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Service Description
As the local markets open up, Local Number Portability (or LNP) becomes a necessity to attract new customers. LNP lets local exchange carriers offer local service without requiring end users to change telephone numbers. End users are much more likely to change local service providers if they can keep their existing phone numbers.
On the surface, creating your own LNP network may seem like the perfect cost effective solution. Why buy another company's information when you can compile and maintain it yourself? But building your database is just the tip of the iceberg ... the underlying complexity and instability costs money. Real money.
Once you start constructing your network, you find hidden costs and obstacles that impede development of your LNP database. On-going capital costs to build an AIN-based database or the continuing costs to maintain the database into the future. Costs and stresses that can cause your network to crumble. Suddenly you've reached a point of no return.
Instead of spending your money to build and maintain your own LNP database, utilize the reliable BellSouth LNP Query Service. Our stable SS7 signaling network provides security that the network won't fail.
The BellSouth LNP Query Service offers you reliability, consistency and security with no hidden costs and no hidden obstructions. Maintain your margins by knowing exactly when and where the costs will occur. You'll be happy, and your customers will be satisfied. With BellSouth LNP Query Service, it's smooth sailing in the treacherous local exchange world.
Benefits
BellSouth LNP Query Service is priced to provide you the most effective solution for handling calls made to ported numbers. This service is provided over our highly reliable network to ensure that you receive the highest level of quality.
By signing up for BellSouth LNP Query service, you avoid the more expensive "default"; call routing via BellSouth's LNP Call Routing Service. At $0.000448 per query, BellSouth LNP Query service is priced well below the costs you would incur to build your own LNP database.
By using BellSouth LNP Query service, you'll have the reliability and stability of our SS7 signaling network. In addition to consistent network operability, you have access to frequently updated query information and the assurance that end user calls will reach their ported number destination.
With LNP Query you get a reliable, capital efficient solution that allows you to direct your resources toward gaining new customers and protecting your current customer base.
Service Design
Local Number Portability allows local exchange carriers to offer local service without requiring end users to change telephone numbers. The implementation of Local Number Portability requires that every carrier have access to the routing information for ported numbers for the purpose of terminating calls to those numbers.
But building and maintaining a database of ported numbers is a difficult task that requires money, time and expertise. If you want to have an IMMEDIATE impact on the local market, you need BellSouth LNP Query Service.
With BellSouth LNP Query Service, you send your AIN-based queries to our network. Based on signaling information sent with the call, we perform the query on our LNP database so that you can route the call to its appropriate destination.
Here's how it works:
One of your subscribers places a call to another party with a ported number.
Your switch recognizes the called number as belonging to a portable NPA-NXX and suspends the call momentarily, while an AIN query is sent to the BellSouth SS7 Network.
The query is routed over our highly reliable SS7 network to the BellSouth LNP Service Control Point (SCP) for resolution.
If the called party has a ported number, BellSouth's LNP SCP returns the Location Routing Number (LRN) of the switch containing the ported number. Otherwise, the SCP returns a signal instructing your switch to complete the call as dialed.
In either case, the LNP database results are returned to the BellSouth STP, which passes the results back to your STP.
When the LRN is returned to the initiating switch, your switch routes the call on its way to the switch that serves the called party.
Pricing
BellSouth LNP Call Routing Service is tariffed in BellSouth's FCC #1 Tariff. Current rates for BellSouth LNP Call Routing Service are $0.001761 per query. The Query Service however is $0.000448, a substantial savings in comparison.
Ordering
BellSouth LNP Query service is an SS7 based means for resolving calls to ported numbers. You must have an AIN capable network in order to transmit and receive LNP queries from BellSouth.
To signup for LNP Query service, contact your account team member. He or She will walk you through the implementation forms and preparations you need to make to send and receive queries from the LNP Database.
Once your account is established, the monthly billing process will be as follows:
Billing Process
- You begin launching queries
- BellSouth SCPs handle your queries and send query counts to ALPHA
- ALPHA receives the query counts and forwards them to CABS
- You receive a CABS bill indicating the volume of queries submitted and the total cost
