Restcomm Billing Tags

Understanding the Restcomm’s Billing Tags API

To learn more about the Restcomm’s Billing Tags API, please check out the Tags API Reference.

Overview

Restcomm’s Account API enables billing tags and headers to be passed in the core network messages, in the various protocols (SIP & SMPP) and be persisted in the Session Detail Records (SDRs) for easier billing reconciliation. With the help of tags and headers you can identify which service (API, Visual Designer or Turnkey Application, etc.) has processed the event (Voice or SMS). You can further analyze and act upon the network traffic originating from or terminating at Restcomm, charge your enterprise customers accordingly and understand better their interactions with your services over time.

Understanding the Tags Concept

Voice

Once you add a tag it is passed as a SIP header in the voice network messages, eg. it will be available in the Communication Partner Session Border Controller as part of our BYOC feature. In addition, it will be stored in the corresponding Session Detail Record.

SMS

For messaging, you can create a header to TLV mapping. Any headers from the network message, including the ones added through the tags feature, can be mapped to TLVs under a BYOC SMPP connection configuration.

Example

You can add the tag Customer-ID with value 987654321. In that case, you will see the following header passed in the messages in the SIP network traffic. It will be also stored in the Session Detail Record. If you want the header to be passed over SMPP to your SMSC configured in our BYOC, you will need to add a TLV Mapping with Header Name Customer-ID, TLV ID 123 (beware that on the SMPP network, the decimal value 123 will be converted to hexadecimal) and TLV Type 4BYTE (for example) which will then translate in the Network Profile JSON as Customer-ID: "X-TLV-4BYTE-123"

{
    "multiProvider": {
        "outbound-sms": [
            {
                "name": "your-network-profile",
                "serverIpAddress": "10.0.0.1:9999",
                "version": "3.4",
                "systemId": "esmeid",
                "password": "esmepass",
                "sessionType": "CLIENT",
                "headerTranslationMap": {
                    "Customer-ID": "X-TLV-4BYTE-123"
                }
            }
        ]
    }
}

Custom Tags Inbound and Outbound Example Flows

Billing Tags will apply to all incoming and outgoing traffic. In addition, a new Header P-Asserted-Service will be present to identify which turnkey application processed the traffic. The BYOC mappings can map any Headers or Tags to the corresponding SMPP TLVs.

The following are examples of an outbound flow with a turnkey application (Smart 2FA) and an inbound flow with Visual Designer.

Outbound Smart 2FA Example Flow

Outbound Smart 2FA Example Flow

Visual Designer Example Flow

Visual Designer Example Flow Diagram

Accessing the Tags in the Restcomm Console

You can access the billing tags in the Restcomm Console by navigating to Your Profile → Main Account → Tags.

Restcomm Connsole Tags

Creating Billing Tag

To create a new tag, navigate to Your Profile → Main Account → Tags then click on the Add Tag button. Specify a name and a value for the new tag then save your changes.

A maximum of five tags can be assigned to a single enterprise account. Newly created tags take effect immediately.
Create New Tag

Deleting Tags

To delete a tag, go to Your Profile → Main Account → Tags and click on the X button next to the tag value. Then Save your changes.

Mapping Headers or Tags to TLVs in the Bring Your Own Carrier (BYOC) SMPP connection configuration

You can map headers or tags to TLVs by navigating to Your Profile → Your Network and then choosing the network profile you want to create the mapping for.

If you are a first time Bring Your Own Carrier user, you will have to create a network profile first.

  • Click on the 'Settings' button and then switch to the SMS tab under the Network Profile Settings.

  • Enter the headers or tags names, TLV IDs and TLV Types n the SMPP TLV Mapping section

  • Click on the Submit button

Network Profile Settings