Life Less Ordinary …

On a Lighter Note - On Weight Loss

2012-01-12T21:30:00.009Z

Hello!! :) & Herez wishing all my readers a very Happy 2012! This year for me, is going to be all about kick starting that sleeping metabolism, building strength & muscle, bettering my stamina and loosing fat & flab!

For the very 1st time in the 30 short years I’ve lived, “Weight Loss” has actually become a New Year Resolution! I am surprised at how fast I have piled up weight in the past 6 months!! I can’t wear those trousers to work nor dare to carry myself around in a simple round neck t-shirt with my favorite pair of Jeans. So I have resorted to Jackets & Blazers and while I enjoy wearing these very smart business casuals on Friday’s, I can’t wait to be ME!! :)
There are some thumb rules that I have always sworn by and will continue to stick to while I am at my goal:

1: Drinking plenty of Water : This year it’s going to be drinking plenty of WARM Water – makes me feel less bloated and it was a big help in getting rid of the post pregnancy belly.

2: Eating every 2-3 hours: This year it’s going to be substituting canteen food for homemade food, canteen snacks for 2 different fruits, hunger pangs are going to be satisfied by dried fruits.

3: Reducing Sugar, Oil & Salt: This year it’s going to be just 2 small cups of green tea without sugar, giving up on pickles, papad & pakodas no matter how tempting they appear & avoiding sprinkling my salad, butter milk & plain white rice with salt. I cannot give up on sweet, so that needs cutting down to a smaller portion. The trick is to always share the dessert with people around You. :)
4: Getting back to the GYM: Waking up while the rest of the house sleeps to hit the gym in that early hour, running on the treadmill to the sound of loud techno music, strength training along-side fellow gymmers gives you a high of a different kind!!! Reason enough for keeping up that 6 days a week exercise routine alternating between cardio & weight training. This year, if I miss a weekday, then Sunday morning will be my day to make up!
5: Ensuring a generally Active Routine: An afternoon walk in the office campus, taking the stairs, washing your pair of clothes etc etc (anything that ensures more motion ;) )
6: Relook your Wardrobe: CLOTHES are the biggest motivation for a Woman to stay fit ! Take a look at those amazing pairs of cocktail/maxi dresses, that pencil skirt, that waist coat !!! You’ve invested a hell lot on putting it all together. Now it’s time you reaped its benefits. Loose that FAT!!! Look Good Lady ! Because - “U’re worth it”!! :)

Happy Toning - Happy 2012 !

- Sayli :)

June 2nd 2011 - My 1st Day @ Work

2011-06-02T18:43:00.000+01:00

When I proudly took a sabbatical back in April 2008, little did I know that it was going to last for 3 long years ! I had a feeling that 5 years of working in the IT industry was a good enough reason for me to take a break - but only for a few months. But Life has it's own way of surprising us and while we may work real hard at making our Plan A work, it sometimes hints at you to implement your Plan B ! I was - job hunting in the right place at the wrong time - in the UK when the worst recession in the past 30 years finally peaked in 2008/2009 !

While I inherently started to enjoy motherhood, the fear of being unemployed loomed real large over my head. It was like this constant guilt that I was trying to overcome, the persistent feeling of failure that I was attempting to combat. Behind that gleefully beaming smile was a heart that cried for a job ! It was as if, being just Mom alone wasn't enough - I knew I was capable of a lot more ! When friends often reacted saying "Avani must be keeping you very busy", I always responded in my mind that I did have time on hand to work or talk technology atleast for a few hours of the day - but my problem was I had no one to talk technology with ! Other than my brother Anant, who works on the Oracle stack of the Integration products, and who kept me going, there really was no one who could take me back to those brain storming discussions that lead you to love a product enough to be able to solve critical Business Problems using technology!

Today, as I take on a new opportunity, I have enough challenges - both domestic and at work but what I do not have, is guilt and neither a feeling of failure... What transpires from this will depend upon how well I manage to balance the act of juggling a family, a home, and a career. A sense of fulfillment will not come with success/happiness in one arena alone. It will always be rewarding to see how all 3 are skillfully managed.

The End of an Era - The Dawn of a new Beginning !

2011-05-31T08:22:00.000+01:00

It's a wet and windy day. March is ending on a typically stormy note. It's the last Friday of the month. We are preparing to pack up. My heart feels heavy. The place which we'v been calling home for quite some time is the one we will never ever return to in our lives ! 21, Marlborough Court is being cleared off all the belongings of the Yadav Family.

While I am quite happy to return home, the fact that I never bagged an opportunity to work in London, will always be one of the things I will forever regret in my Life. Wether I would make up for it and in what ways is still unclear to me, but the wounds will continue to hurt untill then. The learning's from 3 years of living abroad and raising a family have been immense. The experience has been vital, in terms of appreciating the other side of life where you have no dearth of time !

April 19th 2011 - Mom n Dad's 30th Wedding Anniversary Day ! With a transformed persona, an optimistic attitude and a slight fear of not wanting to repeat failures, I have landed on the Indian Soil ! With a Happy Heart to be back home forever to live with my extended family we surprise them both by deuping them into beliving that we were set to land days later. :)

May 27th 2011 - It's been close to a month we'v returned from the UK and I have not 1, not 2, but 3 big Job Offers - all from the Organizations I've already proved my mettle to ! I have put my less than a month long Job Hunt to a Halt and decided to pick 1 out of those 3 offers & believe me it hasn't been an easy task !

The Era of being Unemployed is over for Me! :) The days of migrating from being "Yummy Mummy" to being "SuperMom" are finally here! :) Brace Yourself - The Career Woman is finally Back and this time She's in it - "For The Long Haul" ! It's the Dawn of a New Beginning...

