Overview
- Termed services(billed on a recurrence basis) such as SVODs or TV channels,
- Usage services (billed based on usage) such as TVODs (i.e.movies) (Optional)
- Hardware on which service signals are sent to; referred to as Installed Items in CRM.COM (Optional)
- Fees such as start up fee (Optional)
In CRM.COM subscriptions are categorized to Normal and Prepaid which essentially describes the way they are billed. Normal subscriptions are funded by an account controlled by a credit limit and services are rated and billed either before or after their consumption In prepaid subscription customers subscribe for a set of services and pay them in advance, prior their consumption using wallet funds.
In this manual we will describe processes applicable to Normal Subscriptions. Refer to Prepaid Subscriptions for prepaid specific processes and setup.
Setting Up Normal Subscriptions and Core Processes
Before you start using Normal Subscriptions set up the system to reflect your own business needs.
Generic Settings
Normal Subscriptions usually have two main characteristics; binding period which defines the time that subscribers are binded to honor their contract, and billing frequency which defines how often a subscription will be billed. Through Generic Settings you can configure the available binding periods and billing frequencies. Once configured they must be added to billing term schemes through which they will be made available on subscriptions.
Billing Term Scheme
Normal billing term schemes establish rules for billing and paying normal subscriptions; for example, define whether the subscription will be billed before or after the bill is issued, whether the billing will be done using an anniversary cycle or all subscribers will be billed from the beginning till the end of the month etc.. You can create multiple billing term schemes and upon creation of the subscription, agents will be able to choose the one which is applicable to that subscription. It is however possible, to update the billing term scheme of the subscription at a later stage if required. Once configured, schemes are added to subscription type through which they are made available for selection in the subscription.
Billing & Payment Models
Through the billing term scheme you can create different billing models. Check them out below to decide which one best fits your business model:
- Pre-Billed - Pay before Bill: A model where services are billed before they have been used either anniversary or period based, and a bill is generated but only if the rated amount was already paid in advance.
i.e. this model requires subscribers to have a registered credit card or other online payment method(i.e. PayPal), through which funds are automatically deducted - Pre-Billed - Pay after Bill: A model where services are billed before they have been used either anniversary or period based, and a bill is generated which is expected to be paid afterwards
This model is the most common model in cases where money is not required to be paid in advance - Post-Billed - Pay after Bill: A model where services are billed after they have been used and a bill is generated which is expected to be paid afterwards
This model is especially popular for summerhouse subscriptions where subscribers will only be active for a period which is not predetermined.
Anniversary versus Period Based billing
Anniversary based billing means that each subscriber is billed every month(usually its monthly), on the day of the month that they were activated. This requires billing run to be executed on a daily basis so that all subscribers are billed every month the same day they have subscribed.
If anniversary based billing is selected then it is possible to define the range of allowed billing cycle days (i.e. Cycle Day is the day your billing cycle begins) and you have the option for the date to be reset upon the execution of changes done on the subscription, such the addition or upgrade of a service
Period based billing on the other hand, will bill all subscribers on the same day of the month, regardless of the day that they have subscribed. The first time a subscriber is billed will either be billed for the remaining of the month and a month in advance or just until the end of the month (depending on the business model); this ensures that all subscribers will always be billed up to the same date and therefore the company will only need to execute one Billing Run per month.
