Get the Delivery Method Target

Once the Comms Monitor job has determined the delivery method for the comms, it identifies the target for that delivery method, for example, a phone number, email address, postal address or external system. The Comms Monitor job determines targets for delivery methods in the following order:

  1. EMAIL
  2. EXTERNAL
  3. PUSH or SMSClosed Short Message Service. A text messaging service component of most mobile telephone systems. SMS uses standardized communication protocols to enable mobile phone devices to exchange short text messages.
  4. ONLINE
  5. LETTER.

Delivery Method = Email

When an EMAIL comms is configured in the Business ConfigurationClosed A module in the CMP Administation console that provides for viewing and modification of business and user applicable system configuration. console, the target set for the comms can be the email address for:

Configuring the target for an EMAIL comms in Business Configuration

ClosedEmail Target = Raised at Level

The Comms Monitor job checks the CommsCodeCommsDeliveryMethodCode table for an InternalTarget entry. If InternalTarget = L (Raised at Level), the job checks the CommsCode table, which records the level at which the comm was raised - accountClosed In the Cloud Monetisation Platform, a billing entity that can be used to manage payments on one or more subscriptions or payments for services. An account can hold details such as payments or invoices., subscription, groupClosed In the Customer Manager Platform hierarchy, the highest level of the structure. The group level can be used to group corporates. Groups can hold financial information. or corporate.

The logic and workflow is as follows:

  1. Is email raised at account level? If so, get account-level email address.
  2. Is the email at subscription level? If so, get subscription-level email.
  3. Is email raised at corporate level? If so, get corporate-level email.
  4. Is email is raised at group level? If so, get group-level email.
  5. Is email is raised at agreementClosed In the Cloud Monetisation Platform, the entity that holds the instructions for generating the bills for one or more subscriptions. including the addresses and how often the bill is generated. level? If so, get the level at which the agreement is logged – Account, Corporate or Group – and get the email for that entity.

The job retrieves the email address from the CustomerEMailAddress table using the appropriate Customer Level and Customer Reference. The email address that it uses is the primary email address (it has the entry isPrimaryEMail = true). If there is only one email address present, this is the primary email.

The job then sets the ToEmail entry in the CommsRequestTargetDetail table to the email address derived above.

ClosedEmail Target = Oldest on Sub

The Comms Monitor job checks the CommsCodeCommsDeliveryMethodCode table for an InternalTarget entry. If InternalTarget = O (Oldest Sub on CMPClosed Converged Monetisation Platform. The MDS Global product that supports customer care and billing for digital service providers.), the job checks the CommsCode table, which records the level at which the comm was raised - account, subscription, group or corporate.

The logic and workflow is as follows:

  1. Is the workflow at account level? If so get the lowest active subscription number on account and get its email.

    The lowest active subscription is the subscription that meets these criteria:

    • Has the oldest connection date and is active.
    • Is not a prepaid subscription.
  2. Is the workflow at agreement level? If so get the lowest active subscription number on agreement and get its email.
  3. This option is not available for group or corporate level.

The job retrieves the email address from the CustomerEMailAddress table using the appropriate Customer Level and Customer Reference. The email address that it uses is the primary email address (it has the entry isPrimaryEMail = true). If there is only one email address present, this is the primary email.

The job then sets the ToEmail entry in the CommsTargetRequestDetail table to the email address derived above.

ClosedEmail Target = Parent Subscription

The Comms Monitor job checks the CommsCodeCommsDeliveryMethodCode table for an InternalTarget entry. If InternalTarget = P (Parent Subscription), the job checks the CommsCode table, which records the level at which the comm was raised - account, subscription, group or corporate.

If the workflow is at account level, the job identifies the parent subscription on the account and gets its email address. Any other level returns an error, as it should not be possible to configure this.

The job retrieves the email address from the CustomerEMailAddress table using the appropriate Customer Level and Customer Reference. The email address that it uses is the primary email address (it has the entry isPrimaryEMail = true). If there is only one email address present, this is the primary email.

The job then sets the ToEmail entry in the CommsTargetRequestDetail table to the email address derived above.

Set Email Alias and Request Status

Once the Comms Monitor job has identified and set the email target, it populates the following fields on the CommsRequestTargetDistribution table:

  • AliasValue field with the From email address from the AliasValue field on the CommsAlias table, which is associated with the record on the CommsCodeCommsDeliveryMethodCode table.
  • EMailSubject field.
  • DistributionStatus set to A (Awaiting Merge).

Error Handling

If the email address is invalid or not present then the job looks to use an alternative delivery method. If there is no alternative delivery method then CMP cannot send the comms and the job updates the RequestStatus in the CommsRequestHeader table to N (Not Sent). 

Click the thumbnail to view the workflow for determining the email target:

Delivery Method = EXTERNAL

If the delivery method is EXTERNAL, the Comms Monitor job creates an entry in the CommsRequestTargetDetail table and populates it with the ExternalTargetCode associated with the comm, which is retrieved from the CommsCodeCommsDeliveryMethod table.

Delivery Method = Push or SMS

The target for a PUSH or SMS delivery method can be:

  • When the entry for the CommsInternalTarget on the CommsCodeCommsDeliveryMethodCode table for the selected comms is O (Oldest Subscription), the Comms Monitor job retrieves the current mobile number of the subscription on the account with the oldest ConnectedDate that is still active. The subscription must also meet these criteria:

    If the subscription is found, the job gets the mobile number and updates the PrimarySerialNumber field on the CommsRequestTargetDetail table. The PrimarySerialNumber is written in E164 format. 

