20061129 VSWG San Francisco Face to Face Minutes

From CDGWiki

Meeting held at the Westin St. Francis, San Francisco

All presentations given during the VSWG can be found on the CDG website (login to CDG site may be required).

1 Participants
2 Discussion Topics
3 Parting Shots

[edit] Participants

The following companies attended the meeting:

Aeris Communications	Gemalto	SK Telecom
Aicent	Guamcell	Skylink
Alltel	Huawei	Sprint Nextel
Bell Mobility	Iusacell	Syniverse
BTC Bahamas	KDDI	Telecom New Zealand
CDG	Link U	Telesystems of Ukraine
China Unicom	MiPhone	TELUS
China Unicom USA	Nortel Networks	VeriSign
Cibernet	QUALCOMM	Verizon
Digicel	SETAR	Verizon Dominicana
EOCG Wireless

[edit] Discussion Topics

[edit] VSWG 2006 #1 Voice Priority - Calling Line Identity

Document 139 was approved by the team.

Key requirements in the document:
- Serving Operators: support of CNIP service in subscriber profile - time line set is 3 months and agreed to
- Serving Operators: use of ANSI-41 over ISUP for sourcing CLI digits - time line has not been set yet.
  - Proposed different approach: have volunteer carriers sign up work with their vendors to define what parameters need to be changed by switch type to use ANSI-41. That information could be shared with all carriers that have the same equipment.
    - Huawei supports this now but we need specific documentation.
    - Sprint has offered to document Lucent and Nortel equipment requirements by January 2007.
    - Requesting additional carriers volunteer to work with your vendors to obtain this information and share as appropriate.
- RSPs: Modifications of digit strings en route according to home and serving country - RSPs to confirm by January if they can do this. Information to be circulated in January.

Next steps: (developed by the VSWG team leads after the meeting)
- Short term next steps
  - Daniel will draft a letter to send to the volunteering carriers which they can also send directly to the vendors requesting this detailed documentation. This request will also include how to populate CNIP.
- Long term next steps
  - Document how to make each switch type use ANSI-41 versus ISUP.
  - Track who does and doesn't use ANSI-41 for CLI

[edit] VSWG 2006 #2 Voice Priority - Voice mail

Document 135 was approved by the team.

Background: Document 135 recommends the following support for voicemail:
1. Allow callers to leave a message - most carriers do this today although we understand not all do. They should :-)
  - Serving Operators supports REDREQ operation. This should be done by all carriers already. Timeline if not yet supported is as soon as possible.
2. Voicemail indicator - Notify the sub letting them know there is a message. If you plan to use SMS for this feature then this is tied up with SMS. We believe all carriers who plan to support this using ANSI-41 have already got this in place but our data is incomplete since few surveys were completed on this topic. If you plan to use SMS for VMI then this is tied to your SMS rollout.
  - Serving Operators support both ANSI-41 MWN and SMS VMN - Timeline wasn't determined as this should be covered by SMS efforts
  - RSP adds MWN < -> VMN conversion - this is a lower priority. Some phones may not support a specific type of notification. Home should check with RSP to see if this is a viable option for them.
    - VeriSign and Syniverse have agreed to do this
    - Handset might not support the version that is being used. So do this with care.
  - For those that use SMS perhaps the RSP can modify the callback number to internationalize it. Daniel to follow up with them on this to determine if this is feasible.
3. One touch access to voicemail - A two-phase approach is recommended here: In the first phase, subscribers can connect to their voicemail system using "one touch" and/or their existing short/feature code, but may be required to enter a mailbox number and PIN once connected. In the second phase, correct CLI information is available at the voicemail system to allow direct access to the correct mailbox.
  - Phase 1:
    - Serving Operators add roaming partners' VM access codes
    - RSP supports access code translation
  - Phase 2:
    - Must start with the correct CLI:
      - Serving Operators support International MDN
      - Home Operators send international MDN
    - Now you must pass it all the way along through the network
      - Serving Operators guarantee LD CLI preserved. Preservation involves a lot of steps not all under the direct control of the serving operator, but it is not impossible

Key Decisions:
1. Document 135 has been approved.
2. We did not discuss timelines for all of the recommendations in detail but decided to have a call to discuss which recommendations will be addressed on what timelines.
3. One carrier suggested help with a business case would be a valuable addition.

Next steps: (developed by the VSWG team leads after the meeting)
- Get carriers to fill out the VM surveys. The survey is now available online here (old answers from the previous format have been copied across).
- Conference call to determine who will and won't implement this and timelines.
- Track who has implemented each of the three phases of voicemail as a serve.

