Wholesale: Products & Services

Archived System CR SCR091202-01 Detail

 
Title: Show prorated calculations and charges per USOC on BillMate SOACTVTY file (Work will be delivered via an EXCEL Macro in lieu of a BillMate change, with Eschelon's concurrence) (crossed over to PC091202 1x)
CR Number Current Status
Date
Level of
Effort
Interface/
Release No.
Area
Impacted
Products
Impacted

SCR091202-01 Completed
1/21/2003
20 - 30   11/ Billing Centrex, Resale, UBL, UNE-P
Originator: Stichter, Kathy
Originator Company Name: Eschelon
Owner: Thompson, Jeff
Director:
CR PM: Esquibel-Reed, Peggy
Description Of Change
Currently on the BillMate SOACTVTY file, when service order activity takes place, Qwest combines the rates for some or all of the USOCs on a given service order before calculating the prorated charge. This makes it difficult to validate each charge. Eschelon asks Qwest to show the prorated calculations and charges for each USOC separately on the BillMate SOACTVTY file. This affects the states of AZ, CO, OR, UT, and WA for Resale & UNE-P. For Unbundled Loop it affects the states of OR & WA.

Expected Deliverable:

The BillMate SOACTVTY files will show the prorated amount for each USOC separately.

Status History

Date Action Description
9/12/2002 CR Submitted  
9/12/2002 CR Acknowledged  
9/12/2002 CLEC Provided Information Kathy Stichter/Eschelon provided Clarification Meeting availabiltiy. 
9/17/2002 Clarification Meeting Scheduled Clarification Meeting scheduled for September 30, 2002. 
9/30/2002 Clarification Meeting Held See Project Meetings Section for Meeting Minutes. 
10/7/2002 Status Changed Status changed to 'Evaluation' 
10/17/2002 Discussed at Monthly CMP Meeting SCR091202-01 discussed at October Systems CMP Monthly meeting; please see Systems CMP Distribution Package October CMP -- Attachment B 
1/16/2003 Discussed at Monthly CMP Meeting SCR091202-01 discussed at January Systems CMP Monthly meeting; please see Systems CMP Distribution Package January CMP - Attachment I. 
1/21/2003 Record Update This CR was crossed over to Product/Process PC091202-1X 

Project Meetings

January 16, 2003 Systems CMP Meeting Discussion: Peggy Esquibel-Reed/Qwest stated that this effort will be implemented in 2 phases. Peggy stated that the EXCEL Macro is currently in development and that the macro will be made available to all CLECs, per request. - Phase 1: EXCEL Macro is targeted for 1/17/03 implementation. It is an interim process to request the EXCEL Macro via an emailed request to zimmer@qwest.com. - Phase 2: The long term solution and has a targeted implementation date of February 28, 2003. The EXCEL Macro will then become available via the web; details are currently being defined. A job aid/user guide will also be made available. Notification process will be followed. Peggy Esquibel-Reed stated that in lieu of no systems work for this request, this CMP CR will be crossed over to Product and Process. Kathy Stichter/Eschelon asked for the email address to send her request. Peggy Esquibel-Reed/Qwest stated the email address is azimmer@qwest.com

October 31, 2002 Email sent to Kathy Stichter/Eschelon: Thanks for the prompt reply. I have forwarded your decision on to IT. The reason option #1 was determined to be a very large effort is because this systematic change would need to be made for all CLECs and even though Eschelon is only asking about 5 states, the change would be required in all 14 Qwest states; so as to keep our processing consistent across all CRIS billing regions. Peggy Esquibel-Reed Qwest CRPM -- Systems

October 30, 2002 Email from Kathy Stichter/Eschelon: Peggy, While I can understand why Western (Oregon and Washington) could be a large effort to change because it encompasses resale, unbundled loop and UNE-P I can not understand why Central (Arizona, Colorado and Utah) would be a large effort because only our resale and UNE-P bills show the fraction lumped for more than one USOC. The unbundled loop, as far as I can tell, does not lump the USOCs together to determine the fractional charge. We will try option 2. Thanks Kathy Stichter Senior Invoice Validation Analyst Eschelon Telecom, Inc 612-436-6022 klstichter@eschelon.com

