1.6.0 Billing properties

Currency

This setting is mandatory when creating new account and cannot be changed for existing accounts.  All further payments and cost records in the database will be represented as amounts in this currency. Currency also determines the set of available tariffs which can be assigned to the account. The currencies supported by the platform are configurable through the Settings/Currencies menu.

Billing method

There are two methods of billing:

• Postpaid
• Prepaid

Each account stores information of its credit balance which is the amount of money a client has in the platform. Credits are added to the account each time she/he makes a payment or when returns something previously purchased. If for an account the total of credits exceeds the amount owed, i.e. used for the service, the statement will show the positive credit balance. This is money the client can spend on services.  If you allow her/him to spent more than that, the balance will turn negative and that will be the amount the client owes you and should be paid next time you issue an invoice. This is the main difference between the two billing methods.

In the VSM the credit balance is simply referred to as the balance.

Postpaid

In postpaid a client is allowed to debit his account to a certain value – credit limit. He is billed after the fact according to their use of mobile services at the end of a certain period, usually each month.

The Credit limit field shows the current value of the limit, for example like on the picture it is $50.  This value cannot be mistaken with the actual balance which is shown separately.

When you sign a postpaid contract with a client you agree to let him use the service (make calls, send SMS) without an upfront payment. Instead you will send him a bill (invoice) every week or month or any other billing cycle period. To secure your business from unexpectedly high usage you should set a limit adequate to the offered service. The limit does not have to and rarely is communicated to the client as it is usually high enough to allow normal usage. The limit is not presented on the softphone or VUP either.

When the client starts using the service his balance is equal 0. It then turns negative as the account is debited with every chargeable event (call, sms etc.). When the balance value reaches the credit limit the softswitch will cut the service. If the limit is not reached the balance by the end of the billing period, i.e. after a month, will show a negative value, for example $ -30.

Now the client receives an invoice with the due amount $30.  When you, as a provider, receive the payment it should be added through the Add payment form (click on the Add payment button next to the balance field).

Let’s say the amount paid is $40, more than the due amount on the invoice.  You should enter this amount in the Amount field, leave the Type default value which is Payment, set a date if different than the current time and write a note in the Description area or leave it blank. When you confirm the payment by clicking the Add payment button the account’s balance will be recalculated and now will show $10 (as $-30 + $40 gives $10). The credit limit will remain unchanged.

Extending/reducing credit

If the client’s usage is higher than expected and nearing the limit you may want not to interrupt the service and instead extend the credit. To increase the limit click on Set limit button (next to the Credit field), enter the amount of which the credit should be extended, leave Credit as the Type and confirm the operation. The amount will be added to the current value of the Credit, if set for the first time the newly added amount will set the limit.

In the opposite case, when for some reasons you want to reduce the existing credit limit, follow the same steps as before, enter the amount of which you want to decrease the limit and then change the Type to Return Credit. The amount will be deducted from the current value of the Credit.

Prepaid

This billing method is also commonly referred to as pay-as-you-go or prepay. Clients have to pay in advance of service use. The purchased credit is used to pay for calls, SMSs and other services at the point the service is accessed or consumed. If there is no available credit balance then access to the requested service is denied by the platform. Clients are able to top up their credit balance at any time using a variety of payment mechanisms.

You can also add a payment manually by clicking on the Add payment button in the General tab.

Return payment

If the paid amount was too high or a client resigns from the service or its part, he can ask for refund. In order to return some amount click Add payment button and in the form enter the returned amount, e.g. $10, and change the Type to Return. In our example above, the operation will cause that the $10 will be deducted from the balance which is now $10, leaving 0 in the account.

Tariff

A tariff, also called a rate plan, defines charges for calls and SMSs for particular destinations. It also contain set of additional parameters which determine the actual cost of chargeable events. There is a separate section in the Billing chapter dedicated to tariffs management.

What is important at this point is that each account has to be associated with a tariff and hence it is mandatory to assign a tariff when creating a new account. The list of available tariffs is limited to those with rates in the account’s currency.

