Overview

Actions are used to manage subscriptions by carrying out processes specific to subscriptions and their associated services, such as activating, deactivating, resting and providing discounts.

Using the Subscription Action Modal

The actions that can be performed on a subscription are available in the Action Panel on the right of the subscriptions Data Entry page. Actions fall into three categories, determined by the entity they are acting on:

• Subscription Service related actions
• Subscription Installed Items related actionsinstite
• Subscription related actions
   

Select an action to open the subscription action modal and provide the required information. 

The action modal is split into three areas.

Action Selection Area

Located on the left side of the modal, this area changes the most between actions. Amendments allowed by the subscription action can be selected here.

Before using subscription actions with multiple classifications, select the appropriate classification:

Subscription Action Detail Area

Located at the bottom right of the modal, under the Preview Area, this area displays information regarding the execution of the action.

• Subscription Action Classification indicates the reasoning behind the action being carried out. (available values if configured)
• Performed by User indicates the user who performed the Action.  Defaults to the logged-in user.

• Select the Performed Date (and time) of the action. 
  Unless defined, Performed Date is equal to the date of execution. For activation related actions, it can be set to a date in the past from which billing will start. The past date must be after the date on which the service was added on the subscription in a 'Draft' state.

• Scheduling Information (available for some actions only)

• Preview Rates demonstrates how the upcoming bill is affected if the action is submitted (available for some actions only for Normal and Prepaid Subscriptions).
• Checkout button is only available for actions which involve billing. Once you checkout, the rates will be effected are calculated and presented.
• Click Submit to execute or schedule the action.
  

Preview bill amount before performing an action

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It is possible to preview the total amount to be billed upon the execution of a subscription action. In CRM.COM for every action which will cause financial changes it is possible to preview the amount by which the customer will be billed. This is done by clicking on the Checkout button available from the subscription action page

 

 

 

 

Paying with a card than the one defined as recurring

if charges are involved and a card is already registered on the associated account (and set as recurring) then money will be automatically deducted from the card once the action is submitted. However, if the card is not set as a recurring, or the customer would like to pay with a different card or by other means it is also possible through the subscription action modal.

Paying with a different card

Select a Payment Preference and select the card with which the customer would like to pay

Paying by other means

Click on Pay Now link, which is available in subscription actions that require payment and proceed to make the payment as defined in the Financial Transactions

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Scheduling an action

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Selected actions can be scheduled and executed at a time in the future. If an action can be scheduled you will be able to see the scheduling information on the action's modal window. You can either specify a specific date or in how many days the actions should be scheduled for. For further information on scheduled actions refer to Scheduled Subscription Actions.

Viewing legacy actions

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Some of the subscription actions used in previous releases have been replaced by a new action. If you would like to keep using these action then you should enable them through Compatibility Settings available at Foundation / Platform / Manage Admin Settings / Set up Compatibility Settings. Compatibility settings ensure that features remain compatible across releases. 'Enabled' legacy subscription actions are available.

The following legacy subscription actions are replaced by 'Amend Services and Installed Items' subscription actions:

• Add Service
• Remove Service
• Add Installed Item
• Remove Installed Item
• Change Subscription Distributions

Subscription Actions

Subscription Service Actions

Add Services

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Select 'Add Services' action to add termed services (services charged on a recurring basis) to the subscription and additionally also add installed items. You can Submit as Draft to add services to be activated later, or use Submit to add services as 'Effective' (i.e., those ready to be billed). Services and physical goods available to be added are the ones allowed by the Subscription Type.

Add service is a legacy action. This means that you won't be able to view the action unless you enable it through the Compatibility settings

Remove Services

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Cancel

Select 'Remove Services' and Cancel classification to cancel a termed service no longer required by the subscriber.

Whereas Cancel Subscription cancels all services, the Cancel Service action cancels specific services. 

Penalty-free service cancellation and its time limit depend on the company's business rules which are defined in the Subscription & Billing Policies

Regret

Select 'Remove Services' and Regret classification to remove a termed service, soon after it was added because the customer changed their mind.

You can also use the action to regret a service swap (i.e., if a subscriber recently changed service from P1 to P2 and would like to return to P1). 

Whereas Regret Subscription regrets all services, the Regret Service action cancels specific services.

Define Regretting rules at Subscription & Billing Policies

Undo Add Service

Select 'Remove Services' and 'Undo Add Service' classification to remove 'Draft' termed services added to a subscription by mistake. Available if the subscription services are in a 'Draft' state which means that the services have not yet been billed

Start Services

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Use 'Start Services' to activate termed services that are in a 'Draft' or 'Not Effective' state.

Available if the subscription services are Draft or Not Effective. The subscription services that are to become 'Effective' must be allowed by the subscription type, billing term scheme and provisioning distributor. 

Stop Services 

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Use 'Stop Services' to deactivate selected or all termed subscription services. If all services are deactivated, the action's effect is similar to that of the Deactivate Subscription action. The action is only available if the subscription service is in an 'Effective' life cycle state.

