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WINGS Content Management System

The key part of WINGS VAS-platform is WINGS CMS (Content Management System). CMS is a centralized instrument for management system. A browser is enough to work with CMS, access is performed through WEB interface and requires authorization. CMS is used for setting of basic functions of the platform, application service setting, content management, statistics review and etc.

WINGS CMS is constantly updating, a development plan of new versions is formed to satisfy our Clients' requirements. New services integrate easily into the system through general API. Due to it our Clients can develop independently own unique services using popular programming languages: XSL/XPATH, Java, PL/SQL, C++, PHP, Perl, JSP and etc.

WINGS Content Management System has a module structure and is delivered in accordance with Client's requirements:

• SMS component: encompasses all tasks of content and service providers;
• SMS Broker: adds aggregation possibilities;
• Bulk SMS: sending bulk SMS;
• IVR: different voice services, IVR menu builder and etc;
• Bulk IVR: bulk calls;
• Media Content: adds media content to all accessible communication channels (SMS, IVR and etc.);
• Content Publications: WAP portal and catalogue builder, package selling of media content;
• Partner Program: program for partners;
• USSD: USSD services, USSD menu builder.

User Management

For each user of the system his WEB interface is set up (list of available pages, read only or read/write access level, menu configuration), access to certain services is defined (for browsing service statistics, for changing parameters), quotas for SMS sending and calls are issued.

User control mechanism enables to organize work space for inner stuff and grant access for outer users:

• for content-managers;
• for partners:
  • general SMS statistics;
  • content purchasing and downloading statistics;
  • calls statistics;
  • access for creating own SMS services, IVR menu, WAP publications, content management and etc.;
• for rightholders:
  • content buying statistics through different channels;
  • musical content listening statistics;
  • WAP content downloading statistics.
• for service desk:
  • detailed statistics on all SMS, calls, WAP downloading;
  • set of tools for sending and forwarding outgoing messages and calls;
  • SMS services testing through emulator.
• for executive management:
  • financial and management statistics, reference period statistics, analytical reporting, graphics, discovering the most efficient advertising grounds and etc.
• for clients who send bulk SMS and make bulk calls.

Core SMS Functions

Routing

The system uses flexible routing mechanisms of incoming as well as outgoing SMS traffic:

• timetable-oriented message routing;
• different key words for one service for attaching messages to different partners;
• optimal routing choice for sending reply messages (decrease in value, less delivery time and etc.).
• considering different variants of key words writing;
• routing setup is completely independent from content and services creation and management.

Incoming message routing is used for distributing incoming messages among services depending on the text, attaching messages to partners and advertising grounds, billing and etc. For this reason service numbers (connected with operators) are grouped together and in routing setups there are groups of service numbers. Three routing types are supported:

• by prefix;
• by regular expression;
• by considering "sessions".

When processing incoming messages first sessions are processed then regular expressions and at the end prefixes. In case of prefix routing the longest suitable prefix is used. It is possible to set routing by default (if other prefixes were not suitable). In case of regular expression routing highest-priority suitable routing is used. Routing support is timetable-oriented. Session support is integrated: the whole traffic from subscriber to a service number (after a certain "key word") during preset time is directed to one service. It is possible to set different criteria of disconnect/exit from such session.

In many cases outgoing traffic routing is necessary between different channels: sending of some reply messages through cheaper gateways; for bulk SMS and calls - the choice of the cheapest channels depending on direction; load balancing among gateways, sending SMS through a less loaded channel, delivery time reducing and etc.

To this effect rules are created, their work order is defined by priorities. Each message is checked by the criteria defined in the rules: subscriber's number mask, text of the message, service, partner and etc. If the message suits the rules criteria, a delivery channel, a sender number or signature, priority (the highest priority messages are sent at first) and etc. are set up. In case of error SMS forwarding by alternative channels is supported.

Fraud-filter

Fraud-filter is a fraud diagnosis and blocking mechanism. The fraud is diagnosed by quantity and cost of SMS per unit time. There is a possibility of rule setup for certain operators, numbers, telephone number masks, services and etc. Fraud-messages processing is not performed, subscriber's number can be put into a blacklist and it will not be processed any more.

Duplicate Messages Exclusion

Sometimes it happens that several same SMS messages are sent to a subscriber, as a result, subscriber's dissatisfaction and additional costs. The most common reasons for it are errors in partner services and a human factor.

In order to avoid such situations we have an outgoing traffic checking mechanism that reveals doubled messages for one subscriber for a time frame. When a doubled message is revealed it is blocked automatically by the service.

Anti-spam Filter

The system can moderate the text of the messages sent to subscribers in an automated mode. For this purpose anti-spam rules are set up checking the texts of outgoing SMS by means of regular expressions and taboo words.