An account’s tariff can be changed at any moment to any other tariff that rates are represented in the same currency. Changing the tariff does not affect the made calls saved in the database. The system will use the new tariff only for new calls or SMSs.

Dialed number manipulation – Tariff prefix matching

The charging function of the billing is based on the destination number of a call or an SMS. The dialed number can be in fact any string sent in the SIP TO header from a client to voipswitch. Next, the number is modified by the rules from the Tariff rules. The transformed number is then rated according to the tariff.

Tariff rules are defined per account. They are in the General tab in the client account edit panel.

Dialing rules pertain to the routing function, it is not relevant for billing.

Clicking on the extended menu icon right to the Tariff rules input field will open the Rules window.

You can modify the dialed number by:

• Adding a prefix or suffix
• Replacing or removing first characters of the number

Also you can specify the required number length. All calls that do not fit will be declined.

The modified number is then passed to the billing function which compares it to the prefixes defined in the tariff.

Note: the changes done according to the Tariff rules do not change the dialed number which is passed to the routing function and then send out to destination. They are used only by the billing process.

The details of the modifying rules are explained in the Header strings modifications chapter.

Conditional tariffs

Note: This feature is available only for the basic types i.e. retail and wholesale clients.

In some special cases the system may use a different tariff than the one assigned to the client’s account. It happens when we use Conditional tariffs i.e. the tariffs which are used by the billing only when a predefined condition is met.  To enable this option click on the extension button next to the tariff drop down list. The dialog will present the below three options:

• Based on dialed access number
• Based on CLI
• Intrastate or interstate

The first one is used mostly in calling cards, also referred to as “call through” scenarios. Without going into details, in this type of services a client dials a PSTN access number and then enters the destination phone number. The voipswitch will charge for outbound calls according to the rate applied for the destination number. You may want however to apply different rate plans depending on the access number used to connect to the service. To read more on how to configure this feature visit the chapter dedicated to calling cards services.

The second option – „Based on the CLI”, allows to define different tariffs to be used only for calls coming with certain caller IDs. The CLI refers to Calling Line Identifier which is also known as caller ID. In SIP requests it is sent in FROM header.

In each tariff under the Billing/Tariffs/  when you edit a tariff you can create associations between caller IDs and tariffs under the Tariff to CLI mapping tab . Instead of caller ID a prefix can be used which will cover a range of caller IDs.  Those tariffs will be used only for the calls which CLIs match the defined ones. This feature is sometimes used in Calling Cards type of services.

The last option is specific to US based services and is related to inter/intrastate calling. The tariff used will depend on combination of the CLI and dialed number. 

Plans

Note: Plans are available for all type of clients except for wholesale.

Besides charging per time e.g. minutes or seconds you can offer chunks of time units at predefined rate – namely plans. 

In the client account panel under the Automatic payment tab  you can see the assigned plans in the table at the bottom named Products, packages and plans.

Plans divide on two types:

• One time occurrence
• Recurring

For the first type the client is charged only once, when purchasing the plan. The plan is then valid until the expiration date. The other type is being renewed automatically on every predefined billing cycle. The client is charged with every renewal.

When adding a plan from the VSM level you can set its properties as shown on the picture below.

If there is a message “no plans available” it means that there is no plans associated with the tariff assigned to the account.

In this popup window you can choose one of the available plans. Its main parameters will be displayed in non-editable mode. The only parameters that can be set are the initial charge and the Unlimited option which determines whether the minutes included in the plan will be shown or not. If the Unlimited option is selected the minutes will not be displayed in the VUP and the softphones as the plan is offered as unlimited.

Products

Note: Products are available only for the retail clients.

A product is a logical or physical entity, which can be sold to a client by the operators. This could be a mobile phone, internet connection etc. which are non-usage generating products. It means that they can be given to a customer based on periodic rent only and even if customer is not using it, he has to pay the rental.

The product can have periodic charge or just one time fee which can be defined when adding a product to the client’s account.

Products are explained in a separate section in the Billing chapter. To create a new product or manage existing go to Billing\Products menu.