Cheers !! :)

- Sayli :)

EPoS Systems

2011-03-03T23:26:00.002Z

Found in almost all major retail stores, restaurants and other businesses, Electronic Point of Sale (EPoS) systems give businesses a fast and convenient way of transacting sales, while at the same time recording vital business information.

An Introduction to EPoS Systems

EPoS Systems, provide a fast and efficient way of dealing with customers. They handle the calculations involved in sales (totals and change), issue receipts – these have historically been the main function of normal tills. EPoS systems, do this and a lot more. They can integrate directly with credit card payment systems, keep track of stock levels and of course keep track of customer information. The ability to manage stock and CRM (customer relationship management) allows EPoS systems to make a measurable difference to the bottom line. Both in terms of time saved and of in highlighting opportunities and also weaknesses in a business. For example, an EPoS system in retail store, will assist in stock management – helping to highlight stock levels of top performing products so you can ensure you have adequate supplies. At the same time, it might also show product lines that are not doing so well. Your EPoS system records a tremendous amount of information about your business – allowing you to make decisions with the benefit of the latest sales and stock information.

How Does EPoS Work?

An EPoS system comprises of computer hardware, peripherals and EPoS software ideally suited to the point of sales environment. An EPoS system can support data entry through many different devices such as computer keyboards, touchscreen monitors and barcode scanners. EPoS systems allow a tremendous amount of flexibility to choose hardware and peripherals suited to the environment. For example, in environments with very high demands like in a supermarket – EPoS can be configured to work with multi line barcode scanners, ensuring pricing accuracy and allowing cashiers to provide fast, efficient service for customers. In other environments such as restaurants the use of touchscreen monitors provides the best solution.

The other facet of EPoS systems is the EPoS software that they use. This can also be heavily customised to a variety of different environments. This allows businesses to buy EPoS systems that are suited to their business. This software can constantly be recording sales, updating stock levels, providing accurate pricing information while also helping to provide a fast and efficient service to customers. The ability to keep track of sales, taxes, stock and CRM automatically, ensures that cashiers can concentrate on providing the best possible customer experience.

Why Use EPoS?

EPoS software helps to ensure accurate pricing, faster transactions, reduces human error and improves data integrity. In larger retail environments, it's difficult to imagine keeping track of stock for thousand of items, not to mention the prices of all these items. In a retail environment, if management want to change the price of an item or run a special offer this can be done very easily using EPoS and getting data on how these changes impact sales can also be easily obtained. While it easy to dwell on the front line advantages at the point of sale, the data being recorded by the systems is of great value to management. Accurate sales reporting is vital for management, similarly the ability to have constantly updated inventory and customer data is useful for both accounting, marketing and sales purposes. For more Advantages of EPoS see our guide.

EPoS Hardware

EPoS systems comprise of a PC and some sort of visual display unit (VDU), such as a touchscreen monitor. Additional peripherals such as barcode scanners and printers can then be chosen based on your requirements. The main units are either integrated, where the display and pc form part of the same unit. These sorts of integrated units may also have integrated peripherals such as customer displays and printers. Otherwise the systems are modular, where you have a standalone PC to which you connect a display and peripherals. This type of EPoS system offers far more flexibility and choice.

There are many EPoS hardware peripherals, the most common include:

Barcode Scanners
Cash Draws
Chip and Pin
Customer Displays
Keyboards
Mobile PDA's (for mobile EPoS integration)
Printers
Tablets
Weighing Scales

Which type of system is best, depends very much on your requirements, you can find more information in our EPoS Hardware guide.

EPoS Software

The EPoS software is designed to be powerful, yet simple for staff to learn and use. There is a large selection of EPoS software on the market, which all vary by price and business need. It's vital that you buy software that suits your needs. This is the 'brain' of your EPoS system and what your EpoS system can deliver for your business will be determined by the capabilities of the software.

As this will a vital component of your business it's vital that you evaluate a number of different EPoS software packages. The cost and additional complication of changing software later can be very disruptive. This is a good time to speak to other users of the EPoS software who are in the same line of business as you. They can offer an honest appraisal of the EPoS software and tell you how it works within a real working environment

Please note, if you are buying hardware and software from different suppliers, it's vital that you check the compatibility of your EPoS hardware and EPoS software.

EPoS Systems

An EPoS system is simply a combination of EPoS hardware and EPoS software which when used together provide an effective business solution. Many EPoS system suppliers, will be in a position to supply both the software and the hardware. This is useful as it gives you a single point of contact for any issues and challenges you face. It's particularly valuable at the beginning when you may need to rely a lot on your EPoS system suppliers technical support. If this is your first system, then it may be worth paying a little more in order to deal with a single, reputable supplier.

Customer Relationship Management

2011-03-03T21:12:00.006Z

What is CRM?

CRM is an enterprise wide business strategy designed to learn about customer’s needs and behaviors to organize and manage Customer relationships to maximize profitability and minimize expenses. A well planned CRM can be viewed as a strategic process merging strategy and system to amalgamate information from across the company (sales, marketing, finance, accounting, etc.) to offer a complete view of the customer and develop stronger relationships with them. Information gained from all internal and in some cases, external, sources allows the company to complete a full 360 degree view of their customer in real time.

CRM allows customer facing representatives of the company to have all the information they require to ensure the best customer experience in interactions with your company and opportunities to increase revenues through increased cross and up selling opportunities to competitive positioning tactics.

CRM is focused on the customer from first contact to continued interaction, to gain insight with which to learn their needs and behaviors to ensure revenue maximization through relationship selling (upsell opportunities, customer ranking, etc.).

CRM layer
This layer represents databases that consist of the single customer view, integrated contact/dialogue, customer profile, and content information. This layer also provides for the ability to perform analytics and reporting on the customer experience by using the variety of knowledge gained from all customer activity.