Swap Services

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Use 'Swap Services' to replace existing subscription termed services.

Upgrade

Replace with a more expensive service

Downgrade

Replace with a cheaper package

Switch

Replace with a package of the same price

When a classification is selected, the system filters and presents the services available for each swap classification. Tiers defined in the subscription type determine the filtering and swap classification. The available services to swap must follow the tier rules specified in the subscription type.

The services that can be swapped are allowed by the subscription type, billing term scheme and provisioning distributor.

Define swapping rules at Subscription & Billing Policies

Add Service Usage

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Use 'Add Service Usage' to add usage services (services charged based on their usage, such as film, telephone logs or games) ordered by a subscriber. Available usage services are defined in 'Usage Service Catalogs'.

Define Usage Service Billing Rules at Billing Term Schemes

 Amend Bundle

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Use 'Amend Bundle' to change the termed services (e.g. channels in Subscription TV) included in a flexible product bundle. Services can be added to or removed from the bundle, based on the components and restrictions set up on creating the Product.

Add Expense

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Expenses are used to bill a subscription with a one-off charge. Expenses can also be automatically added to subscriptions upon the execution of an action if defined in the Subscription &Billing Policies Expenses. If you would like to add an expense manually use 'Add Expense' to manually Only expenses allowed by the subscription type  are available for selection.

Cancel Expense

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Use 'Cancel Expense' to remove expenses added to the subscription through Add Expense action.  The action can be used after the expense has been rated but not after it has been billed.

Installed Item Actions

Add Installed Items

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Use 'Add Installed Items' Add traceable physical goods necessary for the operation of a subscription, such as decoders, smartcards, modems or telephones. 

Physical goods that can be selected must be allowed by the subscription type and the provisioning provider.The installed items available to be added are those which reside in warehouses as defined in the 'Warehouse Types Used During Transactions'. It is also to import an installed item (ad-hoc) which the customer owns and is not yet registered in CRM.COM by using the Import Installed Item link.

Note that you can block the usage of installed items which reside in certain warehouses through the subscription type. For example if you Block Rentals of Installed Items, then you will not be able to add to the subscription any installed items which reside in warehouses used for rentals.

Remove Installed Items

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Use 'Remove Installed Items' to remove an installed item from a subscription when the subscription is canceled or regretted, or if the item is no longer necessary.

•  Rented installed items are returned to a warehouse as specified in the 'Warehouse Types Used During Transactions' using a stock in warehouse transaction.
• Sold items or items that originally belonged to the customer are removed from the subscription and remain in the account as an asset.

If the 'Undo Add Installed Item' action is used then regardless if its rented or sold the installed item will be returned to the place it was originally taken from (either warehouse or customer), so that it can be directly reused for addition to a subscription.

In both cases the installed item history is updated accordingly.

Move Installed Items to Another Subscription

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Use the action to move installed items between subscriptions of the same account owner. If either subscription is 'Effective' then restrictions and dependencies set on the subscription type must be met.

Swap Installed Items

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Use to replace an existing installed item (e.g., in case it is broken or exchanged for a new or different model).   The system checks that the subscription is owned by an active account and for a valid warehouse in which to store the removed item, as defined in the 'Warehouse Types Used During Transactions'.

•  New installed items are issued, removed from the warehouse using a stock out warehouse transaction and installed items history is updated.
• Rented installed items are returned to a warehouse as specified in the 'Warehouse Types Used During Transactions' using a stock in warehouse transaction and the installed items history is updated.
• If the replaced installed item originally belonged to the customer (i.e. identified through the ownership status) then it will remain on the customer as an asset)

Subscription Actions

Become Subscriber ('Effective' or 'Draft')

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Register a new subscription from scratch. The action is triggered using NEW from the subscription Action Menu of Data Entry or Summary page. The subscription can be created in a 'Draft' or 'Effective' life cycle state.

Subscriptions created in a 'Draft' state are not activated. I.e., signals are not transmitted to the subscriber and will require the Activate Subscription action to be done at a later stage.

Activate Subscription

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Use to activate all subscription services in a 'Draft' or 'Not Effective' state. A subscription can be activated when its life cycle state is:

• 'Draft', i.e., the subscription was created but not activated, or
• 'Not Effective', i.e., the subscription has been disconnected due to overdue Invoices. 

The action cannot be used, if not all services are 'Draft' or 'Not Effective'. In this case, the Start Service action must be used instead.

Define Subscription Activation rules in the Subscription Activation Policy found at Subscription & Billing Policies

Deactivate Subscription

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Disconnect all effective subscription services. Deactivation can result in a pause in billing and an interruption in transmission, depending on the provisioning distributor.

Define Subscription Deactivation rules in the Subscription Deactivation Policy found at Subscription & Billing Policies

Short-term Subscription Deactivation

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Temporarily deactivate a subscription for a short period and automatically reactivate it. If the action is scheduled to take place in the future then the short-term deactivation end date must be greater than that of the scheduled date.

