Method and system for testing provisioning of telecommunications services

A testing method for allowing rapid confirmation of provisioning of a database in a telecommunications network, the database associated with telephony services, the testing method including the steps of:

• providing a plurality of test messages and associated expected responses;
• transmitting, according to a generic provisioning protocol, the plurality of test messages to a generic provisioning unit, the generic provisioning unit operable to receive messages according to a generic provisioning protocol that allows receipt of messages without modification of the generic provisioning protocol whenever the database is modified;
• transmitting the content of the test messages from the generic provisioning unit to the database;
• receiving actual responses to the test messages, the actual responses being received according to the generic provisioning protocol;
• comparing the actual responses to the expected responses;
• generating a result based on comparing the actual responses to the expected responses;
• wherein transmitting the plurality of test messages according to the generic provisioning protocol that allows receipt of messages without modification of the generic provisioning protocol allows the providing of the plurality of expected responses associated with the test messages whenever the database is modified;
• adding a table to the database;
• and
• wherein the step of receiving an actual response to the test messages comprises receiving information retrieved from the added table.

A testing method for allowing rapid confirmation of provisioning of a database in a telecommunications network, the database associated with telephony services, the testing method including the steps of:

• providing a plurality of test messages and associated expected responses;
• transmitting, according to a generic provisioning protocol, the plurality of test messages to a generic provisioning unit, the generic provisioning unit operable to receive messages according to a generic provisioning protocol that allows receipt of messages without modification of the generic provisioning protocol whenever the database is modified;
• transmitting the content of the test messages from the generic provisioning unit to the database;
• receiving actual responses to the test messages, the actual responses being received according to the generic provisioning protocol;
• comparing the actual responses to the expected responses;
• generating a result based on comparing the actual responses to the expected responses;
• wherein transmitting the plurality of test messages according to the generic provisioning protocol that allows receipt of messages without modification of the generic provisioning protocol allows the providing of the plurality of expected responses associated with the test messages whenever the database is modified, wherein the database comprises a plurality of tables, each table having a table structure;
• modifying the table structure of one of the plurality of tables;
• and
• wherein the step of receiving actual response to the test messages comprises receiving information retrieved from the modified table.

A method of confirming database provisioning in a telecommunications network, the method including the steps of:

• provisioning a database in a service control point system in the telecommunications network, the provisioning of the database comprising the step of transmitting a provisioning command according to a first provisioning protocol;
• modifying the database to produce a modified database;
• provisioning the modified database, the provisioning of the modified database comprising the step of transmitting a provisioning command according to the first provisioning protocol;
• generating a file having a plurality of test messages and associated expected responses, the test messages and expected responses being generated according to the first provisioning protocol;
• transmitting the test messages and the associated expected responses to a generic provisioning unit:
• transmitting the content of the test messages from the generic provisioning unit to the modified database;
• receiving actual responses to the test messages, the actual responses being according to the first provisioning protocol;
• comparing the expected responses to the actual responses;
• and
• generating a result based on the comparison of the actual responses to the expected responses.

A method of confirming database provisioning in a telecommunications network, the method including the steps of:

• provisioning a database in a service control point system in the telecommunications network, the provisioning of the database comprising the step of transmitting a provisioning command according to a first provisioning protocol:
• modifying the database to produce a modified database;
• provisioning the modified database, the provisioning of the modified database comprising the step of transmitting a provisioning command according to the first provisioning protocol;
• generating a file having a plurality of test messages and associated expected responses, the test messages and expected responses being according to the first provisioning protocol;
• transmitting the content of the test messages to the modified database;
• receiving actual responses to the test messages, the actual responses being according to the first provisioning protocol;
• comparing the expected responses to the actual responses;
• and
• generating a result based on the comparison of the actual responses to the expected responses, wherein the step of modifying the database to produce a modified database comprises adding a table to the database.

A method of confirming database provisioning in a telecommunications network, the method including the steps of:

• provisioning a database in a service control point system in the telecommunications network, the provisioning of the database comprising the step of transmitting a provisioning command according to a first provisioning protocol;
• modifying the database to produce a modified database;
• provisioning the modified database, the provisioning of the modified database comprising the step of transmitting a provisioning command according to the first provisioning protocol;
• generating a file having a plurality of test messages and associated expected responses, the test messages and expected responses being according to the first provisioning protocol;
• transmitting the content of the test messages to the modified database;
• receiving actual responses to the test messages, the actual responses being according to the first provisioning protocol;
• comparing the expected responses to the actual responses;
• and
• generating a result based on the comparison of the actual responses to the expected responses, wherein the step of modifying the database to produce a modified database comprises modifying a database having a plurality of tables and further comprising modifying the structure of at least one of the plurality of tables.

A telecommunications system comprising:

• a service control point system having a database for storing information associated with telephony services, the database comprising a plurality of tables, the tables each having a table structure, the service control point system also having a generic provisioning unit for receiving provisioning messages and providing the content of the provisioning messages to the database;
• and
• a service management system, the service management system comprising a testing unit operable to:
• transmit test messages and associated expected responses to the generic provisioning unit for confirming provisioning of the database in the service control point system;
• receive actual responses to the test messages;
• compare the actual responses to the expected responses;
• and
• generate a result based on the comparison of the actual responses to the expected responses.