Example - Building a Top-up Package
A top-up package that adds a £10.00 cash amount to a prepaid subscriber
The end user of a network.'s balance. The allowance valid for 30 days, is non-recurring and not shareable.
Step 1: Identify the Components
To create the new top-up package, you'll need the following:
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Allowances - You need allowances to tell the network
In the context of CMP, the infrastructure on which usage of registered customers will be measured – this could be a mobile phone network, broadband network or other non-telecommunications network. what to provision the customer In the context of the Cloud Monetisation Platform, an individual or organisation who has signed an agreement to take goods and services from a service provider. A customer receives a bill associated with one or more subscriptions, and can be a single end user or a large company with many subscriptions assigned to one agreement. with. In this case, allowances for the following are needed:-
£10.00 cash
This allowance must be linked to the top-up package.
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Services - Services are required to drive the allowances and provide non-usage
The consumption of services, for example a subscriber using call minutes. items. The price plan needs the following:-
A service for the inclusive allowances. This will be a subscription
A billing entity that incurs a charge. Examples include a network attached device whose usage you want to measure and charge for, or a monthly software subscription service. Services are used to add charges to a product, so this is the service that will be priced at £10 to cover the charge of the top-up.
This service must be linked to the top-up package.
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A top-up package - You need to configure a top-up package that will be linked to the allowance and subscription service. and discount.
Once you have configured the package, you need to link it to a tariff so that it will be available for selection to customers on that tariff.
In the component hierarchy below, the required components are indicated with checkmarks:
Step 2: Configure Allowances
The first step is to ensure that allowances are available to meet the needs of the new propositions, because allowances are used to provision propositions.
The package needs a cash type allowance in the amount you require, for example £10.00. The billing type should be prepaid and the settings for sharing and recurring must not be enabled. The following is an example of the configuration for the cash allowance:
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Allowance Code | This is auto-generated and cannot be altered. |
| Allowance Description | Cash Allowance 10 Pounds |
| Type |
CASH |
| OCS Allowance Name |
The allowance name in the OCS that is associated with this allowance, in this case it is CASH_10. |
| Billing Type | Prepaid |
| Allowance |
In this case, the allowance is for 10 units of MONEY |
| Unlimited | This allowance has a limit, so this setting is not selected. |
| Recurring |
This setting is not selected. |
| Recurring Frequency | This setting is not selected. |
| Duration | 30 Days |
| Proratable | Not selected. |
| Rollover | Not selected. |
| Shared | Not selected. |
In the Business Configuration A module in the CMP Administation console that provides for viewing and modification of business and user applicable system configuration. console, the configuration is as follows:
Step 3: Configure Services
The top-up package requires a service to charge for the inclusive allowances - £10.00 in this case.
The configuration settings for the service are as follows:
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Main | |
| Service Code | An unique alphanumeric code for the service. |
| Service Description | A brief meaningful descriptive name for the service of up to 30 characters - Top-up Charge, in this case. |
| Long Description | A longer description for the service that can be viewed by other CMP users, so it needs to be meaningful. It does not appear on invoices. |
| Service Category |
The type of service - In this case Subscription. |
| Global Service |
Unselected = No= The service is only relevant to a particular tariff and is not available to all subscribers. |
| Apply To | The service applies to All Subscribers and not to the principal subscriber only |
| Billing | |
| Recurring charge? |
Unselected = No |
| Suppress from Invoice |
Unselected = No = the service appears on the customer’s invoice |
| Price Min | The minimum price allowed for the service being created. This allows agents to override the default price. |
| Price Max | The maximum price allowed for the service being created. This allows agents to override the default price. |
| Price Default | The default price for the service. In this case the default is £10. |
| Default Nominal Code |
A nominal Code is required so that each time a customer is charged for this service it can be accounted for in the ledger. The Nominal Ledger Code is made up of two parts. The first part is the cost centre of the service, and differs from tariff to tariff. The second part is the Object Code, and relates to the type of service being charged for. The nominal ledger code is always be displayed in the following format: • Character 1 – blank • Characters 2-13 - Business Unit • Character 14 - decimal point • Characters 15-20 - Object Account (Non-Key) • Character 21 - decimal point • Character 22-29 - Subsidiary |
| Period Covered |
For recurring charges, the frequency of occurrence. This is not a recurring charge so the field is left blank. |
| Billing Offset | The number of billing periods the customer pays in advance to offset the service charges. No billing offset is required in this case. |
| Exclude until billed up to date | Whether active services on the subscription or account are to be excluded until the billed up to date. This means that services billed in advance are suppressed from future billing until the agreement's Old Next Expected Invoice Date (ONEID) reaches the date to which the service was previously billed. For example, this enables a service charge to cover a full 12 month period and no further charge is made until those 12 months are over. In this case the checkbox is unselected. |
| Credit on Termination? |
Unselected = No = the pro-rata calculation does not take place and the customer does not receive arrears for the amount paid in advance. |
| Itemised Bill? |
Unselected = No . |
| Prorate at Start? |
Often, a customer’s first or final invoice is not for a full calendar month. The Pro-rata fields indicate whether the first and last bills should charge for this service on a pro rata basis. Unselected = No = Charge the customer a full payment for the month for the service regardless of dates.