If period based billing is selected then a specific billing cycle day must be set
Restrict time of allowed subscription changes and bill accordingly
In case that the Payment Model is set to pay before bill, i.e. you would like to take a payment before you proceed to changes on a subscription it is possible to define when changes can be done as well as how they will be billed. For example, if a customer would like to upgrade a service you can allow the service to be upgraded and bill immediately the difference between the old and new service however if the customer would like to downgrade the service you can allow the downgrade to take place only once the paid period is reached and bill for the new service,
This is possible through Billable event allowed performed date rules where you can select between 'Immediately' and 'At the end of the paid period' and Billing adjustment rules where you can choose between:
- Bill Full period where the service will be billed for one complete billing frequency
- Bill the difference where only the difference is billed between services is billed
- Bill until next billing period the service is billed till the date that the rest of the services are already billed
- No billing adjustment no billing takes place
Additional settings
In addition to defining the billing and payment model billing term schemes are also used to define the following
- Allowed billing frequencies
- Allowed binding periods
- Which services are free of charge (i.e. free to air channels)
- Whether concurrent usage is allowed (Refer to B2B Subscriptions)
- Usage service billing rules
Billing Term Scheme Fields Description
- Type: The method used by the billing engine to bill products is 'Normal' in this case.
- Billing Type: Define which services should be pre-billed and which services should be post-billed
- Billing Method: Select between anniversary and period
- Billable Period Start Date: Determines the date from which the service is considered by the Billing Run, regardless of the date on which the service became 'Effective'. By default, Billable Period Start Date and subscription service Effective Date is the same.
- Billing Effective Date: The date from which a service should start being billed. By default, it is equal to the subscription service Effective Date.
- Payment Model:
- Pay after bill: the customer submits a payment after the bill is received
- Pay before bill: sufficient funds must be present in the account for a new subscription or amend subscription action to be allowed.
- Pay after bill: the customer submits a payment after the bill is received
- Concurrent Usage: Determines whether pricing based on concurrent usage can be specified in the billing terms of this specific scheme.
- Synchronize: (available only for anniversary billing term schemes):
- Defines whether subscription services will be rated up to the same date on each normal billing run (in order to have the 'rated up to' dates among all services in sync after a billing run process.
Subscription Types
Subscription types represent the offerings a company presents its subscribers. These offerings consist of individual products, prices, billing rules, and provisioning providers, or inclusive packages. The offerings can either be a-la-carte or packaged. A-la-carte allows customers to add from a pool of services which are then charged accordingly, while packages have a predefined set of services and price. Multiple subscription types are created and the one requested by the subscriber is chosen upon creating the subscription; it is possible however, to change the subscription type on a later stage.
The subscription type determines:
- Whether the subscriptions will be a-la-carte or packaged
- Whether subscription is used for commercial purposes (B2B) or residential customers
- Allowed billing term schemes
- Available services; 'main' services are mandatory, 'add-ons' are optional
- Chargeable expenses; one-off, such as a start-up or installation fee
- Required hardware
- Restrictions, such as in the number of services required for a subscription
- Conditions, such as the subscription products which are necessary for the addition of others products
Define allowed changes between subscription services used by the Swap Services subscription action. (TIERS) You can create multiple 'tier groups' and within the group provide a tier level for each included service, which will define whether exchanging one service for another constitutes an upgrade, downgrade or a swap. Note that the smaller the number, the higher the hierarchy of the service and that you can only swap services that belong in the same tier group. You can also define a tier group hierarchy where one group can follow another. In this case, the system will restrict the options to swap between services of the 'child tier group', depending on the changes in the services of the 'parent group'.
Restrict sale or rental of installed items
Defining your packages
If you are offering your customers packaged solutions then on creating the subscription type you can provide all the required information.
- Specific Billing Term Scheme, Binding Period and Billing Frequency
- Allowed Termed Services: The services you will set as 'main' will be automatically added to the subscription while the ones you set as 'optional' will be available for addition upon subscriber request.
- For each of the services defined on the package you must define the rate with which the service is offered
- Once the subscription type is saved a dedicated price plan is created for the package and the total cost of the package (Package Base Rate) is calculated taking into consideration the main service rates.
Handling subscription hardware
It is possible to define from where installed items added on the subscription come. For example whether they can be chosen from the ones residing in the company's warehouse and are available for rental or sale, installed items in a partner's warehouse which have already been purchased by the customers or installed items already owned by the customer If any of the options is blocked then agents will not be allowed to add installed items from that place. You can choose to block any of the following options:
- hardware the customer already owes
- hardware bought from a partner or your company
- hardware which belongs to your company and will only be rented to the customer for as long as he is subscribed
- Maximum number of concurrent logged in devices: the number of devices that can be logged on a service simultaneously (includes registered and unregistered installed items). This option is directly related to cases where you can login to your subscription TV through multiple devices, i.e. mobile tablet smart TV.
