What are Subscriptions?

A Subscription is a collection of Services which are provided to customers and billed on a recurring, usage or One-Time basis. The Subscriber is the customer who owns the account associated with the Subscription and receives its Services.

Subscriptions Glossary

Term	Description
Subscriber	A customer that receives Subscription Services.
Subscription Actions	System Actions that are used for the creation and maintenance of Subscriptions, including their activation and the addition of Services to existing Subscriptions.
Behaviour Code	Indicates the type of behaviour of a Subscription Action that will be applied on Subscriptions, such as the addition or removal of a Subscription Service or the addition of Installed Items.
Business Classification Code	Business Classification Codes group the results of Subscription Actions (which are based on their own Behaviour Code), into separate meaningful categories, enabling the user to distinguish between the results of different business activities. For example, to differentiate between the Addition of Prepaid or Normal Services.
Unsettled Subscriptions	Subscriptions related to an Accounts Receivable which is in debt.
Settled Subscriptions	Subscriptions related to an Accounts Receivable with no debt.
Terminated Subscriptions	Subscriptions that are no longer in operation and are not billed.
Effective Subscriptions	Subscriptions with active Services, provisioned to the Subscribers and charged by the Billing Engine.
Physical Goods	A tangible commodity which is provided to customers, such as cameras, decoders and magazines. Physical Goods can be traceable or not traceable. Traceable Physical Goods can be traced through a unique identifier, usually a serial number. Not Traceable Physical Goods are not traced to a single instance and are measured based on their quantity.
Installed Items	Instances of traceable Physical Goods.
Services	An intangible commodity which is provided to customers, One Timeorrecurringbasis, such as telephony, TV channels, repairs, installations and deliveries. In most cases, the customer does not have exclusive ownership of the purchased Service but rather benefits from its outcome.
Usage Services	Services that are provided upon customer request and are billed based on their usage.
Termed Services	Services that are provided continuously and billed on a recurring basis.
Expenses	Services that are provided just once, usually upon customer request, and are billed just once.
Distributors	Distributorsare used to: Relate Subscription Services and Subscription associated devices to a specific Provisioning Provider; CRM.COM offers integration with several Providers. Define what Services will be available from each device if more than one device is available on a single Subscription.
Subscription Location	The physical location of the Subscriber. Subscription Location consists of the defined Contact Information address attributes that belong to the related Account Receivable’s owner OR billing contact.
Billing Address	The address where the Subscription's Bill is sent.
Event-based Billing Policy	A billing policy involving a procedure that is used to perform billing on the basis of an event or fulfilled set of conditions. Events represent Subscription Actions applied on Subscriptions.
Billable Period Start Date	Determines the start date of the billable period of each Subscription Service. For example, if a Service is effective from the 1st of June but the Billable Start Date is the 1st of August, then the Billing Engine will only start considering the Service from the 1st of August.
Billing Effective Date	The date on which a Service starts being billed.
Subscription Service Effective Date	Determines the date that a Service is activated (its Life Cycle State set to 'Effective').
Billing Directive	Information available on the Subscription Services, required by the Billing Engine to decide whether a Service must be billed, credited or ignored.
Agreement Date	The date that a contract between the Subscriber and the company is signed.
Binding Dates	The dates binding customers to their Subscription. According to the Business rules, Subscribers wishing to cancel their Subscription before the binding date are liable to be penalised.