Payments

2011-03-03T21:02:00.002Z

Payment can refer to the paying or settlement of bills (receiving money from customers), recharging of prepaid balances, and a telecoms service offered to customers - mobile payment or m-payment.

M-payment is a alternative payment method whereby consumers or businesses can pay for goods and services using their mobile phone. There are four common types of m-payment:

premium SMS-based transactional payments
direct-to-bill payment
mobile web payments
contactless near field communication.

M-payment has been used in developed markets in Europe to pay for services such as parking, m-payment using a direct-to-bill model has utility for business customers in particular since the aggregation of small sums onto a single (telecoms) bill helps avoid the cost of processing expense claims.

Premium SMS is used extensively to pay for content such as ringtones and is a type of "reverse billing".

Closely related to m-payment is Mobile money - a type of mobile service pioneered in developing markets that typically had a less developed banking infrastructure and is now taking off in more mature Western markets. Mobile money enables mobile customers to use the mobile network to remotely transfer money to individuals who do not have bank accounts. It can also be used to pay for goods and services.

Rating

2011-03-03T20:57:00.001Z

In revenue management, rating is the process of costing a call or service. A rating engine takes the data supplied by a mediation engine and applies rates (monetary values) to these. When calls or data services have been rated, these are then sent to a billing engine which aggregates the charges into bills.

A modern rating system must be able to adapt to constantly changing prices, as well as more complex rating scenarios. For competitive reasons, rate plans may change relatively frequently today, and likewise the rate plan may be complex - having been set up, for example, so that once usage has crossed a certain threshold then a lower rate applies. Likewise other credits, discounts, and special rules may apply and need to be taken into account when rating.

Like mediation, as rating increased in complexity a new breed of standalone, specialist rating vendors came to market. Over time, these have largely been acquired by billing vendor.

Billing Mediation Systems

2011-03-03T20:52:00.001Z

A billing mediation platform is a system used to convert data of certain datatypes to other datatypes, usually for billing purposes. Billing Mediation Platforms are used mostly by telephone companies, who typically need to process UDRs (Usage Detail Records). In call scenarios UDRs are most often known as CDRs (Call Detail Records), and among broadband carriers they are often referred to as IPDR.

The CDR/UDR datatypes could hold data such as NPX,NPA,Call Duration,peak time flag,call length and this data may be represented in binary formats. The billing mediation platform typically reads this data and converts into common normalized format.

Billing Systems and all other downstream systems, in turn, converts this data to component[its own] understandable format.

Billing mediation platforms get their name from their behavior: they "mediate" between a variety of other systems. In the typical telephone company scenario, the upstream systems (those providing data to the mediation platform) are network elements, such as telephone switches, and the downstream systems (those receiving data from the mediation platform) perform accounting, auditing, archiving, or bill-generation functions. The mediation system collects, collates and prepares data for consumption by the downstream systems, which often accept data only in a limited set of formats.

Typically a mediation platform is used for the following tasks:

Collection and validation of CDRs
Filtering out of non billing-relevant CDRs
Collating
Correlation of different input sources CDRs
Aggregation of partial CDRs related to the same call
Format change and CDRs normalization
Business transformation of data

In a telecom billing scenario, mediation is the first step after receiving a CDR. The mediated CDR is forwarded to a rating engine, which calculates the charge associated with the CDRs.In today's world Rating Engines are more becoming necessary for the telecom billing system to meet the growing variant customer needs for different services.^{[citation needed]}

Despite the name, not all of the data transferred via billing mediation platforms is actually used for billing purposes. For instance, the mediation software might generate traffic volume statistics based on the number and origin of the records passing through it. Those statistics could then be used for capacity planning, as part of a network monitoring procedure, or for any other business intelligence applications.

Sophisticated Billing Mediation software from various providers serves end to end functionality for Telecom Operators. Mediation software performs various operation from Collection to Downstream Distribution to modules like Retail Billing, Interconnect Settlement, Business intelligence, Fraud Detection, Revenue Assurance, Test Call Generation. Following list of activities provides an insight on Mediation software activities

Collection and Archive
Decoding/Encoding
CDR Normalization (Common Format)
Filtering
Conversion
Validation
Record Enrichment (Using Complex Reference Data)
Duplicate Record Detection
Aggregation or Correlation
Buffering
Cloning
Sorting
Downstream Format Mapping
Header and Trailer generation
Downstream Distribution
Error Messaging and Alarms
Auditing and Reports
Reconciliation
Reference Data Configuration
Provisioning services for the subscription.

Complementary to Billing Mediation functions, comprehensive mediation platforms also provide functionality dedicated to Service Provisioning (the two areas frequently intermix as services configured and used by the end customer result in usage data records generation in the network).

Mediating between the systems is not the only job that Mediation Platform can do. Actually this can be used as a provisioning agent. The basic provisioning commands can be configured within the mediation system and whenever we get a request for the system which does the provisioning, the request can be converted into a file , in which mediation can append the service provisioning commands and send it to HLR for activating any request. This of course , load dependent but can come very handy when there is a crisis in the other system.

At core Mediation involves data transfer between various systems with or without modification of data starting Network elements to OSS/BSS systems.

Mediation platforms for Telecom Practice supports various systems:

Retail Billing
Wholesale Billing - National and International
Network Traffic Management
Data Warehousing
Reconciliation system
Fraud Management
Provisioning Feed to Sub-systems

Telecom operators offer Voice,video,data,fax and internet services to subscribers and partners on various product lines.Mediation products are tuned to provide solutions for complex business challenges.

Mediation

2011-03-03T20:21:00.001Z

In revenue management, mediation is a process used to collect, validate, filter, collate, correlate, aggregate and convert data to create a data record that can be used for billing purposes. It is the first step in the billing process after collection of data records, and before Rating.

