Annual Report
2004 Annual Report (download
the pdf)
Table of Contents
President's Address
IPDR.org in the Industry
IPDR.org Technical Program
Market Awareness
IPDR Document Set - v3.5.1
IPDR.org Reference Libraries - C and Java
Industry Liaison Partners
Board of Directors - 2004
List of Members - 2004
Financials - 2004
PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS
Greetings IPDR Members; thank you for your participation in 2004. IPDR
completed leaps to fulfill its mission and consolidated version 3.5
into reference source code available to members.
I would like to take a moment to highlight some significant accomplishments
that you helped create last year:
- CableLabs DOCSIS - IPDR/Streaming relieves the cable industry of
intensive broadband accounting needs.
- ANSI progress - The ATIS TMOC Accounting Management team is working
with IPDR to bring ours towards national standards status.
When we set out as a member-driven organization in 1999, we set our
sights on an ambitious goal: To reduce the time and cost of usage measurement
and exchange for next-generation services. To review our progress so
far:
In 1999 we began work.
In 2000 we delivered the NDM-U specification and proved it could work.
In 2001 we improved and finalized NDM-U with Version 3.
In 2002, we began to deploy NDM-U within large carriers
In 2003, we enriched NDM-U with streaming and settlement to complete
the end-to-end accounting flow.
In 2004, we completed IPDR/Streaming standardization in the cable industry
and began ANSI standardization
Your continued involvement in 2005 will see IPDR rollouts from major
MSOs, another wireless carrier, and further standardization in emerging
industries such as VoIP, VoD, digital music, push-to-talk, and WiMax.
Thank you for being a part of positive change for our industry.
Aron C. Heintz
President, IPDR.org
IPDR.ORG IN THE INDUSTRY
IPDR.org has always examined ways on how the work being done within
the organization would be able to benefit different industry sectors
(i.e., cable and content). In 2004 the organization developed formal
liaison partnerships. Throughout each group there was an enthusiastic
willingness to work together and a strategic plan was introduced.
For over two years, IPDR.org worked to align the IPDR Streaming Protocol
to align with the requirements identified by CableLabs®, the research
and development consortium dedicated to pursuing new cable telecommunications
technologies for its cable operator members. Prior to the year-end,
CableLabs announced that the IPDR Streaming Protocol is now a mandatory
element within the DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification)
2.0 Subscriber Accounting Management Interface Specification (SAMIS),
and is expected to be widely deployed by cable operators worldwide.
In addition to cable, the telecom industry has begun to explore how
the IPDR.org specifications can effectively tie into the work being
done within their groups. The ATIS TMOC committee has adopted a work
item to bring IPDR Specifications(s) toward ANSI and ITU-T as accredited
American and international standards respectively.
The work with the TMOC group is a joint effort supported by the IPDR.org's
Protocols and Business Requirements working groups. The charter of the
group has begun to address the accounting interface between VoIP-handling
networks and service elements and OSS/BSS. The ultimate success of this
collaboration will signify substantial completion of IPDR.org's efforts
to develop a cross-platform, cross -sector, and cross-BSS common standard
for accounting and measurement of next generation services.
And finally in 2004, IPDR.org embarked on a joint initiative to address
the needs within the content industry. By combing efforts with the Content
Reference Forum, IPDR.org started to explore the ways that IPDR.org
specifications can be tailored to the music industry's growing problems
of their rapidly expanding online offerings. IPDR.org management sees
the content industry as one of the fastest growing transactional markets
on the internet today. The groups will continue to develop an overall
strategy to outline and address the next steps.
IPDR.ORG TECHNICAL PROGRAM
Protocol Working Group
The Protocol Working Group (PWG) released the IPDR Streaming Protocol
2.0 specification in late April. The release of this specification provides
the industry with an advanced streaming protocol for accounting information
exchange, and delivers a compelling solution to the technical and business
challenges faced by the next-generation equipment and server vendors.