October 29, 2002 Solution Options Meeting - Attendees: Kathy Stichter/Eschelon, Peggy Esquibel-Reed/Qwest, Sue Kriebel/Qwest, Jud McDonald/Qwest, Doug Warren/Qwest, Alan Zimmerman/Qwest Peggy Esquibel-Reed/Qwest recapped the 2 options in the 10/25/02 Draft Qwest Response. Option 1) Qwest to provide a new column on the BillMate SOACTVTY file to provide prorated amount for each separate USOC. This option would require an estimated Level of Effort of Extra Large. Option 2) Qwest to provide a means, most likely an EXCEL Spreadsheet, that will perform the calculation function. This spreadsheet will be provided to a CLEC upon request. Requests for this spreadsheet can be made via email to azimmer@qwest.com. The estimated Level of Effort for Option 2 is 24 hours. Alan Zimmerman/Qwest stated that option 2 would be an EXCEL Macro that could be either in EXCEL or Access. Kathy Stichter/Eschelon stated that she did send the options to Bill Markert (Eschelon) and has not heard back from him. Kathy does not want to make a final decision withought his input. Kathy stated that the initial thought could be for option 1 but needs to discuss with Bill (Markert) before a decision is made. Kathy asked if for option 2, would it need to be requested each month? Alan Zimmerman/Qwest responded that no, a CLEC would only need to request it once and would get it every month. It will take about 30-seconds to run. Alan Zimmerman/Qwest stated that option 1 would be an extra large effort due to the rounding differences issue. Qwest would need to change how OCCs are calculated and is a huge effort for a penny difference due to rounding problem. Kathy Stichter/Eschelon asked if the macro would also give these penny differences each month. Alan Zimmerman/Qwest stated that the amounts would be given with 6 or 7 decimal places and the CLEC could use their rounding process and round up or down. Peggy Esquibel-Reed/Qwest stated to please keep in mind that option 2 could be delivered a lot sooner than option 1 due to the difference in the level of efforts. Kathy Stichter/Eschelon stated that she will discuss with Bill (Markert) and will send Peggy Esquibel-Reed/Qwest an email with their decision.

October 17, 2002 Systems CMP Meeting Discussion: Kathy Stichter/Eschelon presented CR and stated that the CR is Evaluation status. Michael Buck/Qwest stated that the response indicates that Qwest is researching the request. Jeff Thompson/Qwest stated that Qwest is looking at this CR and what it would take. We have had clarification meeting and we will be scheduling a follow up meeting to discuss what we’ve discovered and what options we think we can provide to you.