Subscription & Billing Policies
Subscription and Billing Policies includes rules and restrictions regarding the billing and management of subscriptions throughout their life cycle. They are used to incorporating your business requirements into the system.
Activation and Deactivation
Activation and deactivation of subscriptions and services can be controlled through general rules which are defined in the policies.
Cancellation of subscriptions and services
Contracts bind customers for a specific time period, guarantying the customer will generate a predefined amount of money for the company. To this end, penalties can be imposed for canceling a subscription earlier than as stated in the contract. It is possible to define rules both for cancelling subscriptions or services which are either with or without contract and define penalties with which they will be imposed.
Charge customers with one off or recurring expenses
- Conditional expenses: Define one-time subscriber charges that are applied when events occur, triggered by subscription actions.
- Recurring expenses: Define recurring subscriber charges. A period defined by a start and end event, within which a selected expense will be charged on a recurring basis according to the billing frequency of the subscriber.
- Expense on bill: define amounts charged on bill. For example, you can charge an extra amount for printed bills
Apply business rules on subscription management actions
Once a subscription is created can be amended by subscription actions. For example, it can be placed to rest, or it can be regretted with a number of days, its billing frequency may be updated etc. Subscription actions however can be set to reflect your business models by providing rules and restrictions by which such actions can be used. Check the list of subscription actions which you can
- Billing Term Amendments
- Grace Period
- Resting
- Regret
- Swap
- Replace subscription
Other settings
Through the policies it is possible to define settings such as
- Billable Life Cycle States: Subscription states whose period is considered billable other than the default 'Effective' state.
- Non-Creditable Life Cycle States: Subscription states whose period should not be refunded (credited) other than the default 'Effective' and 'Draft' life cycle states. For each state, you can define the conditions that make it non-creditable.
- Subscription Address Rules: Define whether specifying an address for a new subscription is mandatory or not, and the conditions for when it is 'Not Mandatory On Conditions'
- Maximum Number of subscriptions per account
Normal Billing Settings
Billing runs are responsible to bill subscriptions based on the billing model they have subscribed to (dictated by the billing term scheme). The result of a normal billing run is the bill. Through Billing settings you can define rules which will govern both billing runs and the generation of bills.
Rating of services
Rating is the process that decides the period and the amount for which services and hardware will be billed. Define how far ahead you would like to bill subscriptions and provide the default values for the bill as of day. Any services with rated to date before or equal to the bill as of date they will be billed.
Invoicing of services
Invoicing is the process where all services and hardware are grouped together in an invoice or a credit note in case that customer must be credited. It is possible to define a rating minimum amount. If the rating amount is less than that amount then the bill will not be issued.
Assembling
Assembling is the process where all invoices an credit notes created by the billing run are placed together. Through the assembling settings you can define whether rounding is applied as well as Exceptional settings which will alert you in case the conditions are met
- Maximum credited amount: The credit amount that when exceeded results in a bill being classified as Exceptional.
- Maximum debited amount: A value reflecting an account's credit limit, that when exceeded by a new bill, results to the bill being classified as Exceptional.
Formatting
Formatting actually is the formatting of the bill. Through settings you can define how information will appear on the bills. i.e
Bill Check Digit Generation
You can select how the check digit added to the bill will be generated which can be based on the bill number, accounts receivable or bill amount.
Refer to Normal Subscription Billing - R15 for more information on how CRM.COM handles billing of normal subscriptions.
Subscription Action Classification
Action Classifications are user defined and are used to describe why a subscription action has been performed. Classifications can be used when executing a subscription action. Refer to Subscription Actions for more information.