The data records produced by mediation were called Call Detail Records (CDRs), and contained all the necessary parameters to rate and bill a voice call such as call duration, distance, time of day and so on. Latterly, the record has become known as an xDR, IPDR, EDR and so on, to distinguish voice call records from records used to bill data services.

Historically, telecoms switches performed some of the mediation tasks, and mediation was often built into the billing solution. Mediation functions are not typically provided by a router, however. Thus with the move to data networks (packet switching), as well as the introduction of prepaid services and data services, mediation became far more complex. This resulted in a generation of specialist, standalone mediation platforms in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Over time most of these were acquired by billing vendors.

It should be noted, however, that data produced by mediation platforms is often used for non-billing purposes. For example, the mediation software might generate traffic volume statistics based on the number and origin of the records passing through it. Those statistics could then be used for capacity planning, as part of a network monitoring procedure, or for any other business intelligence applications. Other solutions such as Interconnect settlement, Business intelligence, Revenue assurance and Fraud management, Test Call Generation and so on, may use the data provided by a mediation platform.

Revenue assurance and Fraud management

2011-03-03T19:43:00.009Z

Revenue assurance is the practice of identifying and remedying (sometimes preventing) financial underperformance in CSPs. Due to the complexity of revenue management, the complex nature of telecoms software infrastructure, combined with human error and suboptimal processes, CSPs 'lose' a percentage of revenue owed to them. Revenue assurance software, processes and practitioners seek to minimise these losses to the company and prevent them from occurring.

While revenue assurance processes and software seeks to minimise revenue lost due to incompetence or error, in contrast fraud management is the practice (aided by software solutions) of minimising financial losses due to deliberate or intentional theft (fraud).CSPs are subject to a number of types of fraud, and the types, scale and complexity of fraud continue to increase.

FRAUD
Fraud in telecommunications can be very complex and transversal to the operator structure. The authors propose a classification method used in the FMS case management that allows a better characterization of the fraud phenomenon and enables a detailed reporting. The approach used is based in the 3M’s classification:

Motive: the fundamental objective of the fraud.
1. Non-revenue fraud, making use of a service with intent to avoid the cost but without the intention of making money. It includes providing no-cost services to friends or private usage.
2. Revenue fraud, which intends financial benefits as in Call Selling or Premium Rate Service (PRS) fraud (described below).

Means: the nature or form of the fraud used to satisfy the motive. Some examples:
1. Call Selling: sale of high tariff calls – usually international – bellow their market value with the intent to evade the operator payment.
2. Premium Rate Services (PRS) Fraud: inflation of the revenue payable to a Service Provider by generating calls to a PRS line.
3. Surfing: use of other person’s service without consent which can be achieved, for example, through SIM card duplication (cloning), illegally obtaining calling card authorisation details or PBX hacking.

4. Ghosting: refers to obtaining free or cheap rate through technical means of deceiving the network. It can be performed, for example, by manipulating switch or database contents to ‘alter’ call records.
5. Sensitive information disclosure - involves obtaining valuable information (e.g. VIP client details or access codes) and selling it to external entities. This fraud is usually performed internally.
6. Content stealing: a more recent type of fraud, which deals with getting high value contents (videos, ring tones, games) for free, by exploiting the non real-time pre-paid billing pre-paid system (hot-billing) or by avoiding payment of the invoice (post-paid services).

Method: the generic fraud method.
1. Subscription: fraudulent subscription obtained with false credentials that allow debt accumulation by systematic payment avoidance.
2. Technical: more advanced fraud that is based in exploiting loopholes found in the operator network elements or platforms.
3. Internal: inside information systems abuse

4. Point of Sale: when the dealer manipulates sales figures to increase the compensations paid by the operator

A FMS should be able to collect data from multiple formats and sources, and through a process of data preparation and mediation, conveniently process and adapt it to the system internal data formats. Some of the relevant processes of this stage are data filtering, call assembly and call rating. With some FMS tools, it is possible to perform data enhancement through cross-relation of different data sources, which may boost performance in some more complex detection techniques.

Subsequently, detection processes are applied in order to generate alerts on situations that deserve closer investigation by fraud analysts. Some of the relevant techniques used in this stage are rule–based detection and profiling through Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques like neural networks or decision trees.

Fraud analysts investigate alerts by accessing all relevant information (detailed client/account information, associated Call Detail Records, alert details, client alert history…) needed to conveniently assess the alert. Alert clarification may also benefit from graphic information describing client consumption profile.

Detected fraud cases are then forward to a case manager to initiate subjacent bureaucratic processes subsequent to fraud identification. All relevant information (e.g., CDR details, detailed client information, related alerts…) is attached to the case and the specific case fraud is classified (involved

services and fraud motives, means and methods) along with financial indicators quantifying performed fraud detection gains against fraud losses.

Finally, the system must provide friendly and complete reporting tools, thus allowing access to all relevant information to analyst, fraud process manager and system management information.

Fraud tackling efficiency may also benefit from seamlessly integrating and cross-referencing multiple data sources (client and billing information), which may enable focusing on most suspicious alerts.

Versatility and adaptability of fraudsters imply usage of different tools and technologies for each scenario. These tools must handle huge data volumes (e.g., billions of call records) and allow the integration of any new relevant technology. Additionally, the regular advent and new services and client growth implies easily scalable tools.

Billing, Charging & Settlement

2011-03-03T19:40:00.002Z

Originally, telecoms billing was post-paid. In other words, a bill (originally this was generally a paper bill) was generated in arrears periodically stating what was owed to the CSP by the customer. The customer was then expected to settle the bill (payment). The bill would typically show a number of different charges, including "line rental" (a fixed charge to cover the cost of maintaining the line and the network) and "call charges" (a variable charge for calls made).