Following the release of their specification the group took on the
responsibility of developing the liaison relationship between IPDR.org
and ATIS TMOC. The groups met for the first time at the IPDR.org membership
meeting in September, and quickly developed a charter and plan for moving
forward. To date the group continues to meet on a regular basis and
is targeting the issuance of a draft American National Standard in 2005.
In addition, the Protocol Working Group was the primary group to assist
with the IPDR reference library upgrades.
Protocol Working Group representatives:
Team Leader: Tal Givoly (Amdocs)
Team Editor: Steve Cotton (IPDR.org)
Team Contributors: Amit Kleinmann (Amdocs), Greg Weber (Cisco); Ty Roach
(ACE*COMM), Ken Sarno, (IPDR.org)
WLANAS Working Group
The WLANAS Working Group publicly released the IPDR Supplier/Partner
(S/PS) Settlement and IPDR Public WLAN Access Service specifications
in May 2004. The release of these documents marked the final deliverable
from the WLANAS group after a year of hard work.
The specifications enable inter-operator settlement for universal single-bill
access to public WLAN (PWLAN) hotspots. The IPDR S/PS Settlement document
resolves key technical limitations of cross-industry settlement interoperability.
The IPDR PWLAN Access Service Specification is a component of the set
of IPDR specifications that describe business requirements and protocols
for usage measurement and usage reporting for IP-based services.
WLANAS Working Group representatives:
Co-chairs: Tim Allwine (VeriSign) and Betty Cockrell (Billing Concepts)
Technical Team Lead: Pankaj Patel (Convergys)
Technical Editor: Steve Cotton (IPDR.org)
Team Contributors: Pat Walls (Syniverse), Grace Chen (VeriSign)
MARKET AWARENESS
How does IPDR.org market itself to the world? IPDR.org utilizes several
marketing tools to ensure that our organization and its work are promoted
throughout different industry structures, and all over the globe.
Our first and foremost activity is utilizing the accessibility of the
world-wide web. IPDR.org keeps the web site current by updating the
site with any newly published specifications, recent press releases,
information on new industry liaisons and work initiatives, industry
news, and a way to get updated information by registering for the number
of email exploder lists available to both members and non-members. In
addition, the members only site provides additional opportunities for
members to easily find the latest internal releases, general and specific
IPDR.org presentations, meeting information, and much more.
IPDR.org also realizes the importance of public presentations. In 2004
the President, staff, and member representatives have spoken on behalf
of IPDR.org at various conferences and tradeshows around the world.
Those efforts are greatly appreciated, and the success of this promotion
is evident by the responses received at these events that there is a
continued interest in the work being done within the organization.
A new initiative that IPDR.org took on this year was to host its first
"Open Information Session." The session itself allows non-members
an opportunity to learn about the latest work within the organization,
as well as openly ask questions that directly relate to their line of
business. The session was promoted within our "general" email
exploder list, and attended by a number of companies. The mix of attendees
included those interested in cable, content, and enterprise work. The
"Open Information Sessions" will continue in 2005 and will
be held on a bi-annual basis.
IPDR DOCUMENT SET - V3.5.1
The IPDR.org Document Set is a proven method of handling the many specifications
published by the organization. The Set includes a Document Map, which
is an interactive file provides an easily accessible single point of
entry to all IPDR.org specifications, and a Document Guide, which gives
a brief description of each document and how they inter-relate. The
Document Set is kept current as newly published specifications are released.
The IPDR Document Set is available through the IPDR.org web site. IPDR.org
has received very positive feedback since the introduction of the set,
and is continually accepting comments from users of the IPDR specifications.
IPDR.ORG'S REFERENCE LIBRARIES - C AND JAVA
IPDR.org produced and released an updated set of the reference libraries.
The libraries are available in both C and Java and are now compatible
with the IPDR Document Set 3.5.1. The enhancements to the libraries
included, backward compatibility, schema partitioning, compact format
definition, enumerations, structures and arrays, updating the version
numbering, primitive types and capability file. In addition, the Java
set has been enhanced to support the IPDR WLAN Settlement Work.