Recommended additional setup
In addition to the Subscription-specific settings the following must be configured for the Subscriptions to operate.
Products: Products added to subscriptions fall into two categories:
- Termed, usage or one-time based services, such as TV channels, film, and broadband services.
- Hardware items that are necessary for the provision of services, such as decoders or modems.
Once you configure the products, add them to the subscription type and define their dependencies and restrictions. View Products for more information.
Price plans: Price plans are catalogs of billable products (except usage services) with their applicable charges. Once the products and their rates are included in a plan, the plan is added to the appropriate billing term scheme. View Price Plans for more information.
Usage service catalogs: Usage service catalogs are used instead of price plans, for services billed based on their use, such as telephony or data. View Usage Service Catalogs for more information.
Using Subscriptions
Billing / Subscriptions / Manage Subscriptions
Creating a subscription
To register a new subscription, navigate to Manage Subscriptions and click on NEW. To create a subscription the following information must be provided
- An accounts receivable is required against which bills will be issued and the payments for the subscription will be made
- The subscription type which will provide information associated to the services and hardware allowed to be added to the subscription
- The billing term scheme which will provide the billing rules
- The termed services the customer subscribed to
- Optional
- The hardware (installed items) such as the Set Top Box provided to the customer
- Additional one off expenses such as start up or installation fees
Subscription Life Cycle States
The life cycle state of a subscription indicates its operational condition and the state of each service of the subscription dictates whether it is subject to billing. A subscription can have the following life cycle states:
- Draft: the subscription is new and not yet activated
- Effective: the subscription is active
- Not Effective: the subscription services are disconnected
- In Resting: the subscription has been put on hold for a predefined period
- Regretted: indicates the reversal of a subscription decision shortly after the subscription was activated
- Replaced: the subscription has been replaced
- Cancelled: the subscription is no longer in operation
- Short-Term Effective: the subscription is activated for a short predefined period
- Short-Term Not Effective: the subscription is deactivated for a short predefined period.
Using actions to modify subscriptions
Subscriptions actions are available from the subscription Data Entry page and are used to apply business changes on subscriptions. Some of the available actions include activation, deactivation, putting a subscription to rest, modifying contract details and adding services or hardware.
Actions are grouped into three categories:
- Subscription Service Related Actions
- Subscription Installed Items Related Actions
- Subscription Related Actions
Refer to Subscription Actions for more information.
Activating normal subscription services
Subscriptions are created either in a draft or effective state. In case that the subscription is Draft, no money is yet paid and no signals sent to the customer's device. It is possible to activate a subscription at a later stage using the 'Activate Subscription' subscription action in which case, the subscription will be billable.
Billing of normal subscriptions services
Subscriptions are billed through the Normal Billing Run, which is configured once and executed as often as scheduled.
Refer to Normal Subscription Billing - R15 for more information.
Deactivating normal subscriptions services
Subscribers who do not have sufficient funds in their accounts to pay for the subscriptions are deactivated by the automatic deactivation process. The process is also responsible to identify and process subscriptions that are owned by accounts with an overdue balance exceeding a predetermined threshold.
It is possible to exclude from deactivation subscriptions that belong to specific groups, accounts receivable classifications (such as employees) and specific subscription types.
Deactivation is always applied at the level of subscription services. Deactivation can take into consideration the 'date and time' on which the services were activated (so that subscribers can benefit up to the last minute for the services they paid for), or just the 'date', in which case the service gets cut off at midnight of the day that the services must be deactivate. Services taken into consideration are:
- Normal subscription services that were classified as candidates for deactivation
- Normal subscription services that were not classified as candidates for deactivation, but are owned by an account with an overdue balance that is more than the specified threshold.
Through the Subscription and Billing Policies (Generic Settings), periods of deactivation can be configured to be billable.