Telecoms bills were calculated according to a number of parameters. For example, the charge for a call would vary depending on factors such as the time of day, the distance and the duration of the call. Initially, consumer bills were typically summary documents, but later so-called "itemised billing" was introduced, which involves listing the charges for individual calls.

With the advent of mobile/wireless telecoms, a new type of telecoms service - prepaid - was introduced. This involved the customer paying a sum in advance, which was depreciated as telecoms services were consumed. The introduction of prepaid services necessitated a change in technology: the solution that supported "prepaid billing" needed to operate in realtime or near-realtime to ensure that customers could not use more services (and therefore incur more charges) than their balance permitted. Prepaid billing became known as "realtime charging" or "online charging" (to contrast with so-called "offline" billing systems that run in batch).

Realtime charging was typcially implemented using a completely separate infrastructure to the billing systems used to support postpaid or contractual customers.

Although post-paid and prepaid billing and charging were typically implemented separately, lately it has become necessary or desirable to offer more flexible and hybrid billing models. This has resulted in so-called convergent charging, which refers to solutions that can support different subscriber types, different networks and different billing models using a single convergent billing system. Increasingly, convergent charging suppliers emphasise the desirability of basing such as solution on a single data model.

Settlement is the term used to refer to the processes and systems that enable CSPs to pay, and receive payment from, partners and suppliers. This includes Interconnect settlement, as well as settlement with content providers, roaming partners and so on. Settlement solutions also often include billing capabilities, as well as Partner relationship management (PRM) functions, Business intelligence (BI) and so on.

Revenue Management

2011-03-03T19:36:00.001Z

Revenue management is a Business support systems (BSS) process, and refers to those processes in a communications service provider (CSP) that are concerned with collecting, making and assuring payments for services supplied or received. There are two main processes: collection of payments from customers (consumers and businesses) and collection of payments from partners.

Revenue management encompasses technologies and processes such as: Billing, Charging and Settlement; Revenue assurance and Fraud management; Mediation; Rating; Payment.

In addition to vendors of Commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS), revenue management processes are also supported by custom-built systems (built in-house or by third parties), providers of Managed services and other types of outsourced services and solutions (such as Software as a service).

A specialist form of outsourced services in this area is provided by Clearing houses, which support roaming and interconnect partnerships, as well as data exchange and financial settlement between partners.

BSS OSS Revisited

2011-03-03T19:24:00.005Z

Business support systems (BSS) is a collective term for the telecoms software solutions used to support customers. The term encompasses software that supports billing & charging; customer management; product design & management; sales & marketing; order & order activation.

BSS contrasts with the related term Operational support systems (OSS), which are network-facing solutions.

In reality the two sets of solutions are closely related and increasingly need to work together, thus the terms BSS/OSS, OSS/BSS, BSSOSS and BOSS are often used. Although there is broad agreement over what BSS encompasses, some types of software sit between the BSS and OSS, and the emphasis on "flow through" processes means the separation of systems into BSS and OSS layers is becoming somewhat artificial. Historically, however, this separation was because two separate departments handled these processes - BSS being handled by IT and OSS by networks. Likewise two sets of vendors supported the layers. As time has gone on many vendors have broadened their portfolios to encompass both BSS and OSS.

BSS support four key processes:

Revenue management - which encompasses Billing, Charging and Settlement, Mediation, Rating, Revenue assurance and Fraud management, Payments.

Customer management - encompasses Customer relationship management (CRM) - also known as customer care - Customer experience management, Call centre technology, and Partner relationship management (PRM)

Product management - is concerned with the development, sales and management of products, offers and bundles to businesses and mass-market customers. It includes Service creation, Service Development Platforms (SDPs), Product catalogs and Marketing solutions.

Order management - involves taking and handling the customer order. This is now often included as part of the customer management solution and involves a close integration with OSS solutions.

Each of these processes is inter-related, and also increasingly closely aligned to allied OSS processes. Although a process may be technically distinct, it is often from an operational or business perspective embedded in another process or closely aligned to it. Thus order management, for example, is an integral part of customer management, the business driver for the OSS process of Service fulfillment, and closely aligned to Revenue management (since it is imperative to ensure that an ordered service is billed for).

Hush Little Baby - AVANI's Favourite Lullaby :)

2011-02-08T21:57:00.002Z

When Abhi's away, herez what I sing to AVANI and she loves it! :)

Hush, little baby, don't say a word,
Mama's going to buy you a mockingbird.

If that mockingbird won't sing,
Mama's going to buy you a diamond ring.

If that diamond ring turns brass,
Mama's going to buy you a looking glass.

If that looking glass gets broke,
Mama's going to buy you a billy goat.

If that billy goat won't pull,
Mama's going to buy you a cart and bull.

If that cart and bull turn over,
Mama's going to buy you a dog named Rover.

If that dog named Rover won't bark,
Mama's going to buy you a horse and cart.

If that horse and cart fall down,
You'll still be the sweetest little Girl in town.

So hush little baby, don't you cry,
Daddy loves you and so do I.