[edit] Barriers to SMS

SMS implementations are still very few compared to voice implementations. Daniel sought to understand why implementations are scarce to ensure the team is on the right path to remove the barriers to SMS implementations. Carriers present reported that retail billing for SMS is the main barrier to wide implementation. This is being worked on now.

One technical issue was raised concerning GTT. Daniel will follow up with this carrier outside the team.

[edit] SMS

The SMS white paper (CDG Document 133 ) was approved by the team.

Next steps:
- Timelines have already been identified for parts of one aspect of SMS implementation, long message handling:
  - RSPs agreed to support SCCP SAR within 12 months of the approval of the SMS white paper. The paper was approved on November 29, 2006 so this requirement is due prior to November 28, 2007.
  - RSPs agreed to send SMS_CauseCode 106 when length exceeds preconfigured maximum for receiving network within three months of document approval making the required date February 28, 2007.

More information is required to move forward with SMS billing solutions. Carriers are encouraged to complete the SMS billing survey, and approach their RSP if the proposed point-code solution meets their needs.

[edit] Enhanced PRL

Sprint gave an overview of enhanced PRL. Their presentation can be found on the CDG website. Highlights include the following:

Evdo prl is bigger than a 1x PRL even with the same number of entries so the size is becoming even more of a problem. Using MCC/MNC for system selection enables PRL size reduction.
Sprint is very pleased with the functionality of the predict tool and the rest of the PRL tool suite.
Replacing just two SIDs with one MCC MNC entry saves space in the PRL.

[edit] Carrier Experience Implementing + Code Dialing

Lucent New Zealand discussed what TNZ has learned while implementing network based + code dialing.

TNZ is implementing plus code.
The business justification is provided by Inter-standard Roaming, but for calls made in the home network. This means the address book entries can be in +code format.
The current Lucent feature is not perfect, but fit for purpose for Inter-standard Roaming for the home carrier.
The billing changes are delaying the implementation until 1Q07, although the network and phones are already ready.
TNZ cannot announce full +code support until the feature is fixed so that roaming partners are not impacted by the alteration of SMS addresses.
TNZ wants to work with other carriers that use Lucent equipment to get a common feature.

[edit] VSWG 2006 #3 Voice Priority - Network-Based + Code Dialing

The first draft of the Plus Code Dialing Requirements document was released in late October.

Next steps:
- A few questions were raised about the current requirements document. Daniel to update the document with the following information regarding preferred carrier selection when dialing using the + format:
  - Libby to follow up to find out what they are doing in Brazil for this.
  - Daniel to follow up with SKT to understand how GSM does this in Korea
  - Some carriers contract to use a specific LD carrier and + code should not get in the way of doing this. Daniel will call this out in the paper.
- Regarding existing CLI modification:
  - Daniel to update document with an explicit recommendation
- Specific carriers volunteered to request that their device vendors fill out the + code survey.
  1. Sprint will ask Samsung and Sanyo for a response and have it in by February 6, 2007.
  2. Iusacell will ask LG for a response and have it in by February 6, 2007.
  3. Tata has gotten the Kyocera response
  4. Motorola responded
  5. Volunteers are needed for the following device vendors:
    - Nokia
    - RIM
    - ZTE
- An offline request was made to do a "+ code light" - do carriers want this? In the mean time, Daniel will take a shot at determining critical requirements and optional requirements. He will put the requirements in tiers so carriers know what is required and what are nice to haves.
- Carriers should fill out the who is your vendor survey to ensure we are prepared to group carriers by vendor types when the time comes to approach vendors as a group.
- VSWG will have a call on the requirements document once it has been revised to include some of the questions raised at the meeting.
- Carriers expressed that they want to group together to talk to their vendors once we have agreement on the document. When the time comes the VSWG will help coordinate these meetings.
- Please ensure that once this doc is done carriers speak up during their user group meetings and that the roaming team "sells" their own network teams on this feature.

[edit] VSWG 2006 #4 Voice Priority - X0 to X2 CIBER record type migration

Document #141 was approved during the Guam IRT but lacks plenary approval. No further team work required on this document.
A survey will be created to track who has and hasn't migrated to the new record types

[edit] VSWG 2006 #5 Voice Priority - Coverage tool

Background
- Per carrier request a tool has been developed to assist carriers in exchanging documents such as maps, TDS and Roaming Partner Qualification Forms.
- This allows carriers to grant permissions to other carriers to view their information.
- This tool is available to CDG members and non members.
- The goal is to get everyone using it to make it most useful to those who want to use it.

