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RFP SERIES |
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Requirements for T-Commerce and Ad Insertion
Television Commerce (T-Commerce)Television commerce is a shopping medium that uses a television network to present products and process orders. Order processing capability is the steps involved in selecting the products or service from a television catalog or advertising and agreeing to the terms that are required for a person or company to obtain products or services. T-commerce requires interaction between the IPTV system and other vendors. This is likely to include electronic data interchange (EDI) capability. EDI is industry standards or the processes used by companies to exchange electronic business documents or data over electronic communication networks. Accepted EDI standards include ANSI X.12, ISO 9735 and CCITT X.435. T-commerce systems may allow vendors to update and modify their catalog of products, services and offers. Vendors may be provided restricted access to the IPTV system to update and modify product and service offers. The RFP responder should define the capabilities to offer T-commerce services and the ability the T-commerce system has to link vendors to the T-commerce system. Ad InsertionAd insertion is the process of replacing content or splicing an advertising message into a media stream such as a television program. Ad insertion can have a complex billing structure. Ads may be sold by advertising agencies that book ads with networks and local broadcasters. Available ads ("avails") vary with the programs and the program providers. Network programmers typically provide content with ads already inserted. Some of these ads are available for insertion by local broadcasters and some of these ads must be broadcasted. Each of the available ads is marked with ad insertion points (cue tones) to enable local ad insertion. If the local advertising company is not able to sell the ads spots, the network ads will be passed through. These ads |
may be billed at a lower rate than local ads. The RFP responder should define the capabilities of ad insertion including network, local and addressable advertising. The systems equipment and systems that will be used to manage and determine the ad inserts along with how the system will interface with the billing and accounting systems should be defined. Testing CapabilitiesTesting capabilities are the systems and processes that can be used to confirm a product or service is operating correctly and within expected performance limits. Testing capabilities include system diagnostics and self-diagnostics. Diagnostics are tests or programs (often built into a device or system) that test the functionality of the system and report the results. Diagnostic systems that are separate and simply monitor the operation of the subject system are considered to be non-intrusive. System DiagnosticsSystem diagnostics are the monitoring functions and processes that are used to identify the performance, operation and repair of equipment, protocols and/or transmission lines. |
12 March 2008 Definitions FREE at www.IPTVDictionary.com
Self-DiagnosticsSelf-diagnostics is a process and/or a program that is built into a device or network that allows users or devices to test the functionality of the system and report the results to assist in the finding of faults. The RFP responder should describe the system test capabilities including system diagnostics and self-diagnostics. Premises Distribution EquipmentA premises distribution network is the equipment and software that is used to transfer data and other media in a customer's facility, home or personal area. A PDN is used to connect terminals (computers) and other media devices to each other and to wide area network connections. Some of the common types of PDN are wired Ethernet, Wireless LAN, Powerline, Coaxial and Phoneline Data. Multimedia networking is the process of transferring multiple forms of media (e.g. digital audio, data and digital video) through a communication network (such as a home network). Multimedia networking is used to connect computers, media players and other media sources and players to each other and to send and receive media from wide area network connections. The RFP responder should define which premises distribution networks they support, the versions of these systems and what forms of media they can transfer. |
Conditional Access System (CAS)A conditional access system is a security process that is used in a communication system (such as a broadcast television system) to limit the access of media to authorized users. Conditional access systems can use uniquely identifiable devices (sealed with serial numbers) and may use smart cards to store and access secret codes. The RFP responder should define the suppliers of conditional access systems and what access devices (e.g. IP STB) the CAS system is compatible with. System AdministrationSystem administration is processes and tasks performed by a system administrator to add, change or disconnect (provisioning) devices, features and equipment. Administration may be performed directly or through remote locations. Service ProvisioningService provisioning is the process of an authorized agent or process that processes and submits the necessary information to enable the activation of a service. For IPTV communication systems, this includes identifying services that can be offered, determining if these services can be provided at specific locations, sending and installing equipment to customers, and configuring equipment to deliver and receive services. |
13 March 2008 Definitions FREE at www.IPTVDictionary.com