OCMJEA - Oracle Certified Master - Java Enterprise Architect

2011-02-07T19:26:00.002Z

This list is going to get updated as I progress on getting certified as a OCMJEA (Oracle Certified Master Java Enterprise Architect / SCEA (Sun Certified Enterprise Architect):

Links:
http://www.javacamp.org/scea/faq.html#book
http://www.coderanch.com/how-to/java/SceaLinks
http://www.coderanch.com/forums/f-26/java-Architect-SCEA
http://www.whizlabs.com/scea/scea.html
http://www.facebook.com/#!/scea.exam

Experiences:
http://www.selikoff.net/2010/07/16/jeannes-scea-5-part-1-experiences/
http://www.coderanch.com/how-to/java/SceaWallOfFame
http://www.coderanch.com/t/443250/sr/certification/SCEA-passed

Mock Tests:
http://www.javachamp.com/sun-certified-enterprise-architect-scea
http://www.exforsys.com/certification/sun-certification/download-scea-310-051-free-exam-simulator.html

Books:
SCEA for Java EE5 - Mark Cade
Headfirst Design Patterns - Elisabeth Freeman
Java EE5 Tutorial - http://download.oracle.com/javaee/5/tutorial/doc/javaeetutorial5.pdf

Change & Progress One Step at a Time :)

2011-02-05T16:30:00.001Z

Heelllo and Welcome Back ! If you haven't noticed already, Life Less Ordinary now sports a Fresh New Look or at least, that was originally my attempt, as opposed to the last one which was simple yet cluttered. The biggest change, is the Labels - renamed to make more sense and dramatically reduced to a mere 10 ;) Google AdSense failed miserably in generating any revenues and hence occupies just one corner as opposed to 3 from my previous layout. Some of the posts that were saved as Drafts have now been published with the hope to abandon the "save as draft" syndrome ;) The last thing you may notice is that now you can actually React apart from Leaving Comments. So even though I missed on writing the quintessential 'Happy Anniversary to my Blog' post on Jan 17th when it turned 4 Years old, I was determined to make it look delectably appealing.

That is new about my Blog. What's new with me ? I am now well on my way to master my new found baking skills with the "Chocolate Sandwich Cake" with Chocolate Butter Icing topped with Roasted Flaked Almonds ! Never ever had the drive to put up a picture on my blog, but I am so excited that my very 1st attempt at baking turned out to be more than successful, that I can't help but share a picture of it with you guys ! :)

For the reciepe check this link out: I have been a Rachel Allen Fan for months now and this was a great starting point: http://www.lifestylefood.com.au/recipes/8948/chocolate-cake
But hey, topping it up with roasted flaked almonds is just an original addition :) by sayli yadav !

Njoy ! :)

The Closet - The Power of Organization !

2011-02-03T11:25:00.006Z

How did I benefit from Organizing my closet ?

1: I save time - 20 mins flat with clothing hair n makeup is all it takes.

2: I save money - I never shop on impulse because I have my eyes, heart and my brain looking for only what I need and when I need it.

3: I feel great - segregating this way makes sure I wear a variety of clothing and that every piece of clothing I own gets worn!!

4: I look happy - I regularly give away what is good looking clothing that I have grown out to like to people who need it.

5: I have it all de-cluttered - "Less is More" is truly what my closet swears by: while I always manage to find occassion appropriate clothing I never really feel like I have TOO MUCH or TOO LESS - it's just right for any occassion... :)

Do you have a tip that would get me & the rest of the readers of this blog feeling happier and better ?? ;) Pen In... :)

The Closet - Organize It !

2011-02-02T07:30:00.003Z

While there are numerous ways in which every woman would organize her closet - To Segregate is the key and herez the way I do it (but I am so all ears to hear about an improvised version, so pen in your tips too). Also a top-down approach to arranging, topmost being the items that you frequently wear and bottom most being the ones you wear occasionally.

1: Exercise Gear:
a) Track Suits
b) Swimwear

2: Night Wear:
a) :) whatever that means to you ! :) ;)

3: Work@Home Mom Wear:
a) Harrom Pants
b) Tees to match

4: Casuals:
a) Daily Wear - Jeans, Tees, Leggings, Tunics
b) Holiday Wear - Camisoles, Tops, Shorts, Skirts, Casual/Day Dresses, Cotton Trousers, Capris etc...

5: Evening Wear:
a) Embellished Kurtis
b) Cocktail Dresses
c) Maxi Dresses
d) Evening Dresses (My version of "I am Red Carpet Ready Gowns" :) )
e) Prom Dresses / Ball Gowns (I obviously own neither of the two but this could be a category in your closet if you have still kept that prom dress or attend ball room dances) ;)

6: Formals:
A formal suit ideally works best as a complete set (waist coat + blazer + pencil skirt + trousers + dress)
There are numerous ways in which each can be put together to give you a feel of variety dressing.

This would also include Salwar Kameezes and Sarees that you would wear to the office and no place else.

7: Sarees:
I always, yes, always "used to" wear sarees for ceremonies and they are categorized purely by occassion (and if you live in the same city as your huge friend circle and relatives there'll be aplenty)

a) engagements
b) weddings
c) receptions
d) family dinners
e) baby showers / naming ceremonies / festivals / other family events

8: Summer/Winter Jackets & Coats:
Unfortunately have to make place in Abhi's and AVANI's closet :p :)

9: Sweaters/Cardigans/Shawls - again of which I own a countable few are folded away out of sight since jackets is what gets worn 9 months out of the 12 that I live here in the UK ! :(

10: Drawers:
Hold all the etcs..

11: On 3 hangers go the following accessories:
a) Stoles
b) Mufflers
c) Belts
d) Scarves - again of which I have None ! :) ;)

Sadly, I still haven't learnt how to use scarves with any outfit - hopefully I will save that for one of you to teach me :)

The Closet - I scream HELP ! :(

2011-02-01T08:30:00.003Z

You're invited for a party and while it is okay to be a little late, you loose all sense of timing and make a dissappointingly late arrival : reason : you could not decide on what you should wear inspite of having a pile of clothing that could last a lifetime !

You read SALE, in you hop and out you come with a hole in your pocket and bags you can barely manage to hold ! You come back home only to realize those clothes that made you feel happy instore, don't really make you look happy at home !