Subscriptions Key Processes and Concepts

Processes / Concept	Description
Using Subscription Distributors	Subscription Distributors (also known as Subscription Provisioning Distributors) are mandatory for an effective Subscription. Distributors are neither Services nor hardware Distributors are used to: Related Subscription Services and Subscription related devices to a specific Provisioning Provider, as CRM.COM offers integration with multiple Provisioning Providers. Define what Services will be available from each device if more than one device is available on a single Subscription. When it is required to offer customers the option to have more than one device with different Services on a single Subscription, the availability of each Service on each device is controlled by the Distributor. CRM.COM enables the user to define discounted prices on Services provisioned via multiple Distributors (i.e. devices). For more information view /wiki/spaces/V4Manual/pages/9831566. Provisioning Distributors can be created via one of the Provisioning Providers modules and must be added in the 'Allowed' Distributors of a Subscription Type to be made available for selection. They are added to the Subscription along with Services and Installed Items. CRM.COM also enables the use of the same Installed Items (e.g. the box) by multiple Providers. In the case where a single Subscription is managed by multiple Providers, Provider X provisions the Subscription with TV channels while Provider Y provisions OTT Services.
Subscription Action Types & Subscription Sub- Action Types	Subscription Action Types and Subscription Sub-Action Types provide the ability to set up different rules around Subscription Actions having the same behaviour and Business Classification Codes. Each Subscription Action Type is related to a Behaviour Code and consists of one or multiple Subscription Sub-Action Types. Each Subscription Sub-Action Type is related to a Business Classification Code. Subscription Action Types and Subscription Sub-Action Types are configurable and multiple Subscription Action Types, or Subscription Sub-Action Types can be mapped to each Behaviour Code or Business Classification Code, respectively. Subscription Action Types and Subscription Sub-Action Types are not mandatory to create and execute a Subscription Action. The behaviour of the Subscription Actions depends entirely on the Behaviour and Business Classification Codes; Subscription Action Types and Subscription Sub-Action Types are only taken into consideration if they are present. Subscription Action Types and Sub-Action Types become mandatory only if the selected Behaviour Code or Business Classification Code are overridden by the Subscription Action Type or Subscription Sub-Action Type Configuration.
Automatically charging Subscriptions based on specific events	There are cases where the user may require to charge their Subscribers automatically based on certain changes Subscribers request on their Subscriptions. For example, a startup fee may be charged as soon as a new Subscription is created or the Subscriber may be charged on requesting to swap his Installed Item for the installation expenses. Such charges can be configured to be automatically performed in the System, by specifying what should be charged, on which Event and, optionally, by providing conditions to limit the recurrence of the charges.
Preview Effects on Rates for upcoming periods before executing actual changes	There is the option to preview upcoming Bills, before actually making any changes to the Subscription (such as removing, swapping or adding Services). The process can be used for both Normal and Prepaid Subscriptions.
Concurrent Usage	Subscriptions can be used for home or public usage. CRM.COM enables the user to create a single Subscription for public usage, e.g. in restaurants or hotels, and bill the Subscriber based on the concurrent use of the provided Services and a rate percentage, which is agreed between the customer and the company providing the Services. The final rate is calculated based on the following formula Price Plan Rate * Number of Services used concurrently * Rate amount / 100
Restrict Subscription Orders and Activations based on Credit Limit Status AVAILABLE FROM CRM.COM R11.0.0	The Accounts Receivable Credit Limit is the financial amount that your Organisation is willing to allow its customers to be in credit based on your business and financial rules. The Credit Limit is set individually on each Accounts Receivable, and it is compared to the account's balance. If the Credit Limit is exceeded, then customers are blocked from ordering new Physical Goods or Services, or from subscribing to any new Services and applying any changes to their Subscriptions. You have the option to override the Credit Limit functionality by setting the Override Credit Limit Rules in the active Subscription Billing Term Definition

Subscriptions Access & Viewing Controls

Business Network Characteristics define the level of access for each record. i.e. whether it will be available for selection, viewing or editing.

Entity	Network Characteristics	Description
Subscriptions	Explicit Viewing Entity Account Based Entity	Subscription records can be accessed, viewed and modified by users defined as members of the Subscription's Owned By Group, by users that belong to a Group that collaborates with the Owned By Group, or by Super Users. Subscriptions cannot be created unless an Accounts Receivable is selected.
Subscription Types	Controlled Selection Access Entity	A Subscription Type can be added to a Subscription, provided the user adding the Type belongs to one of the Allowed Organisational Units defined in the Subscription Type, or a collaboration exists between their Unit and the AOU of the Type, or is a Super User.
Subscription Action Type	Global Access Entity	Subscription Action Type have no access restrictions. They can be viewed and selected by all users.