Use 'End Short-term Subscription Deactivation' action to Activate subscriptions in short-term deactivation, on customer request, earlier than scheduled.

Define Subscription Short Term Deactivation rules in the Subscription Deactivation Policy found at Subscription & Billing Policies

Amend Services and Installed Items

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Amend a subscription by adding or removing termed services and installed items or by amending their distribution as well as swapping termed services and adding expenses. This action replaces all legacy actions. For additional information on each legacy action refer to the action itself.

Terminate Subscription

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Cancel

Cancel a subscription and all associated services. The system verifies that the subscription account is active, and that 'cancellation inside and outside binding' rules set in the billing definition are met.

Regret

Cancel a subscription and all associated services, in case subscribers change their mind within a given time from the first activation.  The system verifies that the subscription account is active and that 'regret period' rules set are met.

Define Regretting and Cancellation Rules in the respective tabs at Subscription & Billing Policies

Replace Subscription

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Use Replace subscription when you would like to replace the existing subscription of a customer with a subscription of a different Subscription Type. The system verifies that the subscription account is active and follows the rules defined in the subscription type.

Define Replacing rules in the respective tab at Subscription & Billing Policies

Swap Package

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Substitutes subscription packages. Swap package actions are classified into 'Downgrade', 'Switch', and 'Upgrade' packages.

Define Swapping rules in the respective tab at Subscription & Billing Policies

Rest Subscription

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Deactivate a subscription, excluding it from billing for a specific period. Used to pause a subscription when the subscriber is going to be away from the physical address where the services are delivered for a predetermined amount of time.

The system verifies that the subscription account is active and that the 'resting' rules defined are met. If the action is scheduled to take place in the future then the resting end date must be greater than that of the scheduled date. Use 'End Subscription Resting' to pull a subscription out of resting earlier than scheduled.

Define Resting period rules in the respective tabs at Subscription & Billing Policies

Extend Grace Period

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Grant a number of days before deactivating subscribers who are behind in their payments, or reactivate a disconnected subscription.
Subscriptions in grace are billed normally and excluded from deactivation. The system verifies that the subscription account is active and that 'grace' rules set in the billing definition are met

Define Grace Period rules in the respective tab at Subscription & Billing Policies

Bill Subscriber

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Bill a normal subscription or display the dates on which a prepaid subscription is estimated to be disconnected, based on the funds available in the subscriber's wallet. ('Bill as of Date' cannot be assigned on prepaid subscriptions.)

Once a bill is created, normal subscriptions can be settled directly by using the QUICK PAY action.

Amend Billing Terms

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Changes associated to the billing term of the subscription can be achieved by this action. According to the desired changes you can select one of the following classifications:

Adjust Binding Period: Modify the contract binding start and end date.

Cancel Binding Period: Cancel current customer contracts.  A subscription can be created without a contract, in which case the subscriber is not bound by an agreement.

Extend Binding Period: Extend a customer's contract before it expires, by updating the customer binding end date for a period defined by the user.

New Binding Period: Amend the contracted period, renewing the binding start and end date.

Renew Binding Period: Renew expired contracts by setting the binding end date to a new expiry date.

New Billing Terms: Replace the subscriber's current contract with a new one, amending basic attributes such as: 

• Billing Term Scheme
• Billing Frequency
• Price Plan
• Binding Period
• Binding Start
• Binding End
• Concurrent Usage
• Concurrent Usage Rate Percentage

Define Billing Amendment rules in the respective tab at Subscription & Billing Policies

Change Subscription Address

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Change the physical address of service delivery. The action can be used to:

• Create a new address and define it as the subscription address
• Change the subscription address to an existing address
• Change existing subscription address details
• Assign the billing address as the subscription address.

Change Subscriber Account

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Use the action to transfer a subscription from one account to another. Select the respective classification depending on what the desired result is.

Change Accounts Receivable

Bill the subscription to a different account belonging to the same subscriber.

Change Subscriber

Use the action to transfer a subscription from one subscriber account to another.

Provide Ad Hoc Discount

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Select and apply a preconfigured discount. For more information view Additive Discounts available in Pricing

Change Subscription Distribution

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Assign or switch subscription services and installed items to a different provisioning distributor or cancel the existing distribution. To use the action on an installed item or service:

• Move an already distributed service to another distributor, or 
• Enable the distribution of a device with no distribution to an existing distributor, or
• Remove the distribution of service from its distributor.

Scheduled Subscription Actions

Viewing scheduled subscription actions 

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Scheduled subscription actions can be viewed from the History modal available in the Actions' menu of the Subscriptions Data Entry page: Subscription Actions History / Scheduled

Executing scheduled subscription actions

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Scheduled subscription actions are executed by the Maintenance Utilities process available at Billing / Subscriptions / Subscriptions Maintenance Utilities. Once the process is configured and enabled, scheduled subscription actions with a scheduled date of execution before or equal to the current date are executed.

The process is configured once and executed on a recurring basis according to the Frequency settings.