The DIGITALK Charging Control Server is specifically designed to support applications that control and charge for services running on external network systems. The primary example is the Prepaid Mobile Credit Control Application which enables MVNOs to offer prepaid services to their subscribers with full pricing control and balance management. The DIGITALK Charging Control Server supports the IETF and 3GPP IMS protocol, Diameter, for charging control.

The DIGITALK Charging Control Server can support subscriber charging alongside the DIGITALK Multiservice Platform to provide international least cost routing, as illustrated below. This approach enables service providers to manage both costs and revenues, providing full margin assurance.

Key features of the DIGITALK Charging Control Server are:

• High availability operation across primary and secondary servers
• Session load balancing across primary and secondary servers
• High capacity support for 1000s of concurrent sessions
• Fully featured DIGITALK real-time rating and balance management
• Supports the DIGITALK Prepaid Mobile Credit Control Application
• Supports 3GPP and IETF standards
• Common subscriber management for convergent fixed and mobile services
• Common DIGITALK OSS / BSS tools for consistent network, service and customer management

The DIGITALK Charging Control Server enables service providers to offer virtual network services while retaining full pricing and charging control, offering a significant advantage over simple reseller models. Relevant standards include:

• IETF RFC 3588 Diameter Base Protocol
• IETF RFC 4006 Diameter Credit-Control Application
• 3GPP TS 32.299 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Service and System Aspects; Telecommunication management; Charging management; Diameter charging applications