Setting up the Deactivation Recurring Process
Settings associated with the deactivation of services are accessed from the 'Subscription Deactivation' found in the Subscription and Billing Policies. Once the settings are defined the deactivation process under Subscription Maintenance Utilities must be enabled. It is configured once and executed on a recurring basis.
- Navigate to Billing > Subscriptions > Subscription Maintenance Utilities and click EDIT.
- In the Schedule Normal Subscription Deactivation tab, use MODIFY to ENABLE the process and provide the scheduling settings.
Use Throttling settings' to define the number of subscriptions to be deactivated in every batch and the time between each batch in order to avoid a long deactivation queue when sent to the provider for deactivations - Alternately click on Run Now to execute instantly or CANCEL pending deactivation processes.
Reactivating inactive normal subscription services
Deactivated subscription services are activated by the recurring activation process or following a payment made against the account. The activation process also re-evaluates the status of subscription services that were classified as candidates for deactivation (during the billing run). It is possible to exclude from activation subscriptions that belong to specific groups, accounts receivable classifications (such as employees) and specific subscription types.
Activation always takes place on the subscription service level and not on the subscription level. Services taken into consideration are:
- Normal subscription services that were not effective for a period of time that is less than the specified threshold, given that their account overdue balance is less than the specified threshold.
- Normal subscription services that are effective and are classified as candidates for deactivation, given that their account overdue balance is less than the specified threshold.
Setting up the Activation Recurring Process
Settings associated with the activation of services accessed from the 'Subscription Activation' found in the Subscription and Billing Policies. Once the settings are defined, the activation process under Subscription Maintenance Utilities must be enabled. It is configured once and executed on a recurring basis.
- Navigate to Billing > Subscriptions > Subscriptions Maintenance Utilities and click EDIT.
- In the Schedule Subscription Activation tab, use MODIFY to ENABLE the process and provide the scheduling settings.
- Alternately, click on Run Now to execute instantly or CANCEL pending activation processes
Ranking of Subscription and Subscription Services used for Billing, Deactivation and Ractivation processes
Billing, activation and deactivation processes rank subscription and subscription services to determine processing order.
Subscriptions inherit a ranking number from their subscription type, while services are ranked based on whether they are mandatory (higher ranking) or optional (lower ranking). This is also defined in the subscription type.
Ranking is critical when services must be activated in an account or wallet with limited funds.
The system will prioritize subscriptions and consequently services with the highest ranking and activate those.
In case of deactivation, the system prioritizes subscriptions of the lowest ranking and deactivates its services accordingly.
Additional reference to ranking takes place to decide the order. Refer to the table below for more information.
| Sorting of Subscriptions | Subscriptions are sorted based on:
|
|---|---|
| Sorting of Subscription Services | Services are sorted based on the following logic:
Services within each category are then sorted based on the following logic:
|
Provisioning subscriptions
Subscriptions used in the Subscription TV business will also require provisioning of the content. Provisioning in CRM.COM is the distribution of the paid content (i.e. channels, film) from the video platform to the customer's device. According to the state of the subscription (active,inactive) the required information is communicated from CRM.COM to the TV platform or CAS which will in turn handle the signals to the subscriber's device accordingly. CRM.COM is integrated with multiple TV platforms and Conditional Access Systems. For more information refer to provisioning.
Canceling subscriptions
Subscriptions and subscription services can be canceled by the user through a subscription action, or automatically through a recurring cancellation process. Subscriptions or services that are inactive for a long period can be automatically canceled (through system processes that are configured once and executed as often as necessary). During the recurring process, the system examines and cancels subscriptions or services, following the rules defined by the business set in the Subscription and Billing Policies under 'Subscription Cancellation'.
The following settings are available:
- Select whether the whole subscription or just specific services should be canceled.
- Provide the period for which a subscription should be inactive (i.e., in a life cycle state that is 'Not Effective') before it is considered as a candidate for cancellation.
Different periods can be provided for normal and prepaid subscriptions.
Once the rules are defined in the Subscription and Billing Policies, the recurring process must be enabled and configured in 'Subscription Maintenance Utilities'. It is configured only once and executed on a recurring basis.
