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User Story

 

The WAN bandwidth available for voice transport between a customer site and the service provider core network could be exceeded by running too many concurrent voice calls. Which may worsen the quality of calls. To prevent such issues the Limit Simultaneous Calls feature is used. Customer provides unlimited LAN calls and bundle packages per office (location) with a limited number of concurrent outbound calls (“off-site” calls transported over the WAN, limited to a maximum number of simultaneous calls for commercial reasons to some set value 4,6,8,10, etc.). So although the bandwidth between a customer site and the service provider network may be sufficient to carry say 20 concurrent voice calls, the service provider needs to be able to limit the maximum number of concurrent outbound calls to a lesser amount (e.g. Say 6 to limit the service provider’s risk when offering an ‘unlimited’ calling plan).

The currently implemented ’Limit Simultaneous Calls” feature is sufficient for the normal SIP Trunking scenario, where the on-site VoIP PBX manages the extensions and keeps the calls between on-site phones on the LAN. The WAN calls are limited by the feature. But in cases when the Centrex is provided on the PortaBilling, the current Limit Simultaneous Calls mechanism is not sufficient as it limits both LAN and WAN calls. Whilst users should be able to make as many as they want internal office calls and be limited only in out-of office calls.

On the Customer platform Sites are used to group the Centrex accounts according to the location (like Cape Town, Johannesburg etc.) the users of one Customer belong to. They set up their ACME¹s to detect if two accounts are calling each other from the same network (site) and it alters the Sip messaging so that they send their media directly to each other on the LAN so the RTP does not use up any bandwidth. So calls between users of one location (site) remain on the LAN and can not result in deteriorated voice quality. The calls to other locations (sites), calls to the UM, inbound calls from other locations (sites), recorded calls, inbound calls from PSTN and outbound calls to PSTN are considered as WAN using.

One more concern is the WAN bandwidth used during the warning being played (simultaneous warning listeners). In case there are several users trying to make a call at the same time and the limit of WAN-consuming Simultaneous calls is reached, only the first 'unallowed' user should hear the warning and the others should be simply rejected.

With the possibility of setting the limit of simultaneous calls going through WAN separately from the LAN ones Customer will be able to protect the quality of the calls and provide the services according to the declared business conditions to their Customers.


Use Cases

Use case #1: Limit concurrent calls per office

Roles: End-user, Admin

Preconditions: Customer Twist has two offices:

1) In Cape Town. The accounts 000, 001, 002, 003, 004, 005, 006, 007, 008 of Cape Town are under site Cape Town; The calls between Cape Town office users are routed via LAN with the help of ACME.

2) In Johannesburg. The users of Johannesburg (111, 112, 113) are under site Johannesburg. The calls between Johannesburg office users are routed via LAN with the help of ACME.

3) 44999944444, 4499995555, 4499996666 are mobile users.

4) *98 is Voicemail.


Scenario #1.1: Admin sets the number of WAN simultaneous calls.

  • Admin is informed that the Cape Town office signed the contract for 2 simultaneous WAN calls.

  • Admin goes to the settings of the Cape Town office and  enables limitation of WAN-consuming Simultaneous calls;

  • He sets Max Number of Simultaneous calls on the WAN to 2.

Scenario #1.2: Simultaneous calls between accounts of the same office

  • Continued after 1.1.

  • User 000 needs a consultation of the colleague from his office and makes outgoing call to 001. They are talking.

  • At the same time User 002 gets to know that there is no water in the office and wants to warn his colleague and calls 003. They are talking.

  • User 004 wants to have some coffee with his colleague from the next room and calls 005. They are talking as these are accounts of the one office and no WAN is used. The number of concurrent calls is 0.


Scenario #1.3 Simultaneous calls between accounts of different offices

  • Continued after 1.1

  • User 000 needs a consultation of the colleague from the Johannesburg office and calls 111. They are talking. So one "slot" of WAN-consuming concurrent calls is occupied.

  • User 112 needs to receive documents form Cape Town office  and calls 001. They are talking. This is the last allowed WAN-consuming concurrent call.

  • User 003 wants to have some coffee with his colleague from the next room and calls 004. They are talking as they are in one office and no WAN is consumed.

  • User 005 is going to the Johannesburg office and wants to warn his colleague. He makes outgoing call to 113. He hears: "Max Call Limit". The call is not allowed as this is the third call where the WAN is used.

