Manually create installed items

Installed items can also be manually created through Manage Installed Items page. However, creating an installed item from the Installed Item Data Entry page does not place it in a warehouse. A stock in transaction must be used for the transfer.

To create an installed item

1. Navigate to Foundation / Inventory Management / Manage Installed Items
2. Click on New
3. Create the installed item

Installed items have a State which can be 'Effective' (default) or 'Not Effective' where 'Non-Effective' Installed Items cannot be provided to customers. Manually set an item as Not Effective through Actions > Set as Not Effective. When installed items are Not Effective they have a State Classification which states the reason why the installed item was set as not effective. Both the State and State Classifications can be automatically set to Not Effective by other processes in the system, such as a return from a warranty policy where the coverage reason was set as broken.

Additionally installed items have an Ownership Status which provides information whether the company or customer owns the installed item, depending on the business transaction that was registered. The available values are:

• Sold to Customer through Company : Sold to the customer through the company (therefore it was billed in CRM.COM) and is owned by the customer
• Sold to Customer through Partner:  Sold to the customer through a partner (therefore it was billed outside CRM.COM) and is owned by the customer
• Owned by Customer
• Owned By Company
• Sold to partner: Sold to partner
• Rented to Customer: Rented to the customer and is owned by the company or partner (depending on the warehouse it belongs to)

Import customer assets

Customers can register their own installed items into the system in order to use them. Note however that imported installed items cannot be returned or have their ownership transferred. 

You can import a customer's installed items through their account receivable Manage Assets > Import Asset action or directly upon adding an installed item to a subscription (Import Installed Item). They are easily identified on the installed items page by their 'Owned by Customer' ownership status.

Removing stock from a warehouse

You can remove physical goods from a warehouse through a 'stock out warehouse transaction'

1. Navigate to Foundation / Inventory Management / Manage Warehouses
2. Click on Actions > Warehouse Transactions
3. Click on New > Stock out transaction
4. Select the warehouse to remove items from
5. Follow the table below on how to add physical goods to the transaction depending of what you wish to do

Moving stock between warehouses 

Once stock has been imported in a warehouse it can then be moved between warehouses. This is particularly useful in logistics, where all imported good initially goes to a head warehouse and then transferred to the rest warehouses.

1. Navigate to Foundation / Inventory Management / Manage Warehouses
2. Click on Actions > Warehouse Transactions
3. Click on New > Stock Movement transaction
4. Select the from and to warehouses
5. Follow the table below on how to add physical goods to the transaction depending on of what you wish to do

Viewing available stock

It is possible to view the available stock in each warehouse through its balance. The running balance of stock kept in specific warehouses can be viewed through the Stock Balance section.

If you would like to view the total stock per product then you can use the View Balance action available in the Manage Warehouses summary page.

Back to top 

Sales Rentals and Returns

Selling physical goods

Customer can buy physical goods. Once a good is bought, it is considered a customer asset and it is available through the customer's account assets. Goods can be bought either directly through the company or from partners. Additionally, goods can be transferred from one customer to another.

Sold goods may be subject to warranty or return policies if they have been configured accordingly. For more information refer to Applying Warranty Policies and Applying Return Policies

Selling to customers

Physical goods can be sold to customers by creating an invoice (Financial Transaction) and adding the installed items to be sold Goods sold to the customer are invoiced by CRM.COM and the account will be invoiced accordingly.

Physical goods sold by partners are provided to customers through Subscriptions. The system will identify that the physical good belongs to a partner through the warehouse it will be removed from. (i.e. a warehouse that belongs to a partner). Goods sold through partners are not invoiced by CRM.COM.

Selling to partners

Goods  can be sold to partners (in bulk) by creating an invoice (Financial Transaction) and adding the installed items to be sold and the warehouse to be moved at. Goods sold to partners will be transferred to the defined warehouse (if one is defined) of the partner and a warehouse transaction will be created to handle the transfer of the items. The goods are available through the partner’s account’s assets and the account will be invoiced accordingly.

Transferring Ownership of Sold Physical Goods

Sold physical goods can be transferred from their owner Account to a different account without affecting their billing or their warranty. Imported installed items are excluded from the transferring ownership process.  

Renting physical goods

Installed items are rented to the customer through Subscriptions. (Free of charge by default). Rented goods are not invoiced by CRM.COM as the goods are returned to the company when a subscription is canceled.

