Preparing a tariff

Tariffs must be uploaded to DUAL Softswitch in Microsoft Excel format (2003 or 2007) and must therefore be prepared locally before being uploaded. You can download an existing tariff and use this as a template for updates or completely new tariffs. The Excel workbook must be exactly correct in format for the uploading to be successful. It must hold between three and seven columns:

1.	The country (eg. UK).

2.	The city or network (eg. London).

The combination of country and city/network must match an entry in the Dial Codes set.

3.	The per minute rate for this destination in the currency in use.

4.	The first carrier (optional)

5.	The last carrier (optional)

The first and last carrier fields can be used to restrict the carriers available to a sub-set of the eligible carriers in the current routing table. The routing table, which is automatically created using uploaded carriers' rates, holds the eligible carriers for a call based on matching dialled numbers. For Least Cost Routing, calls are switched to carrier's in the order presented in a routing record.

An example routing record is shown below.

Route 1	Rate 1	Route 2	Rate 2	Route 3	Rate 3	Route 4	Rate 4
20	0.0150	22	0.0160	21	0.0170	28	0.0200

If Least Cost Routing is in use, then a call whose digits match this record would be sent to carrier 20 first. If that call failed and the call qualifies for Alternative Routing, then it would be sent to carrier 22. This process would continue to carriers 21 and 28 is the call was not accepted by a previously assigned carrier.

By setting the "first carrier" and "last carrier" in a tariff record, Least Cost Routing can be limited to a subset of these carriers. Routing will start with the "first carrier" and end with the "last carrier". A useful example of this routing override system is for a "premium" tariff with higher rates. With such a tariff, you may wish calls not to be sent to the cheapest carrier available. Customers on this tariff would then avoid lower cost grey routes in return for paying higher calling rates.

As an illustration, the following tables show the candidate carriers for Least Cost Routing that would result from a call that matched the above routing record and with various combinations of "first carrier" and "last carrier" settings.

First carrier	Last carrier	LCR candidate carriers (in the order shown)
0	0	20 22 21 28
22	0	22 21 28
0	21	20 22 21
22	21	22 21
21	21	21
15	15	This call would fail.

In the last example, the call would fail, because carrier 15 is not returned from the routing table as a carrier. The exception is if the next "wholesale" field has a non-zero entry.

6.	Wholesale rate (optional)

Ordinarily, this field should be left blank. If it is set and a "first carrier" has been assigned, then calls to this destination will be sent immediately to the "first carrier" and would not be eligible for Alternative Routing. Buy rates for the "first carrier" need not be uploaded, because Least Cost Routing does not apply in this case.

The entry in the "Wholesale rate" field specifies the per minute rate charged for these calls by the carrier. Zero is a valid entry for this field.

7.	Allow loss (optional)

By default, DUAL Softswitch will allow calls to proceed even if it detects that a financial loss would result. That is, the carrier charges more than the per minute tariff rate. This global behaviour can be changed by contacting our support team (support@dualsoftswitch.com). You can override this behaviour on a per-tariff basis by setting "Allow loss". The permitted values are:

•	0 - Do not change this property.

•	1 - Do not allow a financial loss.

•	2 - Allow a call to this destination to incur a financial loss.

Once the Excel file has been created, it must be uploaded to DUAL Softswitch.