Dear Reader,

Are your pre-pay customers increasingly complaining about international calls charges applying to destinations that were not answered?

The underlying issue is a phenomenon known as false answer supervision (FAS). Somewhere along the traffic path, an operator sends a signal known as FAS. This is interpreted as an answer signal and triggers charging, sometimes even before the number has been dialled. The problem is most obvious to pre-pay customers, as they usually know their account balance before the call was made.

So what causes the problem? Two likely sources:

• the use of a redialler, such as a SIM box, which answers calls on a PSTN line and redials on a mobile network so as to bypass the mobile interconnection charge;
• many VoIP to PSTN gateways exhibit the problem inadvertently if not correctly set-up.

Can it be detected?
No. (other than using illegal means)

What can be done about it?
There are a number of steps that can be taken to identify possible routes where FAS cases exist, which can be double-checked using engineering test calls, and using your fraud management system.

Once you have identified a partner that suffers from FAS, the next steps are up to you. For example change the partner, deduct a proportion of the revenue from the out-payments, change the terms and conditions on your contracts with customers to allow them to be charged for network usage, etc.

For more information on this and related topics, please contact us.

please visit our website at http://www.xintec.com for more information.

Sean Killeen
CEO
XINTEC S.A.
info@xintec.com
Phone (+352) 26 37 47 56