groups	Tariscope tracks the limits set for subscribers and also for subscriber groups. The script is executed, if any of an individual limit or group limit will be exhausted.
All	Tariscope tracks all the configured limits.

Set the restriction group, classes of service, and their links to the call categories for each telephone system. To do this, open: Tariscope Management -> All nodes -> a desired node -> Equipment items -> a desired telephone system -> Restriction classes.

The following concepts are used for this configuration page:

Restriction group. This is a set of rules, according to which a class of service is selected, depending on the limitations set for a subscriber, and the status of expense for these limitations. A list of the restriction groups is common to all PBXs of communication node. But the elements of the group and their corresponding classes of service are tied to a particular PBX. You must create at least two elements of restriction group. For example, one element includes the class of service that permits phone calls, and another element that prohibits such calls. Groups of restrictions are tied to the subscribers.

Class of service (COS). This is an identifier that is used by a particular type of telepone system to determine access rights to various areas of the call. COS is passed to the restriction script, which uses it in the process of implementation. The format and value of COS are depended on the type of PBX.

For example: The Calling Search Space (CSS) is used as COS in Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM).

For Communications Server 1000 (CS1000) by Avaya - Nortel you can use COS, NCOS, TGAR.

Call category. This is a parameter that is assigned to each call by the charging module of Tariscope in accordance with the direction of a call. One of purposes of the categories is to define a type of telephone traffic, which should be considered to set the restrictions. A list of categories can be obtained from the Tariscope Management -> Categories. You can tie country codes, area codes or telephone codes with categories using Tariscope Management -> Providers and rates -> your provider -> Destination codes or Destinations table.

The Restriction classes mode allows to configure COS for each combination of available categories of calls to subscribers. In the simplest case, each group of classes contains two elements: "everything is enabled" with a selection of All categories and "everything is disabled" when no categories were selected. If you want to restrict the various categories of calls individually, you need to create the elements of restriction group with all possible combinations of categories and corresponding COS. Tariscope automatically selects an element that is suitable for the current status of the subscriber restrictions, and pass it to the script.

You can assign any name for each group and element.

It is not necessary to configure the Restriction classes for Asterisk and 3CX Phone System when The Realtime monitoring mode is used. The calls are dropped by Tariscope.

For each subscriber, which can be restricted, select the Restriction group.

To do this, move to Tariscope Management -> All nodes -> a desired node -> Subscribers. Select one or some subscribers and click on the Edit icon located on the toolbar.

The subscriber editor window opens. Click on the Details icon.

In the Restrictions partition of the window, click on the Add button and select a restriction group, which should be applied to the subscriber. Type a limit to the call category. The limit can be set either in the money (in the current base currency) or in the time (in seconds). You can create multiple restrictions for a single subscriber for the different categories. They will be monitored simultaneously.
For each PBX, select the script file used for restriction.

To do this, select Tariscope Mangement -> Data collection/Observer -> a desired profile -> Configuration. In the appeared window of data collection, click on the Scripts button.

abonent script.en

In the Tariscope Observer scripts window, select a script for the event "Subscriber COS change". The predefined scripts are in the folder: C:\Program Files (x86)\SoftPI\Tariscope3\Scripts\

The script for sending email messages is called Generic\limiting-subscriber-setcos-email.vb

Scripts for different types of PBXs are in the appropriate folders.

In the window of the script selection dialog, you can choose a period of an automatic reset of the restriction and the start date of the next period.

After configuration of CDR collection service (Tariscope Observer), you should run it.

On this the restriction configuration is completed.

Configuration of scripts for CUCM

Due to the fact that the parameter control of Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) is performed via SSH, you should set a username and password that the script will use to connect to the CUCM command line interface. To configure the script, use the script editor built-in in Tariscope.

The script designed to change the subscriber access class for the CUCM located in the relevant folder:

\Scripts\CUCM\limiting-subscriber-setcos-ssh.vb

Configuration of scrips is executed in Tariscope Mangement -> Data collection/Observer -> a desired profile -> Configuration. In the appeared window of data collection, click on the Scripts button. In the Tariscope Observer scripts window, select a script for the event "Subscriber COS change". Click on the "..." button, and select the script file.

If you want to adjust the settings of the script, click Edit.

In the script, set connection settings to your CUCM:

Parameter	Description	Example of value
CUCM_HOST	IP server address of CUCM	10.10.1.123
CUCM_LOGIN	login to connect to CUCM	admin
CUCM_PASSWORD	Password	Password

It is recommended to save a customized script with a new name.

Save the script, and save the profile of data collection.

Configuration option for CUCM

Please note that the standard script supposes the use of a mechanism Calling Search Space (CSS). Therefore, the setting of "Restriction classes" in Tariscope should be carried out pointing out the names of the relevant CSS.

If necessary to use other methods, modify the SQL query in the script.

For example, if CUCM was configured to use Forced Authorization Code (FAC), change the SQL query as follows:

run sql update facinfo set authorizationlevel='{1}' WHERE name='{0}'

In this case you should specify levels of authorization codes in settings of the Restriction Class.

An example to view authorization codes: run sql SELECT * from facinfo

pkid name authorizationlevel code

==================================== ==== ================== ======

09d86b8a-52f7-d240-12de-5abfc73c7abe 2502 4 123

0c17b237-8a12-b481-6a56-73f8be0ef161 2501 11 2345

7a2ea379-1bdb-0a10-45c3-53836c071968 1512 7 433873

6ceac5f0-8ff2-940c-7149-0ecf56f8648c 1786 8 983933

You can configure the authorization codes as follows: Select Call Routing -> Forced Autorization Codes.

fac path In Tariscope, enter the authorization code in the "Service classes" mode:

fac list Set the access codes, as shown below:

fac route pattern

Administration and Monitoring

You can monitor the system by analyzing the Tariscope Observer log, as well as using the Restricted subscribers mode.

restricted subscribers.en

The mode displays a list of subscribers, for which the restrictions were applied. This mode allows you to view the restricted subscribers, sums of expenses, sums of limits for each category of each subscriber. You can open the subscriber editor, if it is necessary. Using the subscriber editor, you can set a restriction or clear it manually.