ontent in the record suitable for interpretation. Unique tracking: All data after mediation validation and processing are assigned a unique tag number to make it easier for business modules to identify if the relevant records have been received from the mediation system. This helps to re-transmit lost records or synchronize records with other management modules. A table look up can be implemented for proper tracking of records. Design of the mediation systems tend to be complex due to different factors that needs to be considered when implementing this critical module that has high impact on the final bill presented to the customer (see Figure 20.15). Some of the factors that influence the complexity of mediation system are: Granularity of pricing: The granularity of pricing creates a variety of infor- mation that needs to be collected and formatted before feeding the data to business support systems. Real-time constraints: Data from the network elements has to be processed at real-time when the mediation system has to support a real-time billing Network Collection Mediation system Distribution Billing Billing Billing Archival system system system system Network usage Interconnect Roaming Processing and charges charges charges reference Service Licensed Foreign provider operators operators Storage Customer invoices Customers Figure 20.15 Mediation data usage. Fundamentals of EMS, NMS and OSS/BSS model. This requires the mediation system to scale up in performance based on requirements. The processing should ensure that all relevant billing infor- mation is mapped at real-time without any loss of data. Regulatory requirements: The billing systems have strict regulatory requirements to comply with in terms of satisfying the SLA and secu- rity of content. The mediation systems that supplies data to the billing modules must ensure that the standards of compliance are satisfied. Any security or compliance failure at the mediation will have a huge impact on billing. Multiple connection points: On the network side the m