 

Scenario #1.4: Simultaneous calls to outbound numbers

  • Continued after 1.1

  • User 000 needs to talk with the potential customer so he calls 4499995555. They are talking. So one "slot" of WAN-consuming concurrent calls is occupied.

  • User 001  needs some clarification regarding the received from Johannesburg documents so he calls 111 and they are talking. So the second "slot" of WAN-consuming concurrent calls is occupied.

  • User 003 needs to talk with his boss who is currently not in the office and dials his mobile number 44999944444. He hears: "Max Call Limit". The call is not allowed as this is the third call where the bandwidth is used.
  • User 005 wants to have some coffee with his colleague from the next room and calls 004. They are talking as these are the users of one office, so call goes on LAN.

Scenario #1.5: Simultaneous calls to voicemail

  • Continued after 1.1

  • User 000 needs to clarify additional points of the contract with the potential customer so he calls 4499995555. They are talking. So one "slot" of WAN-consuming concurrent calls is occupied.

  • User 001 needs a consultation of the colleague from the Johannesburg office and calls 111. They are talking. So the second "slot" of WAN-consuming concurrent calls is occupied.

  • User 003 sees on his phone that he has one voicemail. He dials *98 to listen to it. He hears: "Max Call Limit". The call is not allowed as this is the third WAN-consuming call.
  • User 005  wants to have some coffee with his colleague from the next room and calls 004. They are talking as the call goes on LAN.

  • User 006 also wants to have some coffee with the same colleague and calls 004. But 004 is busy talking to 005. 004 has call forward on busy to his voicemail. User 006 hears: "Max Call Limit". The call is not allowed as this is the third WAN-consuming call. (Call to Voicemail travels via the WAN)

Scenario #1.6: Second simultaneous caller does not hear the prompt

  • Continued after 1.1

  • User 000 needs to clarify additional points of the contract with the potential customer so he calls 4499995555. They are talking. So one "slot" of WAN-consuming concurrent calls is occupied.

  • User 001 needs a consultation of the colleague from the Johannesburg office and calls 111. They are talking. So the second "slot" of WAN-consuming concurrent calls is occupied.

  • User 003 sees on his phone that he has one voicemail. He dials *98 to listen to it. He hears: "Max Call Limit". The call is not allowed as this is the third WAN-consuming concurrent calls is occupied.
  • At the same time with the user 003,  user 004 needs to talk with his boss who is currently not in the office and dials his mobile number 44999944444. The call is rejected. The call is not allowed as this is the third WAN-consuming call and one 003 is already listening to the warning message.

Scenario #1.7: Simultaneous calls and inbound calls forwarding to voicemail

  • Continued after 1.1
  • User 000 needs to clarify additional points of the contract with the potential customer so he calls 4499995555. They are talking. So one "slot" of WAN-consuming concurrent calls is occupied.
  • Boss calls from his mobile to user 000 (who is already on a call). Call forwarding is enabled and the inbound call is sent to Voicemail. This does not consume any of the “slots” available to the office as WAN of Cape Town is not used - the number of concurrent calls remains one.
  • User 001 needs a consultation of the colleague from the Johannesburg office and calls 111. They are talking. So the second "slot" of WAN-consuming concurrent calls is occupied.

Scenario #1.8: Simultaneous calls between users of one office when call-recording is enabled

Preconditions: User 000 has call-recording enabled

  • Continued after 1.1
  • User 000 needs a consultation of the colleague from his office and makes outgoing call to 001. As the call is being recorded and WAN is used, one "slot" of WAN-consuming concurrent calls is occupied.
  • User 001 needs a consultation of the colleague from the Johannesburg office and calls 111. They are talking. Second "slot" of WAN-consuming concurrent calls is occupied.
  • User 003 sees on his phone that he has one voicemail. He dials *98 to listen to it. He hears: "Max Call Limit". The call is not allowed as this is the third WAN-consuming concurrent calls is occupied.

Use case #2: Limit concurrent and outgoing calls per office

Roles: End-user, Admin

Preconditions: The same as in Use Case 1.

Scenario #2.1: Admin adjusts the number of WAN simultaneous calls and sets a Max Number of Outgoing Calls.

