Telecommunication order management

Abstract

A method, system and apparatus are disclosed. An example method performed by an order management device includes receiving a plurality of telecommunication sales orders. The method includes determining, for each order of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders, respective template data and respective subscriber data. The method includes correlating each of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders with a template identifier based on the respective template data. The method includes causing storage of each respective subscriber data, each respective template data not being stored.

Description

[0001] TELECOMMUNICATION ORDER MANAGEMENT

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present disclosure relates to wireless communications, and in particular, to telecommunication order management.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has developed and is developing standards for Fourth Generation (4G) (also referred to as Long Term Evolution (LTE)) and Fifth Generation (5G) (also referred to as New Radio (NR)) wireless communication systems. Such systems provide, among other features, broadband communication between network nodes, such as base stations, and user equipment (UE), as well as communication between network nodes and between UEs. The 3GPP is also developing standards for Sixth Generation (6G) wireless communication networks.

[0006] Existing telecom business support solutions (BSS) save the complete sales order in a database despite only a fraction of the information typically changing from one subscriber / customer to another, especially for heavily promoted offerings.

[0007] SUMMARY

[0008] Some embodiments advantageously provide methods, systems, and apparatuses for telecommunication order management.

[0009] For a telecom BSS to be competitive, it often must have a competitive cost of ownership that includes the costs associated to infrastructure, more specifically costs associated to maintenance of data storage and compute. A solution often must also have a higher added value associated to higher processing throughput for the same or less cost compared to competition.

[0010] In the telecom space, more specifically in the BSS area, sales orders are taken that include an order header and a list of order Items. JavaScript Object Notation- (JSON) based Representational State Transfer (REST) application programming interfaces (APIs) may be used, which may be very verbose in terms of payload. In many cases, only about 3% of sales orders change from customer to customer, as customers may order the same products. Hence, only customer information may vary from order to order. By creating a specification or template of the frequent orders including the order items, it is possible to reduce the API payload to a fraction of its size by having the API request only include the portion that changes from one order to another and referencing a specification or template as the common part. The specification may already be persisted (i.e., stored) in the database (DB), so an order can be retrieved in its integral form by joining customer data with the order specification or template.

[0011] The process described above may allow for more orders to be created in the same time period as compared to the same API taking a full order payload, as the payload may be drastically reduced. This may require less processing time. In addition, because the order template or specification has already persisted in the DB, a significant disk space reduction can be achieved by only persisting (i.e., storing) the customer information or data and associating that customer information or data with the order template.

[0012] Existing approaches do not incorporate the concept of separating a BSS sales order into two parts, as described in embodiments herein. Some embodiments relate to separating the sales orders into two parts: 1) a common template, and 2) subscriber or customer information. By storing the common template once, significant benefits can be achieved for economy of network bandwidth, computing power, and disk space.

[0013] Hence, some embodiments described herein may result in significant additional value added by enabling a BSS order management solution to process more orders with the same infrastructure and may also allow for significant reduction of necessary disk space for persisting the same number of orders as compared to existing approaches.

[0014] Processing more orders with the same infrastructure can be achieved by having:

[0015] Reduce Compute expenses, as there may be no need to construct the order from different data sources, instead a simple mapping between the template and subscriber related information can be used.

[0016] Less data is exchanged between nodes, as the order payload can be reduced to have only the variant values referenced by a specific predefined template.

[0017] Significant reduction of necessary disk space for persisting the same number of orders will impact:

[0018] Production Database footprint reduction: With a significantly reduced DB footprint, savings in DB storage costs can be achieved proportionally to the reduction in DB footprint.

[0019] Backup Database footprint reduction: Backup storage may be required for all processed order with retention period. Cloud storage for backup may also have significant reduction on the DB footprint. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method performed by an order management device is provided. The method includes receiving a plurality of telecommunication sales orders. The method includes determining, for each order of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders, respective template data and respective subscriber data. The method includes correlating each of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders with a template identifier based on the respective template data. The method includes causing storage of each respective subscriber data, each respective template data not being stored.

[0020] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the template data is static data.

[0021] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the subscriber data is dynamic data.

[0022] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the subscriber data includes at least one of a customer reference number, Subscriber Identity Module (SIM), Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number (MSISDN) and a location.