-- Clarification Meeting September 30, 2002 Attendees: Kathy Stichter/Eschelon, Peggy Esquibel-Reed/Qwest, Carl Sear/Qwest, Doug Warren/Qwest, and Jean Novak/Qwest CR Description of Change was reviewed: Currently on the BillMate SOACTVTY file, when service order activity takes place, Qwest combines the rates for some or all of the USOCs on a given service order before calculating the prorated charge. This makes it difficult to validate each charge. Eschelon asks Qwest to show the prorated calculations and charges for each USOC separately on the BillMate SOACTVTY file. This affects the states of AZ, CO, OR, UT, and WA for Resale & UNE-P. For Unbundled Loop it affects the states of OR & WA. There was no additional comment or information. Products impacted: Centrex, Resale, UBL, UNE-P. CLEC Expectation/ Expected Deliverable: The BillMate SOACTVTY files will show the prorated amount for each USOC separately. Discussion: Carl Sear/Qwest stated that the paper bill shows the same as ASCII, at the line level. If there are multiple TNs, they are combined; WTN is at line level line level is prorated. Jean Novak/Qwest/ stated that this information was provided to Bill Markert (Eschelon) by Carl Sear & Alan Zimmerman at the last CLEC Forum. Carl Sear/Qwest stated that for this request, functionality may need to be changed and that could be quite a bit bigger LOE. Kathy Stichter/Eschelon asked why this works in some states and not in others. Carl Sear/Qwest stated that it could be due to regional differences. Kathy Stichter/Eschelon provided some examples and Carl Sear/Qwest looked at them and provided explanations for each, i.e. 1 circuit only so does show separate information. Carl Sear/Qwest stated that on the ASCII bill, it can be determined which USOCs are associated to each line item. Kathy Stichter/Eschelon stated that she could that but it takes more time. Kathy Stichter/Eschelon provided a MN example, USOCs are separate, not combined. Carl Sear/Qwest stated that he would need to check into how Eastern region functions for UNE accounts. Western & Central functionality differs. Carl will look at regional differences on how fractionalizing is done. Kathy Stichter/Eschelon stated that USOCs are combined in Western and not in Central & Eastern Carl Sear/Qwest stated that in Western are combined for single and multiple lines. Central are separate on single lines and multiple lines by TN. Eastern will be checked into. Kathy Stichter/Eschelon stated would like to know if the functionality can be changed, what will be changed, and if cannot change functionality, why. There were no other questions or comments.

CenturyLink Response

Revised Draft Response January 10, 2003

RE: SCR091202-01 (Show prorated calculations and charges per USOC on BillMate SOACTVTY file (Work will be delivered via an EXCEL Macro in lieu of a BillMate change, with Eschelon's concurrence)

Qwest will deliver the agreed upon EXCEL Macro in two phases; an interim phase and the long term solution phase. The EXCEL Macro is currently in development. The macro will be made available to all CLECs. - Phase 1: EXCEL Macro will be available for use by the CLECs, targeted implementation date is January 17, 2003. This interim process is to request the EXCEL Macro via an emailed request to azimmer@qwest.com. - Phase 2: The long term solution has a targeted implementation date of February 28, 2003. The EXCEL Macro will then become available via the web; details are currently being defined. A job aid/user guide will also be made available. The notification process will be followed.

Sincerely, Qwest

Revised Draft Response

October 25, 2002

RE: SCR091202-01 (Show prorated calculations and charges per USOC on BillMate SOACTVTY file)

Qwest has reviewed the information submitted as part of Change Request SCR091202-01. Based upon research that has been conducted following the Clarification Meeting (held on September 30, 2002), Qwest is providing the following options:

Option 1) Qwest to provide a new column on the BillMate SOACTVTY file to provide prorated amount for each separate USOC. This option would require an estimated Level of Effort of Extra Large.

Option 2) Qwest to provide a means, most likely an EXCEL Spreadsheet, that will perform the calculation function. This spreadsheet will be provided to a CLEC upon request. Requests for this spreadsheet can be made via email to azimmer@qwest.com. The estimated Level of Effort for Option 2 is 24 hours.

This change request is currently in 'Evaluation' status.

Sincerely, Qwest

Draft Response

October 7, 2002

RE: SCR091202-01 (Show prorated calculations and charges per USOC on BillMate SOACTVTY file)

Qwest has reviewed the information submitted as part of Change Request SCR091202-01. Based upon research that has been conducted following the Clarification Meeting (held September 30, 2002) Qwest is still examining the issue. Qwest will continue to research the problem and provide an updated response at the November Systems CMP Meeting.

At the October Monthly Systems CMP Meeting, CMP participants will be given the opportunity to comment on this Change Request and provide additional clarifications. Qwest is interested in the experiences of the CMP community as relates to this issue. Qwest will incorporate any feedback received at the next Monthly Systems CMP Meeting into further evaluation of this Change Request.

Sincerely, Qwest

Information Current as of 1/11/2021