  • Admin is informed that the Cape Town office signed new ‘uncapped’ contract for 6 simultaneous WAN calls, but with the Outgoing concurrent calls limited to 2.
  • Admin goes to the settings of the Cape Town office and enables limitation of WAN-consuming Simultaneous calls;
  • He sets Max Number of Simultaneous calls on the WAN to 6;
  • He sets Max Number of Outgoing WAN calls to 2.

Scenario #2.2: Simultaneous outbound calls.

  • Continued after 2.1
  • User 000 needs to clarify additional points of the contract with the potential customer so he calls 4499995555. They are talking. One "slot" of WAN-consuming concurrent calls is occupied just as in the above scenario. However since there is now a limit set for "Outgoing calls” we now also have one “slot” of Outbound concurrent calls occupied.
  • Boss calls from his mobile into user 001 to discuss a new project. they are talking. Now WAN-consuming-concurrent-call-count = 2. However since this is an inbound call, we still have Outbound-concurrent-call-count=1.
  • 4499996666 calls from his mobile into user 002. They are talking. Now WAN-consuming-concurrent-call-count = 3. However since this is an inbound call, we still have unchanged: Outbound-concurrent-call-count=1.
  • User 003 needs a consultation of the colleague within the same Cape Town office and calls 004  office. They are talking No change in the WAN-consuming or Outbound concurrent call slot counts. WAN-consuming-concurrent-call-count = 3, Outbound-concurrent-call-count=1.
  • User 005 calls a colleague in the Johannesburg office and calls 111. They are talking. So the fourth "slot" of WAN-consuming concurrent calls is now occupied. However the Outbound call count is not changed as these are the offices of one customer. WAN-consuming-concurrent-call-count = 4, Outbound-concurrent-call-count=1.
  • User 112 in the Johannesburg office calls in to 006. They are talking. So the fifth "slot" of WAN-consuming concurrent calls is now occupied. WAN-consuming-concurrent-call-count = 5, Outbound-concurrent-call-count=1.
  • User 007 in the Cape Town office dials 4499995555. WAN-consuming-concurrent-call-count = 6, Outbound-concurrent-call-count=2.
  • User 008 in the Johannesburg office calls 44499994444. Although there is still sufficient WAN capacity remaining to place the call without impacting call quality, the call is rejected because all the available slots under “Outbound-concurrent-calls” has already been consumed and the call can not be allowed to proceed. The caller hears: “Max Outgoing Call Limit”. WAN-consuming-concurrent-call-count = 6, Outbound-concurrent-call-count=2.

Use case #3: Limit outgoing calls for the Customer

Preconditions: Customer Twist has two offices:

1) In Cape Town. The accounts 000, 001, 002, 003, 004, 005, 006, 007 of Cape Town are under site Cape Town. The Maximum number of concurrent WAN calls is set to 6 to save the bandwidth.

2) In Johannesburg. The users of Johannesburg (111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119) are under site Johannesburg. The Maximum number of concurrent WAN calls is set to 8 to save the bandwidth.

3) 44999944444, 4499995555, 4499996666 are mobile users.

4) *98 is Voicemail.

Scenario #3.1: Admin sets a Max Number of Outgoing Calls.

  • Admin is informed that the Twist Customer has purchased outgoing call concurrency limit to external numbers across all the sites of 10.
  • Admin goes to the settings of the Twist Customer and sets Max Number of Outgoing calls to 10.

Scenario #3.2: The Customer limit is reached

  • Continued after 3.1
  • Users 000, 001, 002 and 003 make calls to potential Customers mobile numbers. They are speaking. 4 of 10 Customer available calls are occupied. 4 of 6 Cape Town available calls are occupied.
  • Users 111, 112, 113, 114, 115 and 116 make calls to their Customers mobile numbers. They are speaking.  10 of 10 Customer available calls are occupied. 6 of 8 Johannesburg available calls are occupied.
  • User 004 makes a call to 4499994444. He hears:  "Max Call Limit".