- Navigate to Billing > Subscriptions > Subscription Maintenance Utilities definition and click EDIT.
- In the Schedule Subscription Cancellation tab, use MODIFY to ENABLE the process and provide the scheduling settings.
Throttling settings allow you to define the number of subscriptions to be cancelled in every batch and the time between each batch in order to avoid a long queue when sent to the provider for cancellation - Alternately, click on RUN NOW (to execute instantly) or CANCEL any pending cancellation processes.
Providing subscriptions or subscription services free of charge
Subscription services that are provided for free cannot be disconnected due to outstanding or insufficient funds. If all the subscription's services are free then the subscription is considered a free subscription. To create a free subscription or free services define these services in the Billing Term Scheme Service Rules
Applying discounts to subscriptions
There are two ways to offer discounts on subscriptions:
- Through price plans, based on purchased quantity/ period
- Through additive discounts, which are applied to a subscription based on subscription or account conditions, or selected by the agents creating the subscription by using the Provide Ad Hoc Discount action.
Refer to Pricing for more information
Paying for a subscription
CRM.COM supports multiple ways of paying for a subscription. Cash, Direct Debit, Credit Card or other supported online payment methods. Depending on the payment model of the subscription payments may have to be done upfront (before the subscription is created or updated) or after the bill is created; this means that the account must either have enough funds to cover for the payment or a card/online payment must be available from where money will be directly deducted. Payments required upon the execution of a subscription action (i.e. adding a new service) can be done straight from the subscription action screen.
Recurring card(online) payments
It is possible for customers that choose to pay with credit cards or other online payments to provide their information and whenever a payment is required it will be done automatically. This provides your customers with the security of an uninterrupted service due to payment failures. In order to enable recurring payments, the information (i.e card details or paypal account) must be provided and saved on the subscriber's account, and enabled to be used for recurring payments.
Handling failed recurring payments
In case a payment fails, a grace period can be extended to customers who settle their dues through recurring payments (protecting them from immediate deactivation). It is also possible to deactivate the service only until the payment is effected successfully (short-term deactivation). To enable this option go to Subscription and Billing POlicies and in the Subscription Deactivation tab set the following parameter accordingly: On Recurring Payment Failure Exception (either with Grace period or Short Term Deactivation)
Paying with a different card than the one defined as recurring
By default, whenever money is needed the system will deduct money from the card which is set to be used for 'Recurring payments'. If however, the customer wishes to pay with a different card, it is possible by selecting it at the time of the payment. If a card is not specified, the card that is authorized for recurring payments will be charged.
Paying with other means
If account funds are insufficient to cover a requested subscription change or the activation of a new subscription and there is no registered card used for recurring payments, a customer can manually submit a payment. To do this, use the Pay Now option, which is available in subscription actions that require payment and proceed to make the payment. This would be usually used in cases where cash is provided by the customer.
Additional Processes and Automations for Normal Subscriptions
B2B Subscriptions
Business-to-Business subscriptions represent the agreement between the service company and another company instead of a physical person. They allow the concurrent usage of the subscribed services in various locations, by multiple users or on multiple devices.
- Maximum Capacity: a number defined upon subscription creation which will always be used by billing
- Actual Capacity: a number provided every time the subscription is billed and is based on the actual number of devices/users that used the subscription
- Number of devices added to the subscription: the number of installed items added to the subscription
The above parameters are set on the subscription at the time of its creation
B2B subscriptions can only be created for accounts associated to companies and not physical persons.
To create a B2B subscription you must use a 'Commercial' subscription type and a billing term scheme which supports concurrent usage.
