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 business model. In the following table, find the configuration modules related to Products.

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

Step 1: Setting up Product Types

Start by configuring the Product Types which will be used as your base for creating the various types of Products.

Product Types are used to define and implement the behaviour of Products. Product Types are used when Products are created or modified.  Products can have only one Type, through which you can distinguish between the following:

• Classification:  Whether the Product is a Service (intangible commodity such as a TV channel or movie) or a Physical Good  (tangible commodity such as a Smartcard, modem or decoder).
• Service Type: Available only if the Product Type is classified as a Service, and determines whether it 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; e.g. an installation Service. 
  Termed Services are provided continuously and billed on a recurring basis, regardless of their usage; e.g. a recurring Pay TV Service which includes specific channels. 
  Usage Services are provided upon customer request and are billed based on their usage; e.g. a Pay Per View movie or Telephony Calls. 
• Physical Good Type: Available only if the Product Type is classified as a Physical Good, and determines whether the Physical Good is Traceable or Non-Traceable. 
  Traceable Physical Goods can be traced through a unique identifier which is usually a serial number; e.g. a decoder with a unique serial number. 
  Non-traceable Physical Goods are not traced to a single instance and are measured based on their quantity; e.g. 10 meters of cable.
• Composition: Determines whether the Product is a Flat, Flexible Bundle or Fixed Bundle Product.
  • Flexible Bundle Products are available if the Classification is defined as Termed Service.
  • Fixed Bundle Products are available if the Classification is defined as Termed Service or Physical Good.
• Used for Provisioning: Determines whether Products of that Type are used for provisioning purposes by third-party providers.

Step 2: Creating your Product

Once the Product Types are defined, you can start creating your Products (Steps below referring to the additional configuration can be omitted).

 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. 
• Specify the VAT rate that should be applied on each of your Services or Physical Goods. 
• Define the price rates and the Price Plans that the Product will be available from.
• Define the component restrictions and rules of Flexible or Fixed Bundle Products (Bundle Products are made up of multiple other component 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 identical Production processes and having similar physical or behavioural characteristics. Product Families in CRM.COM follow a hierarchical tree structure.
• Product Brands are used to define trademarks or distinctive names that identify a specific Product or Product line. 
• Product Categories are used to classify Products into generic groups based on common attributes. Categories are configurable in the System (there can be hundreds). Categories follow a hierarchical tree structure.
  
  

Do it Yourself!!

Provisioning is used for a full integration with Conditional Access (CA) and OTT (Over The Top) platforms. It is used to retrieve and manage the provisioning adapters that were developed to integrate with third party CA systems and OTT systems.

What Comes First

To start using Provisioning Providers configure the System to support your business model. In the following table, you can find the configuration modules related to Provisioning Providers. CRM.COM is integrated with multiple Providers. Choose the one that you cooperate with and set up accordingly.

Step 1: Setting up a Provider 

The Provisioning Provider module allows you to: 

• Configure connection parameters which are needed to access the Provider, such as the endpoint URL, username and password as well as the provisioning protocol.
• Map the Subscription Services which are provisioned by the Provider and set their CA ID.
• Map the Physical Goods which are used by the Provider.

Step 2: Setting up Provisioning Request Run

Provisioning Requests Run Definitions are used to determine the business rules used to identify Subscriptions that must be activated or deactivated, hardware that must be paired, pending messages that must be sent to the Provider, and to create and send the necessary commands to the Provider for that purpose.

Do it Yourself!!!

Usage Service Catalogs are used to maintain information related to Usage Services, which are provided upon customer request and charged based on their usage. Information included in Usage Service Catalogs includes the pricing of the Service, the Service provider and their identifier, as well as information related to the validity of the Services. The Over-The-Top (OTT) business model is supported by using Usage Service Catalogs.

What Comes First

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

Sub-module	Type	Classification	Navigation	Dig In
Usage Service Catalogs Definitions	Configuration		CONFIGURATIONBILLING APPLICATIONUSAGE SERVICE CATALOGSSET UP USAGE SERVICE CATALOG DEFINITIONS	Usage Service Catalogs
Usage Service Catalogs	Application		BILLINGUSAGE SERVICE CATALOGSMANAGE USAGE SERVICE CATALOGS	Usage Service Catalogs
Billing Term Definition	Configuration		CONFIGURATIONBILLING APPLICATIONBILLINGSET UP BILLING TERM SCHEMES	Subscriptions

Step 1: Setting up Usage Service Catalogs Definitions

First, you must set up the Usage Service Catalog Definitions. 

Usage Service Catalogs Definitions are a set of business rules used to control the behaviour of Usage Service Catalogs throughout their Life Cycle.  

Through the Definition you can:

• Define the values of related allowed entities.
  • Usage Service Types: the Product Types which can be included in Usage Service Catalogs. Only Product Types which are classified as Usage Services can be specified in this section.
  • Provisioning Providers: the Providers who can be used for processing the Provisioning Requests.
• Define Default values for Services of specific Types.
  Also provide default rates for Service Types in the Definition. These (updatable) rates will be automatically selected when creating new Catalogs using the specific Services.

Step 2: Creating Usage Service Catalogs

With Usage Service Catalog Definitions in place you are ready to start creating your Usage Service Catalogs, through which you can define the following:

• The Provisioning Provider that will be responsible for the provisioning Usage Services defined in the specific Usage Service Catalog.
• The period for which the Catalog will be valid. Multiple periods or always valid can be defined.
• All the Usage Services that should be provided (the services created in the Products module).
  For each Service, define the following:
  • Base Rate: The price of the Service for Billing.
  • Provisioning ID: The CA ID required by the Provisioning Provider to identify each Service.
  • Start and End Time: the periods for which the Service should be available for ordering.

  • Tiered Rates: You have the option to provide conditional rates which are different than the specified Base Rate. For example, provide a different rate for the Service if it is used during a specific period or provided via specific devices.
    

    Usage Detail Record configuration modules must be configured to define related conditions for the Tiered Rates.

• Define conditions related to Subscriptions or Accounts Receivable which will determine whether the Usage Service Catalog is available for selection. 
  Usage Service Catalogs will be filtered (when adding a Service on the Subscription) based on the conditions defined in the Usage Service Catalog. 

Step 3: Setting up Billing Term Definition Rules

Billing Term Definition Rules include validations and restrictions that will be used across Billing Terms, regardless of their Scheme. Specifically, through Billing Term Definitions you can define the Billing Rules that should be applied on Usage Services based on a set of conditions. These rules are only applicable for Normal Billing Term Schemes. If the Usage Service is added on a Prepaid Subscription then it is billed immediately after execution of the Action.

Configure the following section according to your requirements.

• Billing Term Definitions - Usage Service Billing Term Rules (For Normal Subscriptions)
  • Maximum unbilled amount threshold: Define the maximum rated total amount of all Usage Services that needs to be reached in order for them to be included in a Bill. 

  • Maximum number of unbilled UDRs:  Defines the maximum number of unprocessed Usage Detail Records required in order for Usage Services to be included in a Bill.

Do It Yourself!