This is where the IMS comes in.
Deploying IMS
The business case for deploying IMS is not about the services it provides (there are
none), nor is it the killer applications (there are none). The business case for implementing
IMS is a little more difficult than that, but all the more rewarding long-term.
34 Chapter 2
Implementing IMS is about supporting a single architecture for all services, rather
than multiple systems for multiple services.
For example, let??™s say you are an operator with a traditional IN-based network (using
SS7 call control/signaling). You now want to offer your subscribers a new service for
music downloads. Since SS7 does not support this type of service, you will have to find
an alternative (most likely an IP-based service delivery platform with this capability).
Your billing system is the next hurdle. Your present billing system supports CIBER/
TAP3 records from your switches, but it does not support IP-based services, so you
will have to add a new billing system as an overlay to your existing system. This will
somehow have to be integrated into your present billing presentment system so that
the proper charges can be applied to the subscriber bill.
To make matters worse, your present billing mechanism (and all audit functions of
that billing system) are based on a minutes-of-use model. Music downloads are not
billed this way.
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