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| Prorate at End? | |
| Bill Future on Termination? | Applies where the service has NOT been charged for in advance. In this case you want to send a final invoice to the customer, charging them for any days they have been connected to the service that have not yet been paid for. This is not required for services charged for in advance |
| Dates Required? |
The type of dates to appear on the customer’s invoice for the service:
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| Dates on Next Line |
Where dates appear on an invoice in relation to the charge for the service. Dates can be displayed next to the charge or beneath the charge on the next line. Unselected = No = Dates appear on the same line, next to the charge. |
| Price Consolidation Service |
Applies to subscription services only. The price consolidation service code. This enables the chosen service to become part of one consolidated service, which is several subscription services grouped together to appear on the subscription invoice as one service with one price against it. In this case, no services are consolidated so this field is left blank. |
| Discount Consolidation Service |
Applies to subscription services only. The discount consolidation service code. This enables the chosen service to become part of one consolidated service, which is several discounted subscription services grouped together to appear on the subscription invoice as one service with one discount against it. This does not apply in this case, so the field is left blank. |
| Network Information | |
| Adding WorkFlow Event Type |
For subscription services only. The workflow event type and code to be automatically created at subscription level each time the service is added to a customer record. In this case, leave blank. |
| Deleting Workflow Event Type |
For subscription services only. The workflow event type and code to be automatically created at subscription level each time the service is deleted from a customer record. In this case, leave blank. |
| Service Code Sequence | CMP automatically assigns a sequence code to the service. This can be used for external reporting. |
| Service Group | Services can be grouped together on an invoice, for example NETWRK or DEFALT, rather than the invoice being a long list of services. In this case, the Other Charges and Credits group is selected. |
| Connection Dependent |
Whether a subscription needs to be connected in order for the service to be chargeable, for example, a line charge. Unselected = No = connection is not required. |
| Additional Details | |
| Text Code Effective Date | The date from which this service is taxable. If it is a date in the future, the service will not be taxable until that date. |
| Tax Code | The tax code that applies to the service. |
| Tax rate | The rate at which tax is charged for the service. This is derived from the selected tax code |
| Active? |
Indicates whether the service is active and available to new subscribers. You can de-activate a service in the future without affecting subscribers already connected to this service. Select Yes |
| Explanation | Explanatory text to help future CMP 8.22 users understand the service. |
In Business Configuration, the configuration looks like this:
Step 4: Configure Package
Now that you have configure the allowance and the service, you can configure the top-up package that will roll them up.
The configuration settings for the package are as follows:
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Package Code | 6-character unique alphanumeric code for the package |
| Package Description | A description name for the package -Top Up 10 Cash, in this case. |
| Long Description | A longer description for the service that can be viewed by other CMP users, so it needs to be meaningful. |
| Classification |
This package is a Top-up package |
| Billing Type | Prepaid |
| Recurring | Checkbox unselected = No |
| Duration | 1 month |
| Shared? | This checkbox is inactive; top-up packages cannot be shared. |
| End Date |
The date on which the package expires. You can leave this field blank. |
| Active? |
Indicates whether the discount scheme is active and available to new subscribers. Select Yes |
| Event |
The workflow event type and code to be automatically created at subscription level each time the package is added to a customer record. In this case, it's theSuccessful Top-up (PRCH) (SUCT) workflow event. |
| Explanation | Explanatory text to help future CMP 8.22 users understand the discount scheme |
| Tooltip Text | Explanatory text that appears when a user hovers over the package in AgentView |
In Business Configuration, the settings appear as follows:
The final step is to configure the links for the package as follows:
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A link to the cash allowance:
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A link to the subscription service for the top-up charge:
Step 5: Link Package to a Tariff
To make the top-up package available to customers, it must be linked to a tariff. Top-up packages are available only to prepaid customers in CMP Converged Monetisation Platform. The MDS Global product that supports customer care and billing for digital service providers., so the tariff must be a prepaid type. In this case, you decide to link the new top-up to the most widely used prepaid package in your company to reach the largest number of customers. This is the Pay As You Go tariff:
Prepaid tariff settings as they appear in Business Configuration
Step 6: Test the Top-up Package
To check that the price plan has been configured correctly, in AgentView The graphical user interface of the CMP that is typically used by Customer Service Agents to access CMP customer and billing data. In versions prior to CMP 8.0, this was called the CMP GUI. test whether you can:
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Add the top-up
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Confirm that the correct cash allowance is added to the customer's balance.
For more information on propositions in AgentView, see Propositions in AgentView.