Products Getting Started

Products are Physical Goods or Services used by business transactions within the System. Services represent any intangible commodity which is provided to customers, such as telephony, TV channels, repairs, installations or deliveries. Physical Goods represent any tangible commodity which is provided/sold to customers, such as cameras, decoders or magazines.

What Comes First

To start using Products configure the System to support your own business model. In the following table, you can find the configuration modules related to Products.

Sub-module	Type	Classification	Navigation	Dig In
Product Types	Configuration		CONFIGURATIONFOUNDATION APPLICATIONPRODUCTSPRODUCT TYPES	Configuring Product Types
Products	Application		FOUNDATIONPRODUCTSMANAGE PRODUCTS	Managing Products
Product Families	Configuration		CONFIGURATIONFOUNDATION APPLICATIONPRODUCTSSET UP FAMILIES	Configuring Product Families
Product Brands	Configuration		CONFIGURATIONFOUNDATION APPLICATIONPRODUCTSSET UP BRANDS	Configuring Product Brands
Product Categories	Configuration		CONFIGURATIONFOUNDATION APPLICATIONPRODUCTSSET UP CATEGORIES	Configuring Product Categories

Step 1: Setting up Product Types

First, you must configure the Product types which will be used as your base for creating the various types of Products.

Product Types are used to define and enforce the behaviour and business rules that should be applied on each related Product. Product Types are used when you Create and Modify a Product and a Product can have only one type. Via the Product types you can distinguish between the following features

• Classification:Whether the Product will be Service (Intangible Good such as a TV channel, a movie) or a Physical Good  (Tangible, such as a smartcard, a modem, a decoder)
• Service Type: Service type is available only if the Product type is classified as a Service, and determines if the Service is a One-Time Service, a Usage Service a Termed Service or an Expense. One Time Services and expenses are provided just once, and are billed just once; for example, an installation service. 
  Termed Services are provided continuously and billed on a recurring basis, regardless of their usage, for example, a recurring Pay TV service which includes specific channels. 
  Usage Services are provided upon customer request and are billed based on their usage, for example, a Pay Per View movie or Telephony Calls. 
• Physical Good Type: Physical Good Type is available only if the Product type is classified as a Physical Good, and determines if the Physical Goods is Traceable or Non-Traceable. 
  Traceable Physical Goods can be traced through a unique identifier which is usually a serial number, for example, a decoder having a unique serial number. 
  Non-traceable Physical Goods are not traced to a single instance and are measured based on their quantity, for example, 10 meters of wire.
• Composition: It determines the composition of the Product, which can be a flat Product, a flexible bundle Product or a fixed bundle Product.
  • Flexible bundle Products are allowed only if the Product type is classified as a termed service
  • Fixed bundle Products are allowed only if the Product type is classified as a termed service or a Physical Good
• Used for Provisioning: Determines if the Products that will be related to that Product type will be provisioned by third-party provisioning systems

Step 2: Creating your Product

Once the Product Types are defined, you are ready to start creating your Products. (You can omit any steps below referring to additional configuration module usage)

 Physical Goods and Services can be created through CRM.COM Products Module.

• Specify the type of each Product and provide a Product code, alternative code and description. 
• Use the VAT rate to determine the VAT rate that should be applied on each of your Services or Physical Goods. 
• Define price rates and the Price Plans the Product will be available from
• Define component restrictions and rules of Flexible or Fixed bundle Products. (Flexible and Fixed Bundle Products are made up of multiple other Products)
• Use the Brand, Family and Categories to group your Products and apply specific business rules and restrictions.

Step 3: Setting up Product Brands, Categories, Families

Configure the following modules for additional functionality and categorisation

• Product Families are groups of Products derived from a common Product platform, using similar or same Production processes and having similar physical or behavioural characteristics. Product Families in CRM.COM are following a hierarchical tree structure.
• Product Brands are used to define trademarks or distinctive names that serve to identify a specific Product or a Product line. 
• Product Categories are used to classify Products into generic groups based on specific similar attributes that they share. Categories are configurable in the system and their number can be in hundreds. Categories are following a hierarchical tree structure.
  
  

Do it Yourself!!