 In line with architectural advances enabled by the Zeugma Services Node (ZSN), SmartMeter gives service providers the ability to flexibly tailor usage-based billing frameworks and to alter network behavior in excess of usage limits. SmartMeter runs within the Zeugma Open Application Sandbox (OAS), a construct enabled through the ZSN’s built-in scalable compute grid.
SmartMeter usage policies can optimize both basic and advanced broadband services in the following ways:
Time of day. SmartMeter allows service providers to tailor usage packages that are time-of-day specific. With this capability, service providers can provide incentives for consumers to move traffic from heavily congested peak usage hours to lightly congested off hours, thereby improving network efficiency without the need for capacity upgrades.
Traffic type. The requirement for both basic and advanced service policies means service providers need ways to treat certain traffic differently. An example would be the exclusion of all communications-oriented traffic—VOIP, IM, and possibly email—from the monthly usage cap of a basic service package. Since these services tend to be light consumers of bandwidth, such a usage package would improve customer satisfaction at little or no cost to the operator.
Special handling of video traffic. For consumers opting for video services such as IPTV, video on demand (VOD), and premium internet video, service providers also need a mechanism to enforce appropriate bandwidth parameters to ensure a quality video experience. Since these services encourage the consumption of bandwidth it is arguably necessary that the network exclude fee-based video traffic from the usage cap.
Customizable behavior. In order to improve customer satisfaction and reduce the likelihood of unusually high usage bills, service providers can, for example, reduce peak downstream bandwidth once a usage limit has been reached rather than apply overage charges. It is even possible to forecast usage and begin to take corrective action before the usage limit is reached.
Together, these capabilities allow service providers to implement usage-based billing frameworks in a manner that better meets customer satisfaction targets while improving network efficiency, and delaying the need for capacity upgrades.
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