IPDR.org would like to thank Infosys, Inc. for their hard work and
professionalism in completing the upgrades; Ken Sarno, IPDR.org, for
his management of the project; and the Protocol Working Group for their
continued input. The Libraries are currently available to members only,
and are fully downloadable from the members only area on the IPDR.org
web site.
INDUSTRY LIAISON PARTNERS
IPDR.org continues to promote the importance of usage measurement and
exchange to liaison organizations and strives to reach out and partner
with groups that align their work with IPDR.org. This year much work
has been done to enhance the depth of information developed and exchanges
within several of the liaisons that are either newly established or
have been ongoing. The following partnerships have been active in 2004:
Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions -- ATIS OBF and TMOC
taskforces are currently reviewing WLANAS specification and remains
interested in VOIP applications for IPDR technology.
- Cable Laboratories - Cable Modem™ (aka DOCSIS™
Data Over Cable System Interface Specification) has adopted the IPDR
3.5 Document Set as its standard usage accounting technology. Interest
in PWLAN and Streaming IPDR has grown throughout 2004.
- Content Reference Forum - The CRF has formally signed a partnership
agreement and is an integral player in introducing the IPDR.org work
to the content industry.
- IPCC -The International Packet Communications Consortium
informally cooperates with IPDR on accounting records and details.
- TeleManagement Forum (TM Forum) - IPDR.org maintains a strategic
liaison relationship with TM Forum and is a charter member of the
TM Forum's Industry Group Advisory Board (IGAB). In addition, TM Forum
has organized a working group to address billing, and IPDR.org plans
to provide input to their work on a continuous basis.
- Wi-Fi Alliance - The partnership between the IPDR.org and
the Wi-Fi Alliance brings together cross industry players to facilitate
the early adoption of the IPDR.org WLAN Accounting and Settlement
specifications. The Wi-Fi Alliance is a nonprofit international association
formed in 1999 to certify interoperability of wireless Local Area
Network products based on IEEE 802.11 specification.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS - 2004
Aron Heintz - President and COO, IPDR.org
Tim Allwine - VeriSign
Betty Cockrell - Billing Concepts
Tal Givoly - Amdocs
Kevin McCoy - Cisco Systems
Jim Cunningham - Hewlett-Packard
Stefan Mihai - ACE*COMM
Steve O'Neal - Sprint PCS
Pankaj Patel - Convergys
LIST OF MEMBERS 2004
Charter Members
Ace*Comm
Amdocs
Billing Concepts
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Convergys
Hewlett-Packard
Rogers AT&T Wireless
Sprint PCS
VeriSign
Supporting Members
American Management Systems
CIBERNET
CSG Systems, Inc.
Dan Net AS
EDB Telesciences AS
Infosys
IntelIntrado
Openet Telecom Limited
SBC Laboratories, Inc.
Syniverse Technologies TeleStrategies
Associate Members
Airpath Wireless
Canadian Clearinghouse
Brainshield Technologies
Defense Information Systems Agency - (DISA)
Digital Route
MetraTech Corp.
Nomadix
Primal Solutions
TOGEWAnet
2004 FINANCIALS
IPDR.org 2004 Revenue and Expenses
As of December 31, 2004
(all figures in $1,000)
| |
Jan-Dec
|
| Total Revenue |
307.71
|
| |
|
| Expenses |
|
| Technical & Editorial Support |
97.15
|
| Marketing |
87.80
|
| Operations, Industry & Member Relations |
124.41
|
| |
|
| Total Expenses (1) |
309.36
|
| |
|
| Cash Flow |
|
| Money in Bank (Dec. 31, 2004) |
344.35
|
(1)Aside from periodic
special investments, the corporation operates as a going concern, matching
expenses to revenues. Expenses in 2004 slightly exceeded revenues, as
approved in budget plans established by the Board of Directors in Q1
2004.