Its yet another Monday, you are up in time and yet land up late for office and this time it isn't the traffic, its the fact that you spent loads of time hunting for the right shirt to match your trouser and then another couple of minutes for a cardigan & a belt to match. Just when you've found those, you realize your favourite pair of diamond/pearl studs just went missing and the watch you always wear with your formals shows the wrong timing !

Have you ever, even once, been caught up in a crisis like these ! :) It is cause your closet screams HELP ! It's time to spring clean your closet and have it reorganized. It makes your choices so much more easier and allows you a stress free start to the day.

Year 4 - The Fight for Survival !! :)

2011-01-31T19:40:00.009Z

Hhhheeellllllooo :) Wishing everyone a Very Happy 2011! 2011 is the 4th consecutive year of "Life Less Ordinary". Going by the number of posts in the last 3 years, I don't have a great track record but that's all the more a reason to set myself a higher benchmark ! :)

Going back to all the posts that this blog has hosted - I have made and broken numerous resolutions and apologized more than a dozen times :) All for various reasons - the most common one being unable to post more often!

So while I am struggling to keep My Blog up to date, I thought the last day January of 2011 should be early enough to try n keep it alive ! I'd love to sum up the year that passed by , but this time I wish to look forward rather than keep up with the tradition of writing that "How 2010 Turned Out" post. More on that later :) ;)

While every year I have vowed by a fitness regime, kept up on my disciplined investment habits and put together a well thought out versatile wardrobe, this year I aim on doing something else:

1> Learn Baking - before I get out of this country
2> Upgrade my cosmetic counter to colors other than brown n beige - as in get refreshingly innovative with my Make Up !
3> Become A Sun Certified Enterprise Architect (SCEA) by the end of 2011 !

And while I am at it, I've got to keep up the last bit of effort to get rid of that muffin top ! :) ;) While you wish me luck for all of this I am wondering - what's weighing high on Your list of "To Do's for 2011" ?? :) ;)

To My Lil Gurl..

2010-06-01T23:05:00.010+01:00

Since the point I dreamt of being Mum, I had You, in my Mind. From the time I was expecting, I had You in my Heart. Ever since you were born and now that you turn one, you have become My Whole Wide World ! You'd so believe my desire to have a girl, when you read the post dated August 7th 2008 on this blog on which Neha Aatya commented ! :)

Even though today, you turn a year old, for me you are a year and 9 months more, cause that is how long I know you and to your each passing year, those 9 special months will never be forgotten ! Your Dad n Me, were the one's to hear your heartbeat, even before seeing you in person ! Experiencing life within you, even before it takes birth, is an indescribable feeling which I am glad even you will luckily have an opportunity to understand and experience !

When we thought of you, before you were born, we always thought of a GIRL with long eyelashes, big eyes, dimpled smile, chubby cheeks and yes, a chubbier bottom :) and you were born with all that and even more - your chubby thighs which we love calling Chicken Wings :)

As Lata Aajji rightly says, you look 70% like Daddy (with dark shapely eyebrows, long thick lashes, dimpled smile) and 30% like Mommy (big eyes, chubby cheeks) ! :) While the color of your eyes resembles Baba Ajoba's, the color of your skin resembles Daddy Ajoba's and Kalpana Aajji says you get your voice from her - loud and clear :) your habit of being happy sitting at one place is what you adopt from Lata Aajji :) and I certainly hope that a spirit to fight all odds and emerge victorious is what Anant Mama will inspire in you!

Like all the other babies in the world, You too are an adorable baby ! :) We are the ones who gave you your name and you would be the one to redefine our identity - to make us proud for the kind of human being you will grow up to be ! Like all other parents in this world, I am completely clueless about who you will grow up to be, or what you will choose to do with your life. God Forbid - On our Journey together, if I were ever to be seperated from You, I would want you to always remember ...

"There will always be 10 people more successful, powerful, affluent, wealthy, luckier than you - at the same time there will be 10 others who would be less fortunate or less-abled than you : Do not ever let anyone else's successes/failures be the yardstick for your own accomplishment. Understand the importance of good relationships, the value of time, the worth of being healthy - chances are that you will have the true satisfaction of a Life Well Spent ! Enjoy the Journey, Make the most out of each phase in Life so that when you look back, you Smile and Thank God for what he Gave U !" :)

I will always Love You to Eternity more than anything and anyone else in this World !

Happy Birthday My Love and Bless U always ! :)

Cuddles, Hugs & Kisses

- Mumma ! :)

Are You The One Other's Love To Befriend?

2010-05-05T15:49:00.005+01:00

At the end of a conversation with your acquaintances / companions / friends have you ever felt full of energy, enthusiasm, self belief and motivation as against pessimism and bouts of negative energy that makes your head spin ?

Have you ever wondered why some people always manage to leave a positive impression and leave us inspired by their presence and interaction ? What sets them apart from the rest ?

Well this is what helps us in becoming the people we love to interact with:

1: Accommodating: They are always willing to help. They will walk the distance to get you out of any troublesome situation. They will help, when you are in need, but will never invade your privacy or try to be intrusive.

2: Non-Judgmental: They never judge people or think they have the right to criticize someone Else's way of life.

3: Respectful: While being polite and courteous themselves, they also respect other people for who they are and the choices they make for themselves.

4: Appreciative: They are quick to complement every nice thing they notice.

5: Optimistic: They always see the good in any person or situation.

6: Keep Positive Company: In spite of being the most open minded and understanding people, they never fear getting rid of people who repeatedly insist on bringing negativity in their lives, even in the most adverse of their times. They are not afraid to tell negative people to get out of their bubble!

7: Follow the 90-10 Principle: As my Mother often tells me, no Human Being is 100% saintly. 90% of every person is a good human being and 10% of every human being is a Villain. Each one of us has a Villain within us, who at some point or the other, unknowingly emerges without warning. When we accept this truth, it is easier to deal with people and maintain lasting relationships.