Subscriptions Related Modules

Entity	Interaction of Subscriptions with Entity
Contact Information	The Contact Information of the Subscription Owner.
Accounts Receivable	A Subscription is owned by an Accounts Receivable.
Wallets	Funds available in Wallets are used to settle Prepaid Subscriptions.
Products	The Services and Physical Goods added on a Subscription.
Installed Items	Physical Goods coming from warehouses that are traceable through their SerialNumber, such as modems and decoders, and that are added to the Subscription.
Conditional Access	The Provisioning Provider that is responsible for sending the activation/deactivation signals to the Subscriber's device, according to the state of the Services within CRM.COM.
Billing	The Billing Engine is responsible for the Billing of Subscriptions.
Buy in Advance	Buy in Advance Requests can be created against Subscriptions to bill Subscribers for a period longer than the agreed contract time, in exchange for a discount.
Additive Discounts	Additive Discounts are used offer discounts on Subscription Services.
Usage Service Catalogs	Include Usage Services than can be added to a Subscription as well as their pricing information.
Communications	Important information, such as contract details and Serial Number of Installed Items, can be communicated automatically by Subscriptions
Jobs	Subscriptions can be created and maintained through Jobs.

Subscriptions - Business Examples

The following section provides business examples of how the CRM.COM Subscriptions module is used.

Creating Draft and Effective Subscriptions

Draft Versus Effective Subscriptions

Business Requirement

Company ZX has two ways for creating new Subscriptions.

Through Retailer Shops, from where customers receive all the required equipment and are be able to start using their Subscription directly.
Through an order placed by calling the Company ZX Call Centre. In this case, an installation order is placed, and when the installers are at the customer's residence they activate the Subscription via their company phones.

CRM.COM Solution

Retailer Shop Subscriptions

When Subscriptions are made at a Retailer Shop, the "Become Subscriber" Action is used. All of the new customer's details are entered, and the requested Services and hardware equipment are registered at once in the System.

Once a Subscription Action is submitted, the Subscription becomes 'Effective' and as soon as the customers connect the equipment, the channels are available on their TV.

Call Centre Subscriptions

When Subscriptions are registered at the Call Centre the "Become Subscriber" Action is used. All of the new customer's details are entered, and the requested Services are registered at once in the System.

The Subscription Action is submitted in a 'Draft' state. The Subscription and Subscription Services remain in the System as 'Draft'.
Once at the customer's residence, the installer enters in the System the Serial Numbers of the Installed Items that were added by Subscription Action Add Installed Item and then activates the Subscription using the Activate Subscription Action.
The installer can do this by sending predefined messages integrated with CRM.COM via WEB APIs.

For more information view

Reactivating Subscribers APPLICABLE UP TO CRM.COM R10.0.0

As from CRM.COM R11, all Subscription will be activated based on the execution of Subscription Maintenance Utility.

Using "Re-Activate Subscribers" Batch Process

Business Requirement

Company ZX would like to reactivate disconnected Subscribers that have settled their outstanding Balance. This process is executed once a day in the afternoon as soon as the Call Centre is closed. If the number of Subscriptions is too large, separate reactivations are performed for each area.

CRM.COM Solution

To meet the above requirement, a Reactivation batch process is configured in the System and scheduled to be executed every morning with 3 hours difference between Reactivations. Separate reactivations take place for each area.

Egersville Reactivation Definition

Subscription Types	Hours since Balance Change:		When:	Recurrence Settings
Conditions		Parameters	Scheduling Information
EgersvilleSub Type	1 hr	N/A	Recurrence	Every day at 4:00

Georgsville Reactivation Definition

Subscription Types	Hours since Balance Change:		When:	Recurrence Settings
Conditions		Parameters	Scheduling Information
GeorgesvilleSub Type	1 hr	N/A	Recurrence	Every day at 7:00

More Information on the Reactivations Action can be found at Using Activate Settled Subscriptions Runs.

Deactivating Subscribers APPLICABLE UP TO CRM.COM R10.0.0

Using "Deactivate Subscribers" Process

Business Requirement

Company ZX runs deactivations once a month. Subscribers that are 10 days past their due date and the owe more than €10, must be disconnected. The deactivations should be split over the first week of the month with 1000 Subscriptions being deactivated at a time.