The messages having promo materials or swear words are blocked automatically. Anti-spam filter rules can be set up for certain operators, partners, CMS users, services and etc. When an outgoing message is blocked, an informative message can be sent to the senders.

Such filtration enables aggregators to control texts of reply messages sent to partners.

Connection Monitoring

Data preview is accessible in CMS by connections with operators/aggregators and partners in real time:

• current connection status;
• connection duration;
• amount of incoming and outgoing messages per minute;
• average delivery time;
• disconnect history;
• different graphics and etc.

The report provides connection information by SMPP, UCP/EMI, CIMD, HTTP(s) protocols (when the platform is a client) and SMPP, HTTP(s) (when the platform is a server).

SMS Aggregation

Partner connection management is performed through WEB interface. It is possible to create partner accounts for connecting by HTTP (synchronous and asynchronous) and SMPP protocols. Partner account can be active for send-receive SMS as well as only for send SMS (if the partner sends bulk SMS).

Account characteristics enable to set login, password, addresses of principal and standby servers, SMS sending quota, permitted proportion between incoming and outgoing SMS and etc.

For each new partner a new service is created in the system. Later in this service incoming and/or outgoing message routing is set up by using the above described instruments.

Charging Capabilities

The following charging capabilities are supported in CMS:

• MO charging - drawing from a subscriber's account is done as a result of sending SMS to the premium number. The SMS cost is fixed and depends on the number cost.
• Variable MO charging - drawing from a subscriber's account is done as a result of sending SMS to the premium number. The SMS cost for one number can change and depends on the SMS prefix.
• MT charging - drawing from a subscriber's account is done only when the subscriber receives a reply SMS from the premium number. The SMS cost is fixed and depends on the number cost.
• Variable MT charging - drawing from a subscriber's account is done only when the subscriber receives a reply SMS from the premium number. The SMS cost for one number can vary depending on the service provided.

Ready SMS Services

The system has most SMS services used by content and service providers. It helps to avoid spending additional resources and "reinvent the wheel", ready products can be used at once. The list of ready SMS services includes:

• voting;
• quiz games;
• tests;
• micropayments;
• SMS2Email: send-receive SMS to an email address;
• text services like enquiry/reply messages, content auto loading from RSS;
• subscription text services, content auto loading from RSS;
• feedback: receiving requests, orders, congratulations and etc for radio stations, TV channels;
• mobile acquaintance;
• lottery;
• all types of multimedia content selling;
• media content package purchase;
• media content package subscription;
• SMS chat;
• TV chat with moderation interface;
• prize drawing;
• money-back services: services repaying the spent money to subscriber's mobile phone account through a payment system;
• questionnaires.

SMS settings do not require special skills; the whole work is done through WEB-interface. It is possible to start up a necessary amount of service copies with individual settings. Individual routing including regions, prefixes and etc. is set up for each service.

Service localization is supported: for each language is set up its own service copy through Web-interface with individual settings including language settings.

In case the provided standard services do not satisfy content or service providers' requirements it is possible to add new handlers including external handlers into the system. New handlers completely adjust into the system infrastructure, they register to use routing, all system mechanisms work for them and also statistics is provided. Any popular software programming languages: XSL/XPATH, Java, PL/SQL, C++, PHP, Perl, JSP and etc. are used for the program development.

Work with Partners

There exists a "partner" concept in CMS - it can be either an advertising space or an external provider who has access to the system or a provider working with the system as with a gateway.

All SMS messages are attached to a certain partner. Attachment of incoming messages to the partner is done on the routing level (i.e. by the message prefix) or by the partner code in respect to media content selling. For each SMS message attracted by the partner, the system calculates the amount of contributions to the partner.

The system has a universal partner settlement automation mechanism based on partner tariff plans. The tariff plan has a list of short numbers used by the partner; an interest from the total cost of SMS charged to the partner for each SMS, if necessary the cost of each outgoing SMS for the partner (if sending a reply message is billable or if the partner sends bulk SMS). The interest contribution and the outgoing SMS cost can change depending on the traffic attracted by the partner. If the amount attracted by the partner in a calendar month exceeds the set threshold, the system recounts automatically partner contributions under the new conditions. A general tariff plan can be used for all partners as well as an individual tariff plan can be made for each partner.

Examples of tariff plans using:

• settlements with media partners on revenue sharing terms;
• settlements with external providers in case of aggregation;
• settlements with companies sending bulk SMS.

The CMS administrator can give the partners an access to the system for independent adjustment of their services, bulk SMS sending, online statistics review and etc. The statistics can be also exported in CSV format and sent by email.

Different interfaces are provided to connect external partners: HTTP (synchronous or asynchronous), SMPP, SMTP, SOAP etc. In this case the partner's statistics is also available including automatic contribution calculation.