Returning physical goods

In cases where the physical good was sold and the customer wishes to return it (for any reason) it can be returned through the Accounts Receivable. Physical Goods are returned through the Accounts Receivable using Actions > Manage Assets > RETURN PHYSICAL GOOD’ .

If the installed item was subject to a Return Policy then the amount paid may be refunded. Refer to Return Policies for more information.

In case that the physical good was rented, then the return is done through the 'Remove Installed Item' subscription action. In this case the installed item will be returned to the designated company warehouse as dictated by the 'Warehouse Types Used During Transactions' setup.

Replacing physical goods

Installed Items (either rented or sold) may need to be replaced by new ones either because they are broken or lost. Replacing of goods is possible either through the subscription.

If you would like to replace a good through the subscription then you will need the Swap Installed Item action. It is possible to swap with an item that belongs to a warehouse or an item that is already one of the customer's assets.

In case that the replaced physical good was subject to a warranty then depending on the warranty policy applied, the new installed item may or may not remain under warranty. For more information refer to Applying Warranty Policies

Back to top 

Anchor
apply_warranty apply_warranty

Applying Warranty Policies

A Warranty Policy is issued by a company in order to assure that a set of physical goods bought by its customers can be repaired or replaced, free of charge, within a specific period of time after the purchase. A Warranty Policy holds information about the traceable goods or product types or brands or families which can be covered and the period during which the physical goods will be covered after their purchase.

Anchor
automatic_application automatic_application

Issuing a warranty for sold goods

Warranties can be issued for traceable physical goods sold to customers based on warranty policies. The process is automatic and takes place when the goods are sold. When a good that is eligible for a warranty is sold, the system determines the warranty policy that should be issued. 

If the good is eligible for more than one warranty policy, the policy with the most recent Valid from Date is applied and has priority over other 'Always Valid' policies.  Only Effective valid Warranty policies are taken into account

You can see whether an installed item is under warranty through the Manage Installed Items Data Entry page in the Warranty Policy section.

Determining the warranty policy applied on replacement

When replacing an item through a job the system determines whether:

• The item is under coverage (will be replaced free of charge).
• The item's warranty policy will be transferred to the new physical good.
• A new warranty policy will be issued for the replacement item.

The system follows the Replacement Under Coverage Policy defined on the selected warranty coverage reason when replacing the item and uses it to determine which policy (if any) will be applied to the item.  Replacement under Coverage Policy has three possible values:

• Carry Over Remaining Duration: The remaining warranty period is calculated and applied to the new item.
• Apply New Warranty: A new warranty policy is issued as if a new traceable physical good was sold.
• No Warranty

 The diagram below displays how the warranty policy on an existing installed item (II) affects the warranty on the new item, during a replacement.  

Image RemovedImage Added

Back to top 

Identifying from which warehouse the item will be removed

When a physical good is swapped, the system uses configuration set in Warehouse Types During Transactions and warranty coverage to determine the warehouse that should be used to perform the swap, as displayed in the following diagrams: 

Warehouse transaction movements when the replacement physical good is provided free of charge

Image RemovedImage Added

Warehouse transaction movements when the replacement physical good is not covered by a warranty

• Coverage reason does not include coverage (i.e. replacement is not free of charge)
• Warranty on existing item has expired
• No Warranty exists

Image RemovedImage Added

Back to top 

Anchor
apply_return apply_return

Applying Return Policies

A Return Policy is issued by the company in order to define its business rules and policies in terms of returning physical goods which were sold to customers. The Return Policy determines when and which purchased physical goods can be returned back by the customers and whether the customer is allowed a refund for the returned physical goods or not.

Applying Return Policy on selling physical goods

Return Policies are applied automatically during the sale of a physical good . When a good that is eligible to a return policy is sold, the system determines the return policy that should be issued on the good. If the good is eligible for more than one return policy, the policy with the most recent Valid from Date is applied and has priority over other 'Always Valid' policies. Only Effective valid return policies are taken into account

You can see whether an installed item is under warranty through the Manage Installed Items Data Entry page in the Return Policy section.

Returning a physical good with a return policy

Customers may request to return a physical good for various reasons (e.g., due to a technical issue or to upgrade it or because it was stolen). If the good has a valid return policy which has not expired yet, the system checks whether the return is refundable based on the return coverage reason set by the user. The return date must be equal or before the Warehouse Issue Date + the return allowed period. 