Also, all customers with bad credit must be deactivated regardless of the amount they owe.

CRM.COM Solution

Two deactivation processes will need to be configured in the System and scheduled to be executed once a month.

Normal Deactivation

Account Balance	Due X days Ago	Start Again After	Batch Size	As Of Date	When	Recurrence Settings
Conditions		Parameters			Scheduling Information
€10	10	1 day	1000	First Day of the execution	Recurrence	First Monday of every month

Bad Creditors Deactivation Run

Accounts Receivable Credit Rating	Due X days Ago	Start Again After	Batch Size	As Of Date	When	Recurrence Settings
Conditions		Parameters			Scheduling Information
CAA	10	N/A	N/A	N/A	Recurrence	First Monday of every month

More Information on Deactivations action can be found at Using Deactivate Unsettled Subscriptions Run Definitions for releases up to CRM.COM R10
Using Deactivate Normal Subscriptions Run Definitions for releases CRM.COM R11 and onward

Executing Scheduled Actions APPLICABLE UP TO CRM.COM R10.0.0

As from CRM.COM R11, all scheduled subscription actions are executed by the Subscription Maintenance Utility, regardless of the scheduled action's Behaviour Code

Executing Scheduled actions according to Behavior code

Business Requirement

Company ZX would like to execute its scheduled Actions in batches based on the Action Type. For example, all Actions that are not related to activations or deactivations (i.e. Add Installed Items and Services) should be executed first followed by the Actions related to activations and deactivations.

The execution should be done on a daily basis after midnight.

CRM.COM Solution

To meet the above requirement, two batch processes must be configured in the System. These processes will be scheduled to run every night after 00:00.

The processes without activation Type actions will be scheduled first, and the Activation and Deactivation processes will be scheduled to take place an hour later.

See the full configuration below:

All Actions (Apart Activation/Deactivation)

Conditions	Scheduling Information
Behaviour Codes	When	Recurrence Settings
All behaviour Codes fornonActivation /Deactivation actions	Recurrence	Every day at 00:05

Conditions

Scheduling Information

Behaviour Codes

When

Recurrence Settings

All behaviour Codes fornonActivation /Deactivation actions

Recurrence

Every day at 00:05

Activation/Deactivation Actions

Conditions	Scheduling Information
Behaviour Codes	When	Recurrence Settings
All behaviour Codes of Activation/Deactivation Actions	Recurrence	Every day at 01:05

Conditions

Scheduling Information

Behaviour Codes

When

Recurrence Settings

All behaviour Codes of Activation/Deactivation Actions

Recurrence

Every day at 01:05

More Information on Scheduled Actions Run can be found at Using Execute Scheduled Subscription Actions Run Definitions.

Related Areas

Page:

Managing Subscriptions
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Using Deactivate Normal Subscriptions Run Definitions
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Scheduling Subscription Actions
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Extending Binding End and Allowed Cancel Dates
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Configuring Subscription Action and Sub Action Types
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Using Execute Scheduled Subscription Actions Run Definitions
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Using Take Subscriptions out of Short Term Deactivation Run Definitions
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Using Deactivate Unsettled Subscriptions Run Definitions
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Using Deactivate Subscriptions in Grace Run Definitions
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Using Take Subscriptions out of Resting Run Definitions
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Using Activate Settled Subscriptions Run Definitions
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Become Subscriber
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Cancel Expense
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Configuring Subscription Definitions
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Configuring Subscription Types

Table of Contents

What are Subscriptions?

Subscriptions Glossary

Subscriptions Key Processes and Concepts

Subscriptions Access & Viewing Controls

Subscriptions Related Modules

Subscriptions - Business Examples

Creating Draft and Effective Subscriptions

Reactivating Subscribers APPLICABLE UP TO CRM.COM R10.0.0

Deactivating Subscribers APPLICABLE UP TO CRM.COM R10.0.0

Executing Scheduled Actions APPLICABLE UP TO CRM.COM R10.0.0

Related Areas