The IVR menu category is assigned to the partners who work with IVR services. The partner can adjust independently his category, build the IVR menu and add voice services. The list of online statistics reports on the assigned IVR menu item is provided to the partner.

Media Content

There is a single media content storage in CMS available for sale in any convenient way, i.e. the content payment can be carried out by SMS, IVR, WAP, WEB, USSD and the delivery can be carried out by WAP, MMS, SMS. The ways of payment and delivery can be combined in any way. Herein the content is added into the system only once and is stored and managed in one place. The statistics is provided for all channels.

Put simply, the content can be sold in the following ways:

• A standard way: a subscriber sends SMS with a code to the premium number, as a reply he receives the content and downloads it through WAP.
• A package way: a subscriber sends SMS with a code to the premium number, as a reply he receives a link to the WAP site where he can download any content for the amount he paid.
• The content is placed on the WAP site. The payment can be done by sending SMS with a code to the premium number or by a WAP click. In both cases the subscriber downloads the content through WAP.
• The subscriber chooses and orders the content by using USSD menu. The content payment can be done directly through USSD or by SMS (a paid message with a link to the content is sent to the subscriber). The content download is done through WAP.

Different types of content are supported by the system: images, animation, video clips, polyphony, realtones, themes, Java-applications, Symbian-applications, black and white pictures, monophony, line (bar) and two-dimensional (QR, Bar) codes. New types of the content are added through WEB-interface.

Physically the content can be in an external server as well as in the system; in this case content links are stored in CMS.

CMS tools enable to control large bulk of content. There are mass content auto loading, convenient and quick search, and mass content operations including mass change of working conditions with the rightholders.

CMS supports auto-sensing content format according to the phone model at the stage of unloading. There is a renewable database of mobile terminals, to each terminal model corresponds: a list of possible user-agents (exact-match check or fuzzy search), a list of supported content sub-types and their priority while unloading. For unknown phone models a default content sub-type mechanism of unloading is envisaged. Editing of phone database is available through the WEB interface.

The package selling of the content is supported. Therefore, WAP site settings with a free structure are made through the WEB interface and the content is chosen for WAP publications. After payment, the subscriber receives a link to the WAP site with a content catalogue. The content downloading from the WAP site can be restricted by the quantity of the downloaded content units or by the total amount of the downloaded content (in this case the content cost is set in the package).

Each content unit can have one or more rightholders. The rights for the content can cover the area of the mentioned country (the country is defined by the operator from whom the request for content purchase was received) and can be restricted by validity period. For each content purchase or download the right holder is charged a fixed amount or awarded interest from the purchase price, it depends on conditions. The contribution conditions can vary depending on the way of selling the content i.e. whether it is a single or a package purchase.

All media content requests by SMS are attached to the certain partner. The partner is defined by the partner's code which is added to the content code during publication of promotional materials. Any codification schemes of the content codes are supported by the system. In addition to number codes the content can be ordered through key words, synonyms. In this case each synonym is being attached to a definite partner during a certain time.

A wide range of ready media content statistic reports is provided by the system:

• A detailed statistics of content purchases: a date, a subscriber's number (can be partially concealed), an operator, a code and a content name, an amount of downloads and etc. There are different access levels to the statistics for partners and rightholders.
• A detailed statistics of content downloads: a data, a subscriber's number, a phone model, a downloading status, unloaded variant of the content and etc. There are different access levels to the statistics for partners and rightholders.
• Rating of content purchases: the search of the most popular content by the type of the content, by the country, by the operator, by the short number and etc. There are different access levels to the statistics for partners and rightholders.
• Rating of content downloads: the search of the most popular content by the type of the content, by the country, by the operator, by the short number, the search of the most popular vendors and phone models. The following information is provided: the amount of telephones with defined/not defined models, the day of week or the time of day with the most amount of downloads and etc.
• Rating of the media content listening during the call (IVR channel): the search of the content which is listened most of all by the type of the content, by the IVR menu item, by the operator, by the short number and etc. There are different access levels to the statistics for partners and rightholders.
• Rating of content orders (IVR channel): the search of the most popular content ordered by IVR by the type of the content, by the IVR menu item, by the operator, by the short number and etc.

WAP Content Publications

Content publications allow a user without special skills to create, set up and publish a WAP content catalogue of any structure and complexity. The security policy also presumes the use of content publications by external partners. WAP publications are created on the single content database.

The WAP-site constructor allows creating any catalogue structure, adding logos and texts to the pages of the site, changing a colour scheme, placing any types of content with preview and etc.

WAP publications can be set up as content vitrine, when the subscriber can choose the content from the catalogue and order it by SMS. The information on the content purchase by SMS - the country, the operator, the short number, the code, the price - is formed automatically based on the data from the single content storage.