Have you observed a quality you would love to adapt, from a person you love to spend time with ? Wish to share it ? Then go ahead and leave a comment ! :)

The Thought Behind The Creation...

2010-04-30T12:18:00.003+01:00

Sometime back, I remember doing a series of posts on different kinds of attire. This is the newest and presumably, could be, the most visited section on my Blog: "Accessories for the Fashion Conscious Girl :)"

Well, I was to label it "Accessories for the Fashion Conscious Woman", but I realized I have a Daughter :), who I am sure, is going to Love to follow my Blog. I would like it, if she picks up her trademark style to become a trendsetter herself and thanks me, for being the inspiration ! :) ;)

This is also going to be, the first ever section on my Blog to sport Pictures and Images ! I started out blogging with the thought that my vocabulary would be the only powerful medium I would use to get across my views. But somewhere down the line, that thought changed - hopefully for the better. Remember the saying "A Picture is worth a 1000 Words ?? :)"

So stay tuned in, and hopefully someday I will gather enough gyaan on Men's Fashion as well . For now however, to the Men I say - "Go ahead, educate yourself". So the next time you think of Gifting a Woman, you can be sure never to go wrong ! :)

Mother's Being Driven to Madness..

2010-04-27T09:11:00.004+01:00

Unfortunately, I don't always come across Mum's who feel that Motherhood is indeed a Welcome Change. For them, it is more about proving that "She is the Best Mum in the world" and that "Her's is the only perfect child born on the face of this earth!"

To such Mums I say "Please stop living in Fool's paradise and think that you can get away with behaving like that!" Let's get real!! Nobody - Absolutely nobody, is bothered about what sort of a routine is your child into, what the child has for his 3 meals and 2 snacks, how much does he have, whether he sleeps in his cot, sits in his pram, has dinner on the high chair, is completely potty trained, which toddler groups he goes to, how many times in a week does he go there, what does he do there ... and neither should you be bothered about these things in relation to children of your fellow mothers! The only person it makes a big difference to, is the child himself!

If some Mother's just stopped concentrating on how other couples bring up their children they are more likely to concentrate on bringing up their own child in a better environment!

Watch out for Mother's with the following traits, they will only leave you feeling frustrated after a conversation! And Yes! Please do not drive yourself to madness by being of one such Moms!

Lying: You Lie without a reason. Without even thinking twice or realizing that people will eventually find out that you Lied to them!

Hiding your Guilt: You never admit your wrong doings and instead hide your guilt by telling a series of Lies!

Insecure: You doubt yourself and your ability to impart a good upbringing to your child and hence are driven to a state of depression that stems from low levels of self confidence & your act of reassuring certain things, as-tough you were accountable to other people, when in reality it makes no difference to anyone, whether you spend the whole day indoors playing with your child or stepped out in-spite of a hurricane!

Competitive: You are constantly comparing your child with children who are less able or are not the same age or in the same capacity to do what your child does.

Interfering: You are way too bothered about what is going on in other people's life rather than minding your own business.

Making Excuses: Failure to do anything, is just blamed onto your poor child's teething or sickness when actually the child is doing just fine, it is just you, who isn't managing your time well.

Careless: You are so busy criticizing other Mums, that you don't realize some of the most grave problems you face with your health, your relationships and your lifestyle.

Judgmental: You pass judgments on how a certain Mother doesn't feed her child well, when the truth is that your own child is all skin n bone!

Give Unwanted Advice: You are constantly advising on how a certain XYZee brand is the best finger food you discovered or boast about how you have tried 'N' number of recipes from some Recipe Book and how other Mother's should soon follow suit!

'I am Perfect' Attitude: You always try to put on a face that says "I am Perfect", when in reality it is evident from your health, lifestyle and relationships that something is certainly going drastically wrong somewhere!

Jealous: You cannot stand it, when you realize that kids younger than your own child have taken to self feeding or eating pretty much the same food as the rest of the family.

Use your Child as a Prop: When the child is happy playing his own way, you force him to dance/demonstrate a certain act, just to prove that he knows something that other children don't and then when he wishes to repeat the act in happiness, you just shun him away saying once is enough.

Always find nothing to do in your spare time: Your frequent question to other Mother's is "what do you do the whole day ?" when in reality there is so much to do !! only if you really pursued your interests - If you had any at all, in the 1st place !

So therez a Pattern..

2010-04-15T18:07:00.012+01:00

Going by the statistics of the last 2 years since I started to blog, just noticed that, I begin each year with renewed enthusiasm for writing. But it seems to last only the 1st quarter of that year and then, the number of posts starts to reduce dramatically!!

Wonder what I get so caught up into ! :) This time around I am going to try real hard to stick to atleast 4 posts a month - that's about one a week. Now methinks, that's a modest goal ain't it ?

Even with an adorable little daughter who will 1 in just 1.5 months time :(. Can't believe shez going to be no more that bubbly cuddly tiny baby - shez going to be that mischievious toddler with bouts of curiosity and energy !! ;) I am sure that phase too is going to be the one to look forward to ! :) In the mean time I am going to sit back and enjoy to the fullest these last 2 months of babyhood ! :)

So my plate is full - trying to make the transition to full fat cow's milk for AVANI, preparing myself to part with AVANI even if it meant for a few hours, making the right & the most difficult choice for a couple of hours of Day Care, trying to think about how WE would want her 1st Birthday to be, preparing for our Trip to the Pricey land of Chocolate, Cheese, Cuckoo Clocks and Jaw Dropping Natural Beauty - Switzerland and keeping up with my Exercise Routine.

Hope I am not biting into more than I can chew ! As always need loads of good wishes :) n prayers too :)