PHANTOM TRAFFIC USAGE

Phantom traffic is telephone traffic that terminates at local exchange carrier switches lacking information needed for billing (i.e. does not have information that  identifies the originating carrier from which it came.)  It is estimated that 20 percent of terminating traffic cannot be billed for this reason. This is costing IOC’s and CLEC’s thousands each month in lost access revenue.

The stripped or manipulated information in call detail records or SS7 IAM messages allow phone companies to avoid paying access charges.  These manipulated records and messages enable offending companies to route long-distance traffic over IOC / CLEC trunks that are dedicated to carry only local phone calls. Manipulation of the AMA / CDR / SS7 IAM messages also allows InterMTA wireless traffic to be terminated on mixed-use tandem trunk groups since that traffic can not be readily identified as wireless. Transiting carriers can also create billing problems by stripping pertinent origination data from the SS7 message thereby altering AMA / CDR.

CMSI’s new Phantom Tracker™   software includes EAS , IntraLATA Toll, Common Toll, and feature group Phantom Usage reporting and detects call laundering on many different types of trunk groups. The software will help identify long distance traffic that has been terminated over trunks designated only for local traffic such as EAS groups.  It also breaks calls down by LATA / MTA jurisdiction so that Common Toll and IntraLATA toll groups can be monitored.  CMSI has been producing software for telephone companies for more than 16 years.  In order to stay competitive in today’s market CMSI NAMS® Centralized offers features that today’s independent carrier needs such as: aggregate usage reports, sophisticated report management, centralized mediation, and of course the Phantom Tracker™ for detecting phantom usage.