[0023] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the method further includes, for each of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders, associating the subscriber data with respective template tags corresponding to the template identifier.

[0024] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, each respective tag includes at least one of a customer reference, a SIM, an MSISDN, a location, and a contact identifier.

[0025] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, each telecommunication sales order of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders includes the template identifier and at least one value corresponding to a template tag.

[0026] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the method further includes, in response to a query, returning a merged telecommunication sales order, the merged telecommunication sales order including the respective template data and respective subscriber data.

[0027] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the returning of the merged telecommunication sales order includes: identifying, based on the query, one of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders; and determining the template identifier associated with the one of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders.

[0028] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the returning of the merged telecommunication sales order further includes: retrieving the stored subscriber data for the one of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders; and merging the template data associated with the template identifier and the retrieved subscriber data to generate the merged telecommunication sales order.

[0029] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an order management device is provided. Order management device is configured to receive a plurality of telecommunication sales orders. Order management device is configured to determine, for each order of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders, respective template data and respective subscriber data. Order management device is configured to correlate each of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders with a template identifier based on the respective template data. Order management device 60 is configured to cause storage of each respective subscriber data, each respective template data not being stored

[0030] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the template data is static data.

[0031] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the subscriber data is dynamic data.

[0032] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the subscriber data includes at least one of a customer reference number, a SIM, an MSISDN, and a location.

[0033] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, order management device is configured to, for each of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders, associate the subscriber data with respective template tags corresponding to the template identifier.

[0034] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, each respective tag includes at least one of a customer reference, a SIM, an MSISDN, a location, and a contact identifier.

[0035] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, each telecommunication sales order of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders includes the template identifier and at least one value corresponding to a template tag.

[0036] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, order management device is configured to, in response to a query, return a merged telecommunication sales order, the merged telecommunication sales order including the respective template data and respective subscriber data.

[0037] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the returning of the merged telecommunication sales order includes: identifying, based on the query, one of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders; and determining the template identifier associated with the one of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the returning of the merged telecommunication sales order further includes: retrieving the stored subscriber data for the one of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders; and merging the template data associated with the template identifier and the retrieved subscriber data to generate the merged telecommunication sales order.

[0038] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0039] A more complete understanding of the present embodiments, and the attendant advantages and features thereof, will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

[0040] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an example network architecture illustrating a communication system according to principles disclosed herein;

[0041] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a network node in communication with a user equipment over a wireless connection according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0042] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example process in an order management device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0043] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for telecommunication order management according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0044] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of another example process in an order management device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0045] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0046] Before describing in detail example embodiments, it is noted that the embodiments reside primarily in combinations of apparatus components and processing steps related to telecommunication order management. Accordingly, components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.

[0047] As used herein, relational terms, such as “first” and “second,” “top” and “bottom,” and the like, may be used solely to distinguish one entity or element from another entity or element without necessarily requiring or implying any physical or logical relationship or order between such entities or elements. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the concepts described herein. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes” and / or “including” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0048] In embodiments described herein, the joining term, “in communication with” and the like, may be used to indicate electrical or data communication, which may be accomplished by physical contact, induction, electromagnetic radiation, radio signaling, infrared signaling or optical signaling, for example. One having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that multiple components may interoperate and modifications and variations are possible of achieving the electrical and data communication.

[0049] In some embodiments described herein, the term “coupled,” “connected,” and the like, may be used herein to indicate a connection, although not necessarily directly, and may include wired and / or wireless connections.

[0050] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the concepts described herein. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes” and / or “including” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0051] The term “network node” used herein can be any kind of network node comprised in a radio network which may further comprise any of base station (BS), radio base station, base transceiver station (BTS), base station controller (BSC), radio network controller (RNC), g Node B (gNB), evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB), Node B, multistandard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, multi-cell / multicast coordination entity (MCE), relay node, donor node controlling relay, radio access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, Remote Radio Unit (RRU) Remote Radio Head (RRH), a core network node (e.g., mobile management entity (MME), self-organizing network (SON) node, a coordinating node, positioning node, MDT node, etc.), an external node (e.g., 3rd party node, a node external to the current network), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), a spectrum access system (SAS) node, an element management system (EMS), etc. The network node may also comprise test equipment. The term “radio node” used herein may be used to also denote a user equipment (UE) such as a wireless device (WD) or a radio network node.

