Origin-Based Surcharging

Here’s what that means, how it works, and how to check whether it affects you.

What is Origin-Based Surcharging?

Origin-based pricing is the fundamental concept that calls to the same destination can incur different prices depending on where each call originates.

For example, imagine a call placed from a South African landline to an Irish landline. Many carriers handle this call. Any carrier within the call journey may apply a surcharge simply because the call originated in South Africa, in addition to the standard rate for terminating a call in Ireland. 

However, the complexity doesn’t end there. Origin-based surcharges can also come into play if a number is incorrectly formatted.

How does this work?

A few things are worth understanding about how the charge actually works:

  • It’s a per-minute charge that’s prorated based on the call length, not just a connection or setup charge. Longer calls to affected destinations carry a larger surcharge.
  • Billing uses a field called P-Asserted-Identity (P-A-ID). The originating number is read from the P-Asserted-Identity (P-A-ID) field, sometimes called the ‘Network ID’, which is a SIP field set by the caller’s originating network at the start of the call and should not be modified. 
  • Withheld numbers: A call can arrive with the caller’s number being withheld – this will have no bearing on whether a surcharge is applied or not.
  • Malformed or not provided: If a calling number is invalid or blank, it will automatically attract a surcharge. If numbers are changed or reformatted before forwarding (for example, using placeholder numbers), that traffic is more likely to be affected.

How do I find out my charges?

For in2tel customers and resellers, we have built a Surcharge Checker directly into the in2tel portal, so you can check any number pair before you’re charged for it.

  1. Log in to MyPortal
  2. Go to the General tab, then select Surcharge Checker
  3. Enter the dialling number under Presentation (From)
  4. Enter the receiving number under Target (To)
  5. Select Check
Open the in2tel portal

Any issues – contact our helpdesk at helpdesk.ireland@8×8.com or call 0818 26 666

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