Custom OCPI integration for charging networks
Appfront builds software that connects your charging network to roaming partners and hubs via OCPI. The software registers partners with tokens and endpoints, publishes locations, charge points and tariffs, processes incoming authorisations, forwards sessions and CDRs, and monitors every call with logging and retries. So you no longer have to prepare an export file for each partner and work out afterwards which charging session belongs to which invoice.
What is OCPI integration software?
OCPI is the open protocol that charge point operators and mobility service providers use to exchange data on charge points, tariffs, authorisations, charging sessions and settlements. An OCPI integration translates your own charging platform into the modules of that protocol: locations, tariffs, tokens, sessions, CDRs and remote commands. The software handles registration with each partner, keeps the data up to date and checks that messages arrive and are acknowledged.
Without an integration, things go wrong at the edges. An operator sends a partner a list of sessions every month, while that partner is working with tariffs from an older version. A charge point that is out of service still shows as available in the cardholder's app, and the driver calls your service desk. At settlement, sessions turn out to have been passed on twice or not at all.
We build custom software because your network has its own arrangements: different tariff structures per partner, your own rules on who may charge at which charge point, an existing back office and an integration with your invoicing and accounting. One partner runs an older protocol version, another the latest, and a hub sets its own requirements. An off-the-shelf package doesn't know your tariff agreements, your roles or your exceptions.
Partners and credentials
For each roaming partner, you record the endpoints, tokens and protocol version in use. The software handles registration, renews keys and shows which modules that partner consumes or provides.
Locations, tariffs and status
Charge points, connectors and tariffs flow from your back office to every partner. Status changes follow immediately, so an occupied or faulty charge point is also shown correctly in the driver's app.
Sessions, CDRs and reconciliation
Authorisations, ongoing sessions and closed CDRs follow fixed routes. Every call is logged, failed messages are resubmitted and discrepancies end up on a worklist.
How we build your OCPI integration software
We start with the partner list you maintain today and the export files you prepare by hand every month.
For each roaming partner and hub, we check which protocol version applies, which modules you provide and consume, who initiates pushing and which tariff and authorisation agreements apply.
We pull locations, charge points, connectors, power ratings and tariff structures from your back office and convert them to the protocol's format, including opening hours and access rules.
Authorisation requests, status changes, ongoing sessions and closed CDRs go live. Your team gets a screen showing queues, failed messages and discrepancies between reported and invoiced sessions.
We connect invoicing, accounting and your customer portal, test with each partner in a test environment, set up monitoring and alerts, and hand the documentation over to your administrators.
What OCPI integration software actually does
The components below appear in almost every OCPI integration. Which ones you need depends on your role in the chain and on the modules your partners consume.
Partner registration
Record endpoints, tokens and protocol versions per partner, complete the registration with each partner and renew keys without missing or duplicating messages.
Locations and charge points
Publish locations, charge points and connectors with address, power, connector type, opening hours and access rules, always in line with what is in your own back office.
Tariffs per partner
Manage tariff structures per partner and per charge point, with a per-kilowatt-hour component, time-based components, start fees, surcharges and a validity period for each agreement made.
Token authorisation
Assess incoming requests from cardholders against your own access rules, with an immediate response to the partner and a record of every decision.
Sessions and CDRs
Pass on ongoing sessions and send completed charging sessions as CDRs, checking that the partner has received and acknowledged the message.
Log and retries
Store every call with its request, response and timestamp, automatically resubmit failed messages and surface discrepancies in a work list.
Who we build OCPI integration software for
The software is intended for organisations in the charging infrastructure sector where data has to be correct across multiple partners at the same time.
Charge point operators
You supply locations, tariffs and CDRs to many partners at once. The core lies in tariff management per partner and in reliable delivery of completed sessions.
Mobility service providers
You take charge points and tariffs from operators and authorise your own cardholders. The core lies in up-to-date charge point data and in checking incoming settlements.
Installers with a charging platform
You manage customers' charge points in your own platform. The core lies in separating networks, tariffs and revenue sharing per customer.
Property and fleet management
You have charge points on your own premises that are also open to visitors. The core lies in access rules and in charging costs on per tenant or department.
Technology and integrations
This page covers opening up a charging network via OCPI and ties in with our smart API integrations, software development and enterprise software for organisations with many chain partners. If a charging app for drivers is part of the picture, we also look at app development. You can read about our approach on building software.
Why Appfront for your OCPI integration software?
A roaming integration is only as good as the last message that arrived. That is what we build on: recording what was sent, checking that it was acknowledged and surfacing discrepancies.
Not arrived means not sent
Every message gets a status. If an acknowledgement fails to arrive, the message goes back into the queue and your team can see exactly which sessions are still open.
Tariffs belong to agreements, not to a field
What you agree with a partner, we record as a rule with a validity period. That way you know, for every settlement, which tariff applied at that moment.
Version differences are not your problem
Partners do not move in step on protocol versions, and hubs set their own requirements. We absorb those differences per partner in a translation layer, so your own data model stays untouched.
Security and privacy in OCPI integration software
The software holds charge point data, tariff agreements, charging sessions and cardholder tokens. Tokens and sessions are personal data, so the GDPR applies: access per role, with an administrator seeing different screens from a service employee, and every change and every outgoing call is logged. We align retention periods with your administrative and tax obligations.
The software runs in a European data centre, with encrypted storage and daily backups. Integrations with roaming partners, hubs, your charge point back office and your invoicing system use their own keys, which can be revoked per integration.
Frequently asked questions about OCPI integration software
Questions that operators and mobility service providers ask before they start.
The software connects your charging platform to roaming partners and hubs using the open protocol. It registers partners with their endpoints and tokens, publishes locations, charge points and tariffs, passes on status changes, assesses authorisation requests and forwards ongoing sessions and closed CDRs. Every message gets a status, so you can see what arrived and what is still outstanding.
OCPP handles the traffic between the charge point and your own back office: starting, stopping, meter readings and faults. OCPI handles the traffic between your back office and the parties outside it, such as mobility service providers and roaming hubs. You need both, but they solve a different problem and use a different data model.
We build on the version your partners use. In practice, 2.1.1 and 2.2.1 exist side by side, and successors are in the works. That is why we build a translation layer between your own data model and the version used by each partner, so a new version does not mean rebuilding your platform.
That depends on the number of partners. Connecting directly gives you the most control and the shortest line when problems arise, but every partner is a separate project. A hub bundles that. We set up the software so that both can exist side by side, with separate agreements and tariffs per partner.
Yes. We record tariffs as rules per partner, per location or per charge point, with a start fee, a component per kilowatt-hour, any time-based components and a validity period. When settling up, you can see which rule applied at the time of the session, so any discussion with a partner can be based on data.
By setting the transferred sessions alongside your own records. For each CDR, the software tracks whether the partner has confirmed the message and compares the transferred amounts with what ends up in your invoicing. Discrepancies appear in a worklist, with the associated call and timestamp.
Check that first. Many platforms offer a standard integration, and if you run a limited network with a single hub and standard tariffs, that is enough. Custom development pays off as soon as you have your own tariff agreements, your own access rules or multiple clients in a single platform, or you want to see the data reflected in your own invoicing.
Want to see how your charging sessions reach every partner without manual work?
Tell us which roaming partners you work with, which back office manages your charge points and how you currently invoice your sessions. We will show you what the partner registration, the tariff management per partner and the log of outstanding CDRs look like.