[0052] In some embodiments, the non-limiting terms wireless device (WD) or a user equipment (UE) are used interchangeably. The UE herein can be any type of wireless device capable of communicating with a network node or another UE over radio signals, such as a wireless device (WD). The UE may also be a radio communication device, target device, device to device (D2D) UE, machine type UE or UE capable of machine to machine communication (M2M), low-cost and / or low-complexity UE, a sensor equipped with UE, Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (loT) device, or a Narrowband loT (NB-IOT) device etc.

[0053] Also, in some embodiments the generic term “radio network node” is used. It can be any kind of a radio network node which may comprise any of base station, radio base station, base transceiver station, base station controller, network controller, RNC, evolved Node B (eNB), Node B, gNB, Multi-cell / multicast Coordination Entity (MCE), relay node, access point, radio access point, Remote Radio Unit (RRU) Remote Radio Head (RRH).

[0054] Note that although terminology from one particular wireless system, such as, for example, 3GPP LTE and / or New Radio (NR), may be used in this disclosure, this should not be seen as limiting the scope of the disclosure to only the aforementioned system. Other wireless systems, including without limitation Wide Band Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), may also benefit from exploiting the ideas covered within this disclosure.

[0055] Note further, that functions described herein as being performed by a user equipment or a network node may be distributed over a plurality of user equipments and / or network nodes. In other words, it is contemplated that the functions of the network node and user equipment described herein are not limited to performance by a single physical device and, in fact, can be distributed among several physical devices. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

[0056] Some embodiments are directed to telecommunication order management.

[0057] Referring to the drawing figures, in which like elements are referred to by like reference numerals, there is shown in FIG. 1 a schematic diagram of a communication system 10, according to an embodiment, such as a 3GPP-type cellular network that may support standards such as LTE and / or NR (5G), which comprises an access network 12, such as a radio access network, and a core network 14. The access network 12 comprises a plurality of network nodes 16a, 16b, 16c (referred to collectively as network nodes 16), such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 18a, 18b, 18c (referred to collectively as coverage areas 18). Each network node 16a, 16b, 16c is connectable to the core network 14 over a wired or wireless connection 20. A first user equipment (UE) 22a located in coverage area 18a is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding network node 16a. A second UE 22b in coverage area 18b is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding network node 16b. While a plurality of UEs 22a, 22b (collectively referred to as user equipments 22) are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding network node 16. Note that although only two UEs 22 and three network nodes 16 are shown for convenience, the communication system may include many more UEs 22 and network nodes 16.

[0058] Also, it is contemplated that a UE 22 can be in simultaneous communication and / or configured to separately communicate with more than one network node 16 and more than one type of network node 16. For example, a UE 22 can have dual connectivity with a network node 16 that supports LTE and the same or a different network node 16 that supports NR. As an example, UE 22 can be in communication with an eNB for LTE / E-UTRAN and a gNB for NR / NG-RAN.

[0059] An order management device 60 is in communication with the core network 14 and a database 62, which in some embodiments may be part of the order management device 60. In some embodiments, order management device 60 and database 62 are part of a computing environment 64. Order management device 60 is configured to include an order management unit 24 configured to perform one or more order management device 60 functions, including functions related to telecommunication order management.

[0060] Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, order management device 60 discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to FIG. 2.

[0061] The communication system 10 includes order management device 60 provided in a communication system 10 and including hardware 28 enabling it to communicate with the computing environment 64. The hardware 28 may include a communication interface 30 for setting up and maintaining a connection with components of the computing environment 64, such as the database 62.

[0062] In the embodiment shown, the hardware 28 of the order management device 60 further includes processing circuitry 36. The processing circuitry 36 may include a processor 38 and a memory 40. In particular, in addition to or instead of a processor, such as a central processing unit, and memory, the processing circuitry 36 may comprise integrated circuitry for processing and / or control, e.g., one or more processors and / or processor cores and / or FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Array) and / or ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuitry) adapted to execute instructions. The processor 38 may be configured to access (e.g., write to and / or read from) the memory 40, which may comprise any kind of volatile and / or nonvolatile memory, e.g., cache and / or buffer memory and / or RAM (Random Access Memory) and / or ROM (Read-Only Memory) and / or optical memory and / or EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory).