Also, the subscribers can download the content directly from the WAP site. In this case the payment is done by the WAP-click or by withdrawal from the virtual account topped up by the subscriber.

Voice Services

In order to set up the IVR menu and voice services in CMS there exists a graphic builder which does not require special skills. By means of the builder it is possible to create the IVR menu of any complexity; it has the form of a tree and is built from functional blocks. Moreover, the used architecture allows adding easily new functional blocks.

Basic capabilities of the functional blocks:

• playback of any audio files;
• playback of media content musical preview (from the single content database);
• automated "reading" of any texts (Text-to-Speech);
• navigation by means of DTMF;
• navigation by means of voice commands (speech recognition);
• navigation depending on the call history (duration, an action analysis, visited sections);
• SMS sending with a free text;
• SMS sending with a link to the content/catalogue content (from the single content database);
• call of an internal or external handler;
• voice recording;
• change of the menu language;
• call forwarding;
• initiation of the outgoing call;
• switching to another voice menu.

The IVR menu builder can be used by the partners as well. In this case a menu category is assigned to the partner where he can build a menu using enabled functional blocks independently from the rest part of the menu. Further, a partner is granted access to the whole statistics in his category.

Along with the system a number of voice services are supplied. Some examples:

• musical portals: listening and choosing the targeted composition, the choice of the composition, the order of the composition to own phone, to a friend's phone, setup as a ringbacktone;
• text services: news, weather, a television program, anecdotes, single content orders, content opt-in emails;
• horoscopes: to receive a horoscope the subscriber should enter the data/month/year of his birthday and choose the type of the horoscope;
• voice consulting, information inquiring services;
• voice cards, drawing lots.

CMS provides all necessary statistics on voice services:

• Detailed call statistics: date and time, a subscriber's number, call duration, a call history, an operator, a server which handled the call and etc.;
• Group call statistics: receiving overall data on the volume of traffic for the reference period; the search of the busiest days, days of week, time during the day; amount of calls during not longer than a minute, than two minutes and etc.;
• SMS statistics initiated from the IVR menu: the recipient's number, the text of the message, amount of parts of the message, delivery status and etc.;
• Call distribution: distribution of quantity/total call duration by IVR menu items, the analysis of IVR services popularity among the subscribers of a certain operator.
• Separate statistics on listening and ordering of the media content.

Bulk SMS and Calls

CMS allows to send bulk SMS and to make bulk calls. A single address book for SMS and calls is used to keep a subscriber database. Subscribers' contact information is stored in the address book: mobile, home and work phone numbers, an email, ICQ and etc. any personal data: a name, a title, a card number, the amount of reward points and etc.

It is not rare when the subscriber's number is not available or when the subscriber refuses from bulk SMS. For such cases there exist blacklists - lists of subscribers who are automatically excluded from those who receive bulk SMS and calls.

The text of a bulk message is formed according to the given pattern where can be used variables which are replaced by subscribers' personal data from the address book. For the organization of bulk calls can be used:

• the text including variables with the subscriber's personal data (when using a speech synthesis);
• sound files;
• full-scale IVR menus including those with the ability of forwarding to call centers.

If the sending channel for bulk SMS or call is not defined, the call or SMS are handled by outgoing call/SMS routing. Depending on the recipient's number, the partner, the service, the priority and etc. a delivery channel for messages is automatically defined.

Unlike bulk SMS in case of bulk calls if the call fails (no answer, the line is busy and etc.) the system initiates redialing according to settings, then calls around the subscriber's available numbers by the order of priority i.e. a mobile number -> a home number -> a mobile#2.

For additional bulk settings the user can:

• set a permissible delivery time;
• set an interval between messages (i.e. for load control over call-centers);
• set sending priority;
• use a blacklist;
• and many other things.

A tool with easy interface to send messages in a few clicks is provided for quick SMS sending or calls to a small number of subscribers.

Statistics in the form of graphs is available on each bulk SMS/call. Detailed statistics on sent messages and final data reporting are also available.

Financial Settlements

The system has a financial component enabling to calculate deductions for the participants of business processes, to calculate and anticipate the provider's income. Operators, partners and rightholders participate in financial settlements.

The charging type, the cost of the number, the revenue sharing conditions and the cost of back traffic influence the calculation of the operator's deductions.

The compensation package of the partner is calculated relying on his tariff plan. A monthly volume of traffic by each separate number is taken into consideration when calculating the compensation package. Relying on the volume of traffic, interest deductions for incoming traffic and prices for outgoing traffic are dynamically defined depending of what the partner does (whether he provides premium services and/or sends bulk SMS).

When calculating the compensation package with the rightholders the following factors are taken into consideration: area, operative time of rights and the way of selling the content (single, package, including individual conditions for different packages and etc.). Depending on working conditions the rightholder is paid a certain interest from the final cost of the content or a fixed sum.