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Creating a Subscription

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Using Normal Subscriptions

Billing > Subscriptions > Manage Subscriptions

Creating a subscription

To register a new subscription navigate to Manage Subscriptions and click on NEW.

The configuration of the Subscription Type is essential in defining the offerings of a company.  These consist of the selection of subscription services, agreed rates, contracted period, necessary hardware items and billing details (such as the frequency and date of billing).


Subscriptions Data Entry page 


Subscriptions Data Entry page

Subscription fields

This table contains an explanation of the sections of the Subscriptions Data Entry page, a description of the usage of its fields and additional information.

   Mandatory   Configurable 

Contact Information
The details of the contact whose name the subscription is in.
Account Information
The account of the subscriber which is charged during billing.

Billing Addresses

Whether a billing address is mandatory is defined in the active accounts receivable definition.

Mandatory on conditions

The address used to communicate billing information.
The billing address is one of the addresses of the contact.  If an address is not available, one must be created. If the contact has more than one address, use the one selected by the customer.  Contact information addresses are updated when a billing address is modified. 

Subscription Addresses

Whether a subscription address is mandatory is defined in the billing definition.

Mandatory on conditions

The subscriber’s physical address; where the hardware is located and the services are delivered.
The subscription address is one of the addresses of the contact.  If an address is not available, one must be created. If the contact has more than one address, use the one selected by the customer. Contact information addresses are updated when a subscription address is modified. 

Subscription Terms

The terms applied to the subscription that define the billing and contract details.

Subscription Type determines the subscription offerings including services, rates, physical goods and billing information.

Billing Term Scheme defines the subscription billing rules, whether to pre-bill or post-bill services, the billing frequencies, binding periods and price plans. When the subscription type is selected, its default billing term scheme and respective values are set.

Price Plan is the catalog with billing rates for each subscription service. The default price plan defined on the billing term scheme can be revised. 

Billing Frequency refers to how often the subscription is billed. The default billing frequency defined on the billing term scheme can be revised. 

Binding Period is the predefined duration of the subscription to which the customers agrees.  Ending the subscription before it is over may be subject to a penalty. There is no default binding period defined on the billing term scheme but one can be selected.

Effective Date is the day on which the services included in the subscription started getting billed.  It reflects a change in the life cycle state of the subscription from 'Draft' to 'Effective'. 

Agreement is the date on which the contract was signed. 

Life Cycle State reflects the operational state of the subscription. It is automatically set by the system based on the status of the subscription and its services, usually on the execution of a subscription action.  Refer to subscription services life cycle state for more information.

Allowed Cycle Day is used to specify the day of the month on which the billing cycle ends.  It is set automatically for 'Period' billing, based on the configuration of the billing term scheme, and manually (as agreed with the subscriber) for 'Anniversary' billing. 

Concurrent Usage based pricing is the application of a price rate, based on the total number of people using a service or installed items at the same time and a percentage which is agreed between the customer and the company.  Concurrent usage based pricing must be supported by the selected billing term scheme.

  • Concurrent Usage is the total number of people that can use a service at the same time.   
    E.g., the number of rooms in a hotel with access to channels from the same subscription

  • Concurrent Usage Rate Percentage is the rate that should be applied to concurrent services.
    The following formula is used in the billing calculation:  
    Total Subscription Rate = Subscription Rate * Concurrent Usage Rate Percentage * Concurrent Usage 
    (E.g,
    $1000/month = $50/month * 20% * 100 rooms)
     
Subscriber Since is a read-only field and displays the date on which the subscription was activated for the first time. 

Services & Installed Items

Subscriber services and installed items can be distributed to one or more provisioning distributors

Mandatory and Optional Services

Mandatory are the services without which a subscription is not possible (e.g. a specific channel). Optional are those that can be added onto a subscription. 

Service: A termed product a client can subscribe to, such as a broadband or TV channel telephony service. Only termed services can be added as subscription services.

Distributor: An abstract layer used in CRM.COM to relate subscription services (e.g. broadband service) and subscription associated devices (e.g. modems) to a Provisioning Provider and to define what services will be available from each device (if more than one is available on a subscription).

Components Services: a link to available services that constitute a bundle (offered for sale as one product).

First Activated On is the date on which the service first became 'Effective'.

Rated Up To is the date up to which the service has been billed. 

Life Cycle State the state of the service during the current period.
Determines whether to charge the subscription services.  By default, subscription services in an 'Effective' state are charged but this can be changed in the billing definition.  

View History provides information for the service during distinct periods:

  • Billing Directive determines whether a period should be debited, credited or ignored by billing.
  • Rating State indicates whether or not the period was already taken into consideration by the billing engine.  A 'Pending' state indicates that the period is not billed yet, while a 'Completed' state indicates that the period has already been billed/credited.
Expense Services

One-time charges to the subscription, such as a startup or installation fee.

Subscription Installed Items

The installed items provided to the subscriber which can be distributed to one or more provisioning distributors from one or more providers.

Serial Number is a unique number used to identify the specific physical product.

Ownership Status reflects whether the installed item is owned by the company and rented to the customer or if it was sold.

Distributors are the companies from which the installed item is available.

Components are other physical goods that may be part of the installed item bundle.

Communications

Subscription information can be communicated to the subscriber by email or SMS. 

Activities

The small tasks or actions requested and scheduled for the subscription, such as an installation or a maintenance visit.
Activities can be automatically scheduled for a subscription through
Workflow Rules.



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