[0063] Thus, the order management device 60 further has software 42 stored internally in, for example, memory 40, or stored in external memory (e.g., database, storage array, network storage device, etc.) accessible by the network node 16 via an external connection. The software 42 may be executable by the processing circuitry 36. The processing circuitry 36 may be configured to control any of the methods and / or processes described herein and / or to cause such methods, and / or processes to be performed, e.g., by order management device 60. Processor 38 corresponds to one or more processors 38 for performing network node 16 functions described herein. The memory 40 is configured to store data, programmatic software code and / or other information described herein. In some embodiments, the software 42 may include instructions that, when executed by the processor 38 and / or processing circuitry 36, causes the processor 38 and / or processing circuitry 36 to perform the processes described herein with respect to order management device 60. For example, processing circuitry 36 of the order management device 60 may include order management unit 24, which is configured to perform one or more order management device 60 functions, including functions related to telecommunication order management.

[0064] In some embodiments, the inner workings of the order management device 60 may be as shown in FIG. 2 and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of FIG. 1.

[0065] The teachings of some of these embodiments may improve order processing, resulting in capability to process more orders with the same infrastructure and may also allow for significant reduction of necessary disk space for persisting the same number of orders as compared to existing approaches.

[0066] Although FIGS. 1 and 2 show various “units” such as order management unit 24 as being within a respective processor, it is contemplated that these units may be implemented such that a portion of the unit is stored in a corresponding memory within the processing circuitry. In other words, the units may be implemented in hardware or in a combination of hardware and software within the processing circuitry.

[0067] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example process in an order management device 60 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. One or more blocks described herein may be performed by one or more elements of order management device 60 such as by one or more of processing circuitry 36 (including the order management unit 24), processor 38, and / or communication interface 30. Order management device 60 is configured to receive (Block S100) a plurality of telecommunication sales orders. Order management device 60 is configured to determine (Block S102), for each order of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders, respective template data and respective subscriber data. Order management device 60 is configured to correlate (Block S 104) each of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders with a template identifier based on the respective template data. Order management device 60 is configured to cause (Block S106) storage of each respective subscriber data, each respective template data not being stored

[0068] In some embodiments, the template data is static data.

[0069] In some embodiments, the subscriber data is dynamic data.

[0070] In some embodiments, the subscriber data comprises at least one of a customer reference number, a SIM, an MSISDN, and a location. In some embodiments, the order management device 60 is further configured to, for each of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders, associate the subscriber data with respective template tags corresponding to the template identifier.

[0071] In some embodiments, each respective tag comprises at least one of a customer reference, a SIM, an MSISDN, a location, and a contact identifier.

[0072] In some embodiments, each telecommunication sales order of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders comprises the template identifier and at least one value corresponding to a template tag.

[0073] In some embodiments, the order management device 60 is further configured to, in response to a query, return a merged telecommunication sales order, the merged telecommunication sales order comprising the respective template data and respective subscriber data.

[0074] In some embodiments, the returning of the merged telecommunication sales order comprises: identifying, based on the query, one of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders; and determining the template identifier associated with the one of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders.

[0075] In some embodiments, the returning of the merged telecommunication sales order further comprises: retrieving the stored subscriber data for the one of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders; and merging the template data associated with the template identifier and the retrieved subscriber data to generate the merged telecommunication sales order.

[0076] Having described the general process flow of arrangements of the disclosure and having provided examples of hardware and software arrangements for implementing the processes and functions of the disclosure, the sections below provide details and examples of arrangements for telecommunications order management. One or more order management device 60 functions described below may be performed by one or more of processing circuitry 36, processor 38, order management unit 24, etc.

[0077] FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram for order processing according to various embodiments described herein. Various aspects of FIG. 4 may be implemented, e.g., in the order management device 60.