Offering Subscription packages
- A fixed price for all services included in it
- Common subscription and pricing terms to all customers that select to subscribe to it
- Can be swapped with other packages (Swap Package)
- Can be replaced by other subscription types (Replace Subscription)
- Can be discounted automatically by auto-applied additive discounts or by discounts added by on the fly (ad-hoc discounts (Apply Ad-hoc discount)
- Have additional services swapped
For more information on packages refer to Subscription Type
Communicating subscriptions
It is possible to automatically create communications on various events that take place with regard to a subscription, such as creating, cancelling activating or deactivating, changing etc. by setting up 'Event Based Communication Definition' accordingly. You can use tags related to wallets (text that is automatically replaced by values specific to selected records) when creating communication templates or communications. Tags are available for selection by typing '#'. It is also possible to manually create communications which include subscription related information through the communications page by adding the subscription number in the 'Referring to Entities'
Refer to the Communications manual for a complete list of service request tags.
Approving subscriptions
Subscriptions can be configured to require approval from a specific user before they are further processed. This is done by setting up Approval Definitions and triggering Workflow Rules. For more information refer to Managing Approval Requests.
Automation on subscriptions
Subscription processes can be automated by using Workflows. For example, you can use alerts to contact users or schedule activities, when a subscription of a specific type is created. For more information refer to Workflows.
Business Flows
Scenario
Aluxsat Co advertises two subscriber offerings:
Broadband & TV Gold
- 2 main channels that are mandatory for the subscription
- 5 add-on channels selected from a pool of 20 channels
- 50 MB internet
Broadband & TV Platinum
- 5 main channels that are mandatory for the subscription
- 10 add-ons channels selected from a pool of 20 channels
- 50 MB internet
Subscribers must have a streaming device and a modem. Both items are available from Aluxsat Co..
New subscriptions can be created in two ways:
- Customers can visit a retail shop, pick-up the necessary equipment and start using their subscription straight away.
- Customers can place an installation order by calling the Aluxsat Co. call center. The installer activates the subscription from the customer's location using a mobile app.
Subscriptions are invoiced once a month following the business rules below:
- A billing run should be executed on the 20th day of each month, charging the following month
- The transaction date should be the 21st day of the month
- The due date should be set to the 10th of the next month
- Subscribers should always be billed for one period starting from the last day they were billed. I.e., in the July billing run, monthly subscribers should be billed from 1 to 31 August, whereas bi-annual subscribers should be billed from 1 August to 31 January.
- Bills amounting to less than €5 should not be created
- Bills with credit amount €50 and higher should be marked for investigation
- The bill should contain information for each service.
If the outstanding amount of the subscriber is exceeded, then their subscriptions should be deactivated on the 11th of the month. The subscription should be reactivated if a payment is made and the account has no outstanding amount.
Solution
Configuration
- Go to Products and create:
- Channels and broadband (as termed services)
- A physical good for the modem
- A physical good for the Roku box
- Go to Price Plans and provide rates for each of the products.
- Go to Subscription and Billing POlicies
- Create a new policy for Subscription Deactivation
Normal Subscriptions will be deactivated: Based on Day and Hour
Deactivate Normal Subscriptions when the Accounts Receivable Outstanding Amount is greater than: €0.01
- Events that will trigger the automatic Subscription deactivation: On Scheduling Normal Subscription Deactivation
- Create a new policy for Subscription Activation
Activate Subscriptions that were deactivated less than: 30 days ago
Activate Normal Subscriptions when the Accounts Receivable Outstanding Amount is less or equal than: €0.00
Events that will trigger the automatic Subscription activation:On Posting Payments through All Payment Types AND On Scheduling Subscription Activation
- Create a new policy for Subscription Deactivation
- Go to Subscription Maintenance Utility
- Normal Deactivation: Schedule to be executed on the 11th day of every month (one day after due date)
- Activation: Enable the activate normal subscriptions process,
- Go to Billing Term Schemes to define billing rules and set up as follows:
- Type: Normal
- Billing Method: Period (once a month based on a static Billing Cycle Date set to the first day of the month).
- Go to Subscription Types and create your offerings. Create one subscription type per offering.