Remote AdministrationRemote administration is the processes and tasks that are performed by a system administrator to add, change or disconnect devices, features and equipment from locations other than the general location of the system they are controlling. Remote system administration tasks may include monitoring the performance of the network and making configuration adjustments to the network as necessary. The RFP responder should define the providing system and its local and remote management capabilities. Billing SystemsA billing system is a combination of software and hardware that receives transaction detail and service usage information, groups this information for specific accounts or customers, produces invoices, creates reports for management, and records (posts) payments made to customer accounts. For IPTV systems, billing systems need to have capabilities of paying complex set of fees for that include franchise fees, content licenses, royalties, sales commissions, and regulatory assessments. IPTV systems may include the capability of processing orders and collecting fees for the sale of products and services other than television services. Franchise fees are an amount charged or assigned to an account for the authorization to use a product, service, or asset. Franchise fees can be a combination of fixed fees or a percentage of sales. Content license fees are costs for the rights to use content. An example of a content license is permission to distribute a television program to users in a cable television system. Royalties are compensation for the assignment or use of intellectual property rights. Royalties may be paid on a time period basis or on a usage (e.g. number of times viewed) basis. Sales commissions are authorizations of compensation that are paid for the assistance with selling a product or service. Sales commissions may be a percentage of sales, a fixed amount or a combination of fixed fees and percentages. Regulatory fees are taxes, assessments or other |
amounts levied by regulatory authorities for the authorization to develop, operate or change systems or services that are overseen by the government.
Television commerce (t-commerce) order processing is the steps involved in selecting the products or service from a television catalog or advertising and agreeing to the terms that are required for a person or company to obtain products or services. T-commerce systems can be complex since they require interconnection to many types of systems and to other companies. A service detail record holds information related to a service or group of service usage events related to a communication session. This information usually contains the origination address of the user, time of day the service or services were requested, the types and quantities of services used, and charges that may be added from supporting vendors throughout the duration of the service. Billing related events (such as a connection path or file transfer) are combined to create a billing record. Because billing events can come from many types of equipment and systems and can have various proprietary and standard formats, billing events are adapted by mediation devices. A mediation device is a network component in a telecommunications network that receives, processes, reformats, and sends information to other formats between network elements. Mediation devices are commonly used for billing and customer care systems as these devices can take non-standard proprietary information (such as proprietary digital call detail records) from switches and other network equipment and reformat them into messages billing systems can understand. The RFP responder should provide details about the billing system, mediation devices and how the IPTV billing systems will link and/or integrate with existing billing systems. Internet Access RequirementsInternet access requirements are the capabilities for a user or device to connect to the Internet through the IPTV network. IPTV systems may offer a combination of services including Internet access. Internet access through an IPTV system is usually controlled to ensure that |
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14 March 2008 Definitions FREE at www.IPTVDictionary.com
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Internet services do not interfere with television services.
The RFP responder should define the types of Internet access connections that are available (e.g. wireless, Ethernet), the typical parameters (data rates, daily transfer) and how Internet access connections will be managed. Telephony RequirementsTelephony requirements are the capabilities for a user or device to connect to the public telephone network through the IPTV network. IPTV systems may offer a combination of services including telephone access. Telephone access through an IPTV system is usually controlled to ensure that telephony services do not interfere with television services. The RFP responder should define the types of telephone access connections that are available (e.g. cordless, telephone line adapter), the typical parameters (data rates, daily usage amount) and how telephone access connections will be managed.
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Figure 1.6 shows the many requirements that are commonly considered when creating a request for proposal (RFP) for an IPTV system. This diagram shows that the requirements may include television services, playout control, content sources, emergency alert system (EAS), content combining multiple services such as telephony, and Internet access services. IPTV system requirements also include gathering content and management of distribution programming (playout control) along with on demand (VoD) services. RFPs requirements usually include installation, testing and support requirements along with disaster recovery and security considerations.
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16 March 2008 Definitions FREE at www.IPTVDictionary.com
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