[0078] • Common high-volume orders that have the same product content are saved as template having the varying field values as tags which are then merged with the subscriber related information at order retrieval time. Order and order item status would also be tagged and be updateable. • Have an optional order template feature where order templates can be used in order to optimize DB (e.g., database 62) storage requirements and to achieve reduced cost of ownership over time. Initial dimensioning costs may also be reduced.

[0079] • In cases where orders containing the same products, where only the subscriber related information varies from order to order, DB footprint (e.g., in the database 62) can be reduced if the order is persisted (i.e., stored) only once (e.g., as a single record) as a template, and only the varying subscriber related information is persisted for each order (which may be stored, e.g., as multiple records, i.e., one per order).

[0080] • Cloud storage is often charged monthly based on storage size, e.g., in gigabytes-per-month. With a reduced DB footprint, savings in DB storage costs can be achieved proportionally to the reduction in DB footprint.

[0081] • Backup storage may be used for processed orders with a retention period. A cloud storage for backup may also have significant reduction on the DB footprint

[0082] • A reduced order payload may also contribute to higher processing throughput, as less data may need to be exchanged between nodes, e.g., by order management device 60 as part of the computing environment 64. More orders can be created with the same amount of raw data being exchanged, which may increase return on investment. That is, it may enable more with the same, and may unlock additional value with the same investment.

[0083] • Reduced order pay load may reduce the compute expenses, as there may not be a need to construct the order from different data sources (e.g., via order management device 60). Instead a “join” action may be performed (e.g., via order management device 60) to merge template and subscriber related information.

[0084] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of another example process performed, e.g., by an order management device 60. An order template is be created with all required tags for subscriber information. (Block S200). A Template can have the entire order structure with both static and dynamic contents. Static contents may be shared by several orders, while dynamic contents may be be driven by tags; for example: {customer_ref} {SIM} {MSISDN} {location} and { contacted }.

[0085] Order templates are associated with orders according to one-to-many relationships. Each template can be used by many orders. However, each order may be correlated with a specific template, e.g. using a template identifier (ID). In the case of order negotiation, a user sends REST API to create / modify an order by providing existing template ID value and key-value pairs of template tags with ID values. (Block S202). User input is validated (Block S204), and the order is created or modified (Block S206). When the order is created, only the subscriber related information is saved along with a reference to the order template to which it relates (Block S208). If the order is modified, it may be retrieved (Block S210).

[0086] Users can create orders by providing a pay load with an existing template ID along with key-value pairs having a set of tags’ IDs and tags’ values.

[0087] Modifying an order may first read the order from database, then modify values of tags in the order.

[0088] Retrieving an order may involve reading the required template from cache (e.g., database 62) (Block S212) and / or reading subscriber-related information from the database (Block S214) then mapping it with the related subscriber information (Block S216) to populate the appropriate order with a minimal computational requirement (i.e., “direct mapping”). In the case of modification, a user (e.g., for order fulfillment) may send REST API to read existing order (Block S218).

[0089] In one or more embodiments, the subscriber information is saved with the order reference. When the order is retrieved, it is retrieved by the identifier where the identifier is used to find the subscriber information. There may be many subscribers that are associated with the same template such that the order identifier may be used as a key to fetch subscriber information.

[0090] As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the concepts described herein may be embodied as a method, data processing system, computer program product and / or computer storage media storing an executable computer program. Accordingly, the concepts described herein may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects all generally referred to herein as a “circuit” or “module.” Any process, step, action and / or functionality described herein may be performed by, and / or associated to, a corresponding module, which may be implemented in software and / or firmware and / or hardware. Furthermore, the disclosure may take the form of a computer program product on a tangible computer usable storage medium having computer program code embodied in the medium that can be executed by a computer. Any suitable tangible computer readable medium may be utilized including hard disks, CD-ROMs, electronic storage devices, optical storage devices, or magnetic storage devices. Some embodiments are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, systems and computer program products. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer (to thereby create a special purpose computer), special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0091] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable memory or storage medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function / act specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0092] The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0093] It is to be understood that the functions / acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the operational illustrations. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality / acts involved. Although some of the diagrams include arrows on communication paths to show a primary direction of communication, it is to be understood that communication may occur in the opposite direction to the depicted arrows.

[0094] Computer program code for carrying out operations of the concepts described herein may be written in an object oriented programming language such as Python, Java® or C++. However, the computer program code for carrying out operations of the disclosure may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).