Scenario #3.3: Site-to-Site calls do not influence Customer limit

  • Continued after 3.2
  • User 004 needs a consultation from his colleague in Johannesburg so he calls 117. As this is On-Centrex call, it is not affected by Customer limit. 10 of 10 Customer available calls are occupied. 5 of 6 Cape Town available calls are occupied. 7 of 8 Johannesburg available calls are occupied.
  • User 118 receives a call from 4499995555. Call connects. Inbound calls are not limited by the Off-Centrex Outbound call limit. 10 of 10 Customer available calls are occupied. 8 of 8 Johannesburg available calls are occupied.
  • User 119 places an outgoing call to 4499996666. He hears "Max Call Limit".
  • Inbound call from 4499995555 terminates. 10 of 10 Customer available calls are occupied. 7 of 8 Johannesburg available calls are occupied.
  • User 118 places call to *98 to check voicemail. Call connects. 10 of 10 Customer available calls are occupied. 8 of 8 Johannesburg available calls are occupied.
  • PSTN user calls user 119. Since the concurrent WAN calls in Johannesburg is now at the limit of 8, the call cannot be allowed to proceed to be connected. User 119 has call forward on busy to his voicemail. PSTN user leaves a voice message for user 119.

Customer Notes:

  • Site-to-Site calls are On-Centrex and are therefor not counted or influenced by the Off-Centrex call limit.
  • Calls originating "off-centrex" that are forwarded to voice mail are not counted towards the Off-Centrex Outbound call limit. This does not change any of the call concurrency timers.

Scenario #3.4: Calls between users of one office are allowed when Customer limit is reached

  • Continued after 3.1
  • Users 000, 001, 002, 003 and 004 make calls to potential Customers mobile numbers. They are speaking. 5 of 10 Customer available calls are occupied. 5 of 6 Cape Town available calls are occupied.
  • Users 111, 112, 113, 114 and 115 make calls to their Customers mobile numbers. They are speaking.  10 of 10 Customer available calls are occupied.  5 of 8 Johannesburg available calls are occupied.
  • User 005 makes a call to 4499994444. He hears:  "Max Call Limit".
  • User 116 wants to clarify some details of the contract so he calls user 005. They are talking. 6 of 8 Johannesburg available calls are occupied. 6 of 6 Cape Town available calls are occupied.
  • User 006 makes a call to user 007. They are talking as this is LAN call and it does not influence Customer and WAN calls. 


Use case #4: Limit outgoing calls for the Customer and per office.

Preconditions: Customer Twist has two offices:

 1) In Cape Town. The accounts 000, 001, 002, 003, 004, 005, 006, 007 of Cape Town are under site Cape Town. The Maximum number of outgoing WAN calls is set to 6 to save the bandwidth.

 2) In Johannesburg. The users of Johannesburg (111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119) are under site Johannesburg. The Maximum number of outgoing WAN calls is set to 8 to save the bandwidth.

 3) 44999944444, 4499995555, 4499996666 are mobile users.

 4) *98 is Voicemail.

 

Scenario #4.1: Admin adjusts the Max Number of Outgoing Calls

  • Admin is informed that the Twist Customer has purchased outgoing call concurrency limit to external numbers of 4.
  • Admin goes to the settings of the Twist Customer and sets the Max Number of Outgoing Calls to 4.

Scenario #4.2: Office limit is reached

  • Users 000, 001, 002 and 003 make calls to potential Customers mobile numbers. They are speaking. 4 out 4 Customer available outgoing calls are occupied. 4 out of 6 Cape Town WAN outgoing calls are occupied.
  • User 004 wants to receive some clarifications from his colleague and he calls user 111. 4 out 4 Cape Town "Customer" available outgoing calls are occupied. 5 out of 6 Cape Town WAN outgoing calls are occupied. 0 out of 8 Johannesburg WAN outgoing calls are occupied.
  • User 116 decides to call his friend and dials his mobile number. Even though there are available WAN slots for outgoing calls for the site, he hears:  "Max Call Limit" as the Customer's limit of outgoing calls is reached.


Other requirements / constraints

All the calls where bandwidth is used (other sites, calls to the UM, inbound calls from other sites, recorded calls, inbound calls and outbound calls) should be counted. The limit should be set for Max number of simultaneous calls, Max number of incoming calls, Max number of outgoing calls, Max number of forwarded calls.

Customer needs this feature ASAP and is interested in its back-porting into his current MR40-4.

Customer sees the implementation by giving the possibility of specifying the limit of concurrent calls on the Site but without counting the site account to site account calls.

The same 'rules' should be applied to Max Max Bandwidth limit.