  • Push comms requests raised at account level can be sent to the parent subscription of the account. A record must exist in the DefaultSubscriptionLink view that specifies the parent subscription for an account. The job queries the table using the account number and linkType = PC.

    When the request is processed the job populates the CommsRequestTargetDetail table as follows:

    • CustomerLevel column = S (Subscription)
    • CustomerReference = Parent subscription number for the account
    • PrimarySerialNumber = mobile number of parent subscription, in E164 format

  • If neither of the above targets apply, then the target is the subscription mobile number. The jobs checks whether the subscription network will accept SMS (IsSMSAllowed = true on the Subs Network Type). If it does, the job retrieves the mobile number of the subscription to which the comms will be sent and updates the PrimarySerialNumber field on the CommsRequestTargetDetail table. The PrimarySerialNumber is written in E164 format. 

Error handling

If no subscription is available, the Comms Monitor job looks for an alternative delivery method to send the comms request. The comms will be sent to the alternative if one is available. If no other delivery methods are available, the comms request will go to error and produce a RequestStatus set to N (Not Sent) in the CommsRequestHeader table.

Example - SMS Comms Requests

An SMS comms has target is set to O (Oldest Sub on CMP).

The comm is raised at account level for the following:

  • Account 1 has two post-paid subscriptions that are on a Network Type that has the isSMSAllowed flag set to True.

  • Account 2 has one post-paid subscription that is on a Network Type that has the isSMSAllowed flag to True.

  • Account 3 has two pre-paid subscriptions that are on a Network Type that has isSMSAllowed flag to True.

  • Account 4 and one post-paid subscription and one-prepaid subscription. Both subscriptions are on a Network Type that has isSMSAllowed flag to True.

Results:

For Accounts 1, 2 and 4:

The Comms Monitor job obtains the mobile number of the oldest subscription of the Account and populates the PrimarySerialNumber field on the CommsRequestTargetDistribution table with the number is E164 format. For Account 4, only the subscription number for the post-paid subscription is entered.

For Account 3:

Due to the subscriptions being pre-paid, the Comms Monitor job will not send SMS or Push notifications to the subscriptions. 

The job should look to see if there is an alternative delivery method. It will use the highest priority based on the CommsDeliveryMethod table configuration.

If no alternative delivery method is found an error will be produced.

Delivery Method = ONLINE

The Comms Monitor job checks the entry for the CommsInternalTarget on the CommsCodeCommsDeliveryMethodCode table to determine the target for the ONLINE delivery method:

The job gets the subscription number of oldest active subscription on the account/agreement. If the workflow was raised at subscription level, the job gets the subscription account to work out the longest subscription on CMP. It then creates an entry in the CommsRequestDetailTarget table and sets the app (online) delivery method as appropriate. The DistributionStatus is set to P (Published), as there is no actual sending of a record to do.

This concerns comms requests raised at account level where the target is Parent Subscription. To identify the parent subscription on an account, the job queries the DefaultSubscriptionLink table using account number and linkType = PC. When this record is identified, the job gets the subscription number from the DefaultSubscriptionNumber field. If there is a parent subscription, the job creates an entry in the CommsRequestDetailTarget and sets the app delivery method as appropriate. The DistributionStatus is set to P (Published), as there is no actual sending of a record to do. If there is no parent subscription, an error is raised and a workflow, if configured.

If the target is not Oldest Sub on CMP or Parent Subscription, then it must be Raised At Level:

  • Account Level

    If the comm is raised at account level, the Comms Monitor job creates an entry in the CommsRequestDetailTarget table and populates Customer Reference fields with the account number. It sets the CommsDeliveryMethodCode to ONLINE. Once the job has gathered the values for the default fields and merged them with the configured text to create a message, the DistributionStatus is set to P (Published), as there is no actual sending of a record to do.

    For more information on gathering the values for the default fields and creating the message, see Get the Values for the Default Fields.

  • Subscription Level

    If the comm is raised at subscription level, the Comms Monitor job creates an entry in the CommsRequestDetailTarget table and populates Customer Reference fields with the subscription number. It sets the CommsDeliveryMethodCode to ONLINE. Once the job has gathered the values for the default fields and merged them with the configured text to create a message, the DistributionStatus is set to P (Published), as there is no actual sending of a record to do.

  • Agreement Level

    If the agreement is logged at account level, the Comms Monitor job creates an entry in the CommsRequestDetailTarget table and populates Customer Reference fields with the account number. It sets the CommsDeliveryMethodCode to ONLINE. Once the job has gathered the values for the default fields and merged them with the configured text to create a message, the DistributionStatus is set to P (Published), as there is no actual sending of a record to do. If the agreement is not set at account level this raises an error because ONLINE delivery is not supported for comms raised at group and corporate level. A workflow event is raised, if configured.

Delivery Method = Letter

A LETTER comms can be sent only to the level at which it is was raised. When the LETTER delivery method is used on a workflow event, the comms is sent at the level at which the workflow event is raised.

The Comms Monitor job creates an entry in the CommsRequestDetailTarget table and queries the relevant entities to derive the DeliveryAddressNumber, which it populates. It then updates the DistributionStatus in the CommsRequestTargetDistribution table to A (Awaiting Merge).