[0095] Many different embodiments have been disclosed herein, in connection with the above description and the drawings. It will be understood that it would be unduly repetitious and obfuscating to literally describe and illustrate every combination and subcombination of these embodiments. Accordingly, all embodiments can be combined in any way and / or combination, and the present specification, including the drawings, shall be construed to constitute a complete written description of all combinations and subcombinations of the embodiments described herein, and of the manner and process of making and using them, and shall support claims to any such combination or subcombination.

[0096] It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein are not limited to what has been particularly shown and described herein above. In addition, unless mention was made above to the contrary, it should be noted that all of the accompanying drawings are not to scale. A variety of modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method performed by an order management device (60), the method comprising: receiving (S100) a plurality of telecommunication sales orders; determining (S102), for each order of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders, respective template data and respective subscriber data; correlating (S104) each of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders with a template identifier based on the respective template data; and causing (S106) storage of each respective subscriber data, each respective template data not being stored.

2. The method of Claim 1, wherein the template data is static data.

3. The method of any one of Claims 1-2, wherein the subscriber data is dynamic data.

4. The method of any one of Claims 1-3, wherein the subscriber data comprises at least one of a customer reference number, a Subscriber Identity Module, SIM, a Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number, MSISDN, and a location.

5. The method of any one of Claims 1-4, further comprising, for each of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders, associating the subscriber data with respective template tags corresponding to the template identifier.

6. The method of Claim 5, wherein each respective tag comprises at least one of a customer reference, a Subscriber Identity Module, SIM, a Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number, MSISDN, a location, and a contact identifier.

7. The method of any one of Claims 1-6, wherein each telecommunication sales order of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders comprises the template identifier and at least one value corresponding to a template tag.

8. The method of any one of Claims 1-7, further comprising, in response to a query, returning a merged telecommunication sales order, the merged telecommunication sales order comprising the respective template data and respective subscriber data.

9. The method of Claim 8, wherein the returning of the merged telecommunication sales order comprises: identifying, based on the query, one of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders; and determining the template identifier associated with the one of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders.

10. The method of Claim 9, wherein the returning of the merged telecommunication sales order further comprises: retrieving the stored subscriber data for the one of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders; and merging the template data associated with the template identifier and the retrieved subscriber data to generate the merged telecommunication sales order.

11. An order management device (60), comprising processing circuitry (36) configured to: receive a plurality of telecommunication sales orders; determine, for each order of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders, respective template data and respective subscriber data; correlate each of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders with a template identifier based on the respective template data; and cause storage of each respective subscriber data, each respective template data not being stored.

12. The order management device (60) of Claim 11, wherein the template data is static data.

13. The order management device (60) of any one of Claims 11-12, wherein the subscriber data is dynamic data.

14. The order management device (60) of any one of Claims 11-13, wherein the subscriber data comprises at least one of a customer reference number, Subscriber Identity Module, SIM, Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number, MSISDN, and a location.

15. The order management device (60) of any one of Claims 11-14, wherein the processing circuitry (36) is further configured to, for each of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders, associate the subscriber data with respective template tags corresponding to the template identifier.

16. The order management device (60) of Claim 15, wherein each respective tag comprises at least one of a customer reference, a Subscriber Identity Module, SIM, Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number, MSISDN, a location, and a contact identifier.

17. The order management device (60) of any one of Claims 11-16, wherein each telecommunication sales order of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders comprises the template identifier and at least one value corresponding to a template tag.

18. The order management device (60) of any one of Claims 11-17, wherein the processing circuitry (36) is further configured to, in response to a query, return a merged telecommunication sales order, the merged telecommunication sales order comprising the respective template data and respective subscriber data.

19. The order management device (60) of Claim 18, wherein the returning of the merged telecommunication sales order comprises: identifying, based on the query, one of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders; and determining the template identifier associated with the one of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders.

20. The order management device (60) of Claim 19, wherein the returning of the merged telecommunication sales order further comprises:retrieving the stored subscriber data for the one of the plurality of telecommunication sales orders; and merging the template data associated with the template identifier and the retrieved subscriber data to generate the merged telecommunication sales order.

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