The return of physical goods can be done through Accounts Receivable (Managing Assets action) or Service Requests

Back to top 

Additional Processes

Measuring usage of installed items

The meter reading of a device is used to measure consumption and therefore might create usage, on which customers can be billed. An example of a device's meter readings are the energy metering devices that are installed in houses and collect electric consumption and homeowners are billed based on their overall usage. A device's meter reading is classified through the Meter Reading Types. These types define how the device is used (what readings are actually measured) by defining its unit of measurement (pound, litre, Kilometre, gallon, etc) 

 To use the meter reading feature

1. Navigate to Configuration / Finance Application / Finance Settings / Set up Product Settings / Meter Reading Types and set up a meter reading type
2. Navigate to Configuration / Finance Application / Finance Settings / Set up Product Settings / Product Types and create a product type of traceable physical good and select the applicable meter reading
3. Navigate to Finance / Product & Pricing / Products / Manage Products Create a product of the specific product type
4. Create an installed item of the specific product
5. Add the installed item to a subscription
6. Use Add Service Usage Subscription action to add and bill the usage done through the specific product.

Internet of Things (IOT) in CRM.COM

Business Flows

Panel
borderColor Turquoise borderStyle dashed title Title borderStyle dashed
Scenario Aluxsat Co warehouse is used to control the location and quantity of all physical goods related to aluxsat subscriptions such as TV boxes, routers, and remote controls. Different warehouses are used for hardware sold by ZX partners. All hardware is initially imported into Aluxsat's Main Warehouse and distributed to other warehouses from there.   Warehouse Types Configure warehouse types as explained in the table below Name Information Sales WT Warehouses that belong to Aluxsat Co. or partners and from where installed items will be sold. (Items from partner warehouses are not billed from CRM.COM). Rentals WT Warehouses that belong to Aluxsat Co. and from where installed items will be rented (not billed). Returns of Sales WT Warehouses that belong to Aluxsat Co. or partners and where installed items that were sold and are being replaced for free (through Warranties) will be returned. Returns of Rentals WT Warehouses that belong to Aluxsat Co. and where rented installed items will be returned.   Warehouse Types Used During Transactions  Configure the Warehouse Types Used During Transactions as explained in the table below. For Adding For Adding During Replacement For Removing For Removing during Replacement Warehouse Type Classification Warehouse Type Classification Warehouse Type Classification Warehouse Type Classification Sales WT Sales Sales WT Sales Returns of Sales WT Sales Returns of Sales WT Sales Rentals WT Rentals Rentals WT Rentals Returns of Rentals WT Rentals Returns of Rentals WT Rentals Warehouses Create warehouses as explained in the table below, providing the respective group and warehouse type for each. Warehouse Name Warehouse Type Group (Sales Branch or Partner) Sales Sales WT Sales (Aluxsat Co.) Partner Sales Sales WT Sales Partner Rentals Rentals WT Sales (Aluxsat Co.) SBA Direct Sales Returns Returns of Sales WT Sales (Aluxsat Co.) PBA Indirect Sales Returns Returns of Sales WT Sales Partner SBA Rentals Returns Returns of Rentals WT Sales (Aluxsat Co.) Configuration Create the following Products, classified as traceable physical goods: TV Boxes Routers Create the following Products, classified as non-traceable physical goods: Remote control Import installed items Create a new import for the installed items. In the import installed items definition provide the following information: Warehouse: Sales Warehouse transaction life cycle state: 'Posted' Installed item product: Use products specified in the import file (Check that the import file has the correct product codes). Schedule to 'Run Now' / run immediately. Save the definition and click Submit from the Actions' menu. Create a file by downloading the import template and updating it and 'Add' it in the modal window. Once the import is complete all the items will be available in the Sales Warehouse.   Create transaction to create Remote Controls Create a stock in warehouse transaction to 'create' the remote controls (non-traceable physical goods can only be 'created' through stock in warehouse transactions) Navigate to Direct Sales Warehouse and from the Actions menu select 'New Stock in transaction' Select Product Type 'Non-traceable physical good' and Product 'Aluxsat Co. Remote Control'. Input '10' as the Quantity and press 'Enter'. Save the transaction.   Distribute boxes routers and remote controls to partner warehouse Create a stock movement warehouse transaction to move physical goods from the Aluxsat Co. warehouse to the partner's warehouse. Navigate to Direct Sales Warehouse and from the Actions menu select 'New Stock Movement Transaction'. Define the 'To Warehouse' as 'Partner Sales'. Select Product Type 'Non-traceable physical good' and Product 'Aluxsat Co. Remote Control'. Input '10' as the Quantity and press 'Enter'. Click on 'Add Multiple Installed Items' and search for the items that were just imported. Select 3 boxes and 3 routers from the modal. Save the transaction.

