HP-Amdocs Demo Proves IMS-Legacy Billing System Interoperability

In concert with the IMS Forum, HP and Amdocs announced this week that they have demonstrated it’s possible for carriers to use their existing billing infrastructure to charge for services enabled by IMS Networks, potentially removing a barrier to IMS adoption.

“For us, [interoperability with] Amdocs is a way of proving that you can have an IT-based solution for real-time charging co-exist with a market leader like Amdocs and how using IMS standards allows for plug and play. ... It’s is a fabulous proof point that IMS has value,” said Nigel Upton, general manager, business support systems for HP’s Communications, Media and Entertainment division, in an interview at the Billing & OSS World Conference & Expo. “The approach is very different from putting in an IMS infrastructure. This is adding new functionality that’s IMS-compliant.”

Frost and Sullivan Analyst Ronald Gruia agreed. “If operators can use existing billing solutions in IMS networks – and avoid ‘forklift’ upgrades, they can migrate more quickly to IMS networks – at much lower cost and risk,” he said.

The IMS billing interoperability test employed the HP Internet Usage Manager (IUM) 5.0 real-time charging engine with the Amdocs Billing 7.5. The companies tested both event-based and session-based charging for a VoIP call, enabling charging for a single data-related event or for a voice call based on its duration. In both scenarios, the HP IUM Charging Manager handled transaction and session control, receiving data and usage records in real time from the IMS core network through a standard Diameter interface. HP IUM then passed the charging relevant information, through the Diameter interface, to the Amdocs IMS charging system that determined the amount of the charge and then charged the subscriber’s account.

The HP and Amdocs test was part of the recently concluded IMS Plugfest IV, which was the first to focus on demonstrating the integration of business and operational support systems (BSS and OSS) in the IMS architecture.

The next step is for the two companies to engage in a joint marketing campaign around the solution, but Upton said those details have not been decided.

Upton said HP and Amdocs have an existing business relationship; a large number of Amdocs systems are installed on HP hardware. In addition, he said they have common customers, which were driving them to work together.