Provisioning

Owned by p_demou (Deactivated)
Last updated: Nov 06, 2017 by Persia Xenopoulou (Deactivated)
6 min read

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Overview

Provisioning is used for a full integration with Conditional Access (CA) and OTT (Over The Top) platforms. It is used to retrieve and manage the provisioning adapters that were developed to integrate with third party CA systems and OTT systems.

A plethora of integrations is already present in CRM.COM from which you can choose. Additionally, Generic Provisioning Provider allowing you to integrate to any third party provisioning system through the use of Web APIs

Major features

  • Integration to multiple Conditional Access and OTT platforms. Select the one you are already cooperating with and set it up
  • Support of batch, real-time or both provisioning models
  • Various batch processes available to manage multiple subscriptions at a time are available depending on the CAS/OTT platform you choose
    • Send updates done to subscriptions in CRM.COM such as activation or deactivation to the CAS/OTT platform 
    • Send messages to subscriber devices which can be displayed on the screen (OSM) or available in the device inbox
    • Detect piracy by sending a fingerprint to all subscribers, to detect illegal usage or ones that are not abiding by the contract agreement
  • Use of utilities to manage subscriptions one by one which are available depending on the CAS/OTT platform 
    • Send updates done to the subscription in CRM.COM such as activation or deactivation to the CAS/OTT platform 
    • Send a message to the subscriber device which can be displayed on the screen (OSM) or available in the device inbox
    • Detect piracy by sending a fingerprint to all subscribers, to detect illegal usage or ones that are not abiding by the contract agreement
    • Get information of how the subscription is on the CAS/OTT side, such as the device serial number, the services/channels that are activated etc.
    • Synchronize subscription information on the CAS/OTT side 
    • Pair or un-pair devices such as a decoder and a smartcard

 

Provisioning Provider Integrations

Select the provider of your choice to view a full list of batch processes and utilities supported as well as the required setup:

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Provisioning Models

Provisioning module is primarily responsible for handling the activation and deactivation of signals transmitted to customer's devices.  CRM.COM provisioning provider integration submits requests to the CAS/OTT platform either asynchronously (batch processing) or real-time, which in return replies to CRM.COM with respective responses to the sent requests. Some of the providers that follow a real-time model also support batch processing of subscriptions where subscriptions that get out-of-sync can get synchronized at a later stage.

Batch processing

Provisioning provider implementations using batch processing, require the execution of a batch process 'Process Provisioning Requests', which gathers all subscriptions with changes in CRM.COM since the last update to the CAS/OTT platform. For each of the updated subscriptions a request is sent to the CAS/OTT platform (for example, activate service A, deactivate service B) which will in turn make the update (i.e. activate or deactivate the channel on a subscriber's device) and inform CRM.COM that the update is complete.

Provisioning providers using the batch processing model are:

Real-time

Provisioning provider implementations using real-time processing, will send a request to the CAS/OTT platform as soon as a change is executed on a subscription in CRM.COM (for example, activate service A, deactivate service B). The CAS/OTT platform will then make the update (i.e. activate or deactivate the channel on a subscriber's device) and inform CRM.COM that the update is complete.

Provisioning providers using the real-time processing model are:

Hybrid model

In the hybrid model, in addition to real-time communication, batch processing is also supported. If any of the two systems (CRM.COM and CAS/OTT platform) suffer from downtime or the connection to the platform is lost for any period of time, subscriptions will get out of sync and will be identified. The batch process, Reset Subscription Runs, can be used to process all out of sync subscriptions and reset them.

Provisioning providers using the real-time processing model are:

 

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Using Provisioning Providers

Setting up provisioning providers

Regardless of the provisioning provider you are using, first thing you need to do is setup the provisioning provider. 

Refer to the provisioning provider you are using for more information on the information required

 

Using Provisioning Batch Processes

Batch processes are responsible to gather data from multiple subscriptions and process them in one flow. 

  • In the batch-processing model and depending on the provisioning provider there are a number of batch processes that can be optionally set up, however make sure the you set up the 'Process Provisioning Request' process responsible for creating the provisioning requests required to synchronize CRM.COM and the provisioning provider.
  • In the hybrid-processing model make sure you set up the 'Reset Subscriptions' definition, responsible for creating the provisioning requests required to synchronize CRM.COM and the provisioning provider in case of a down-time occurring during real-time communication.

Each batch process has a dedicated definition that must be configured. A definition must be submitted once created and is executed once or on a recurring basis, depending on the defined Scheduling Settings. When a definition is executed, a Process Run is logged, and once the run is completed, the log information becomes available i the respective tab.

There are various batch processes in provisioning module, each one servicing a dedicated purpose, such as creating provisioning requests or sending mail notifications to subscribers. Refer to the provisioning provider of your interest to find out the supported processes.

Refer to the provisioning provider you are using for more information on the available batch processes.

Using Provisioning Utilities

Utilities are usually used to process a single subscription at a time.

Actions done by utilities can be processed immediately, i.e. send the created request directly to the CAS/OTT platform, or scheduled to be created instantly but only sent to the CAS/OTT platform when the 'Process Provisioning Requests' run is executed.

Additionally, you may have the option to set a priority to the created request. A high priority (i.e. Express) will place the request at the beginning of the queue of requests to be handled by the CAS/OTT platform.

Refer to the provisioning provider you are using for more information on the available utilities.

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Creating Provisioning Requests

Provisioning Requests are commands sent from CRM.COM to the CAS/OTT platform, used for subscription maintenance and for keeping the activation state of subscribers identical in both systems. Requests are generated by the system and cannot be manually processed (created, modified or deleted). The creation of provisioning requests can be triggered by the following:

  • Subscription Actions
    • Execution of subscription actions related to activation and deactivation
  • Batch Runs (Created via Definitions)

    • Provisioning request processing run 

    • Mail run 

    • Fingerprinting run
  • Utilities
    • Mail & Bark Messages
    • Pairings

  • Web APIs

    • WEB APIs

Batch processing 

In batch processing model no individual signal is sent when the subscription action is executed.  A file is created via provisioning run and send to the CAS / OTT platform.

Real-time processing

Individual signals are created and sent per subscription action based on a predefined mapping of commands per subscription action

 

Hybrid processing

 

Individual signals are created and sent per subscription action based on a predefined mapping of commands per subscription action. If there is a downtime between the two systems and subscriptions get out of sync then Reset Subscriptions Run is executed which will retrieve all out of sync subscriptions and send related commands.

 

Refer to the provisioning provider you are using for more information on the mapping of commands and actions