Panel
borderColor Turquoise borderStyle dashed title Title borderStyle dashed
Scenario Aluxsat Co. imports all new physical goods into a central warehouse for initial stocktaking and then distributes them to the other warehouses.  Use 'stock in' warehouse transactions (for non-traceable physical goods) and the 'import installed items utility' (for traceable physical goods) to import all goods in the central warehouse. Use 'stock movement' warehouse transactions to distribute the goods other warehouses. Import all installed items into the temporary warehouse using the import utility. Import all non-traceable physical goods into the temporary warehouse using a stock in warehouse transaction. Navigate to the temporary warehouse and click pm Click on ACTIONS > NEW STOCK MOVEMENT TRANSACTION. Specify the target warehouse that goods will be moved to. Specify the product type and the product of the installed items that are being moved. Type or scan the installed items. Specify the product type and the product of the non-traceable physical goods that are being moved. Specify the quantity of the non-traceable physical goods. Save the warehouse transaction. Check the stock balance to ensure that the correct traceable physical goods and quantities of non-traceable physical goods have been moved.

Panel
borderColor Turquoise borderStyle dashed title Title borderStyle dashed
Scenario Aluxsat Co. wants to create a 30-day Return Policy for its decoders sold to customers and apply coverage reasons for the decoders sold. The return policy should be applicable only if the decoders are not damaged.  Configuration Configure a new return policy with validity of 30 days and allowed return period of 30 days. Fill in the coverage reasons to why the return policy will be applicable and the decoder which the return policy is applied on.Fill in any further information required for the Return policy and Save Returned with damages - Do not credit Returned in good condition - Credit Cannot be resold - Do not credit Using the new created Return Policy User: A decoder is sold to a new subscriber and the return policy is applied (A warehouse for the decoder needs to be already setup). Refer to Inventory Management for further information on warehouses. Customer: Customer returns the decoder and the decoder is inspected for any physical damage. User navigates to the Account Receivable profile of the customer and clicks on Manage Assets. Return Physical Goods action is created via the Actions. A Return Coverage Reason is selected and the Return Policy is checked. Accordingly the customer is either credited for not based on the physical condition of the decoder.

 

 

 

Ui expand
title Glossary
CRM.COM Term Definition Metadata Metadata is a set of data that describes and gives information about other data. IOT A network of uniquely identifiable ‘things’ that communicate without human interaction using IP connectivity. Meter Reading The meter reading of a device is used to measure consumption and therefore might create usage, on which customers can be billed.

Ui expand
title FAQ
Ui expand title How can I know whether an installed item has been sold to a customer or rented? All installed items have an Ownership Status which provides information as to who owns the item. Rented installed items are still owned by the company however they may reside at the customer location. In this case the Ownership Status would be 'Owned by Company' however you would also be able to see a Subscription which is using it. This means that the item is rented and not sold. On the other hand, if an item is sold then the Ownership Status would be set to 'Sold to Customer' and may or may not have information about the subscription using it. Ui expand title Customer used to have a subscription in the past and he still has the decoder. How can I use the system decoder to register his subscription? Customers have can use existing equipment they already own,(given it is supported by your business rules) There are two ways to manage this scenario. If the item will be used on a subscription then while adding the installed item to the subscription, select the option 'Import Installed Item' and provide all the details required (as in creating a new installed item). This is only possible if in the Traceable Physical Goods section of the Subscription Type of the subscription allows the import. i.e. Block Installed Items that Subscriber already owns is disabled.   You can also import the installed item through the accounts receivable module. While on the customer's account click on Manage Assets action and then click on Import Asset and provide all the details required (as in creating a new installed item). Once the item is imported it can be added to the customer's subscription normally.   Ui expand title Customer wants to return his decoder and he demands a refund. How can I check if he is entitled to a refund? In order to check whether the customer is eligible to a refund you should check the installed items' information. In the data entry page of the installed item check for the Return Policy section and if one is available then related information will be shown.

Ui expand
title Useful Links
Filter by label (Content by label) showLabels false spaces V4Manual showSpace false cql label = "global" and space = "V4Manual" labels global