- Broadband & TV Gold: Includes two main channels that are mandatory for the subscription and five add-ons that can be selected from a pool of 20 channels and 50 MB Internet.
- Add the two main channels and the 50 MB broadband service and define them as 'mandatory' under allowed services
- Add the remaining 20 channels and define them as 'optional' under allowed services
- Add the Roku box and modem in the allowed physical goods
- Define a minimum and maximum number of mandatory services to '2'
- Define a maximum number of optional services to '5'
- Define a dependency of the broadband service on the modem
- Define a dependency of all termed services on the Roku box.
- Broadband & TV Platinum: Includes five main channels that are mandatory for the subscription and 10 add-ons that can be selected from a pool of 20 channels and 100 MB Internet.
- Add the five main channels and the 100 MB broadband service and define them as 'mandatory' under allowed services
- Add the remaining 20 channels and define them as 'optional' under allowed services
- Add the Roku box and the modem in the allowed physical goods
- Define a minimum and maximum number of mandatory services to '5'
- Define a maximum number of optional services to '10'
- Define a dependency of the broadband service on the modem
- Define a dependency of all termed services on the Roku box
- The following steps need only be taken for one subscription type, as the step will add the services in the billing term scheme:
- Add the new billing term in the billing term schemes tab
- Click on 'Add Missing Services' to add to the billing term scheme all the services added to the subscription type
- Define the service billing type as pre-bill (billed before usage)
- Broadband & TV Gold: Includes two main channels that are mandatory for the subscription and five add-ons that can be selected from a pool of 20 channels and 50 MB Internet.
- Go to the Normal Billing Settings
- Set up the normal billing settings as in the table below
- Go to the Normal Billing Run and set up as follows
- Set the 'Bill as of Date' to the first day of the current month
- Set up the billing run in the scheduling settings tab as 'recurring'
- Submit the normal billing run and schedule the first execution up to Formatting step, for the 20th day of the current month.
Once the billing run is completed a new normal billing run job will be created in the scheduler, scheduled for the 20th of the next month.
Normal Billing Settings
| Requirement | Solution |
|---|---|
A billing run should be executed on the 20th day of each month charging the following month. |
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The transaction date should be the 21st day of the month. |
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The due date should be set to the 10th of the next month. | This is set in the Normal Billing Run |
Subscribers should always be billed for one period starting from the last day they were billed). I.e., In the July billing run, monthly subscribers should be billed from 1 to 31 August, whereas bi-annual subscribers should be billed from 1 August to 31 January. |
|
| Bills amounting to less than €5 should not be created. |
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| Bills with credit amount €50 and higher should be marked for investigation. |
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| The amounts should be rounded up to two decimal places. |
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| The bill should contain information for each service. |
|
User Process
Once the configuration is in place, agents can start registering subscriptions.
Retailer Shop Subscriptions
The Become Subscriber action is used and submitted as 'Effective'.
- At the subscriptions Data Entry page:
- Provide the new customer's details
- Select one of two subscription types available
- Select the requested services and hardware equipment
- Submit the action as 'Effective'.
The signal is available as soon as the equipment is connected.
Call Centre Subscriptions
The Become Subscriber action is used and submitted as 'Draft'.
- At the subscriptions Data Entry page:
- Provide the new customer's details
- Select one of two subscription types available
- Select the requested services
- Submit the action as 'Draft'.
The subscription and its services remain in the System as 'Draft'.
- The installer activates the subscription from the customer's location using a mobile app integrated with CRM.COM, using subscription WEB APIs. The installer:
- Executes the Add Installed Item action and enters the serial numbers of the Roku box and modem
- Uses the 'Activate Subscription' action.
On this page
For the developer
Check out the Subscriptions WEB API for a complete list of actions available used to integrate CRM.COM to external systems
Subscription Service Actions WEB API
Release news
Check out a full list of CRM.COM features available per release.
Check out upgrade notes to find out what needs to be done to upgrade from your current release to the latest release of CRM.COM.