Decisions:
- The team decided to use the tool as is but would like some additional enhancements:
  - Libby to check what is involved to add in SSL?
  - One carrier indicated permission by category type to be a requirement before they would use the tool, other carriers agreed to use the tool while waiting for this functionality. Libby to look into this functionality.

Next steps:
- An NDA with the CDG will be required to use this tool. Carriers should ensure that existing NDAs cover info distributed by a 3rd party.
- Demo and friendly user group beta test will be set up via conference call.
- Libby will reengage the team to get the coverage and mapping requirement definition document going again.

[edit] Standardized TDS

The team approved the spreadsheet for document 81

Decisions during the meeting about the format:
- Agreed to have numbering as home, and network element as serve.
- Add switch software revision to the Network Elements tab; this produced quite a bit of discussion noting that during a s/w upgrade this column will be inaccurate. The group decided to include the column but only update it when the upgrade is complete on all switches. We will revisit this decision after people use it.
- Add RSP to the SS7 column.
- Added IFAST assigned column
- Added questions about MDN length and number portability.
- Removed the signaling diagram tab to keep the document size down. If this is needed it can be added to the Information Exchange Tool on the CDG website.
- Billing tab: KDDI suggested including this tab in the network TDS since many carriers do not update the billing information. Carriers present decided not to add billing information to the network TDS but agreed we should focus on exchanging and updating the billing TDS. This will be revisited as part of the Roaming Service Quality efforts.
- The document was approved with no objections.
- Discussed timelines for utilizing this document and decided 3 months. Target date for using the document 81 standardized TDS is April 1, 2007.
- Three levels of coordination were discussed. Carriers should work to accomplish the third level by April 1, 2007.
  1. Exchange the same content in the TDS
  2. Name the content with the same names so it is easier to identify
  3. Use the same layout to communicate this content.

Next steps:
- Libby has the action to finish the supporting "how to" Word doc and then ask for approval for that document.
- Carriers to adopt the standardized TDS by 2007-04-01.

[edit] MEID

Document 137 was approved by the group

Next steps:
Daniel Salek on behalf of KDDI recommended a change to the CIBER dictionary. Daniel prepared some language but this needs to be edited a bit to match the other CIBER language. Gepsie from Cibernet agreed to do this and to send the proposed change to the CIBER community for approval and comment.
Carriers: Please fill out the UIMID survey requested by KDDI.
Sprint would like to know who is using UIMID right now so they can test.

[edit] VSWG 2006 #6 Voice Priority - Roaming Service Quality

Kyoko from KDDI presented the results from the carrier roaming service quality survey. Kyoko recommended 3 work priorities for the Roaming Service Quality effort:
- Create an SLA template
- Update document 87, Trouble Shooting Guidelines
- Update document 59, Billing TDS

Sprint suggested that partners should not rely on customer complaints to find roaming issues and the serving carriers should be responsible for proactively monitoring their own network to ensure roaming is working well for inbound customers.

Kyoko asked the RSPs to provide feedback at the next IRT on any issues they have with roaming service quality.

[edit] Cibernet Report

Gepsie Cox reported on recent and upcoming CIBER changes.

Recent:
- September 2006, The Called Country, Called Place, Called State/Province, Serving Country, Serving Place, Serving State/Province fields cannot be populated with blanks.
Upcoming:
- January 1, 2007, Add the UIMID feature to the ESN/IMEI/MEID Indicator field
- January 16, 2007, CIBER 2.0 (X0) record types will be rejected by the clearinghouse unless special provisions are made.
- February 16, 2007, A new value has been added to Table 5 - Special Features Used

[edit] 2007 Priorities

It is time to vote on 2007 VSWG work item priorities. Several carriers responded but more input is desired. The deadline to return your company priorities is December 19, 2006.

In keeping with the team request to limit the number of work items being worked simultaneously, 2007 work items will not be started until many of the 2006 work items are completed.

One carrier suggested work items not be worked unless a carrier agrees to sponsorship of that item. This question will be put to the team. Please consider your position on this.

Next steps:
- Carriers to return the 2007 work item priority worksheet by December 19.

[edit] Parting Shots

To join the VSWG please email Libby Mackay
To provide feedback about the VSWG concerning what you like, don't like or would like to see changed please email Libby.

Many thanks to all team members for your continued support and participation including your willingness to spend your valuable time improving the CDMA roaming industry!!

Libby Mackay, QUALCOMM

IRT VSWG Team Lead

lmackay@qualcomm.com

Daniel Salek, QUALCOMM

IRT VSWG Technical Lead

dsalek@qualcomm.com

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