Configuring a reseller for postpaid services

This section demonstrates how to configure a reseller who will be providing services under his own name. The postpaid residential VoIP service is used as an example, but the procedure is basically the same for configuring any other service (e.g., PINless dial or business PBX), the only difference being which nodes are used in the product’s rating list. Please consult the handbook for a given service regarding its specific configuration details.

The procedure is very similar to the general setup described in the Basic residential VoIP services section. Only a few additional comments are necessary:

• Resellers are not allowed to create new tariffs or products. In addition to security considerations, this is because the rating list for a product must be configured to create it properly. The person doing this must be well-acquainted with your VoIP network structure (gateways, access lines, etc).

  Your reseller will not have this knowledge; in fact, you will probably not even want to share such information with him. Therefore, your admin staff will create an initial framework of tariffs and products for him and configure the products’ rating list. If the reseller wants to sell a product under a different name later, he can simply clone the existing product.

• The correct sequence of actions is as follows:
  1. Create the tariff you will use to charge the resellers (Applied to: Reseller type).
  2. Create a reseller, assigning this tariff to him.
  3. Create tariffs and products for his subscribers, making sure that you mark them as Managed by that reseller.
• Unless assigned the “Advanced Reseller” access level, resellers are not able to view their own rates on the web interface, so that you are in control when informing them of rate changes. For example, at the beginning of the month, you may choose to enter a rate change effective the first day of the following month; however, you can notify the customer of this only one week in advance.
• To allow resellers to create accounts regarded as a phone line having a unique phone number (DID), your admin must also perform the configuration of the DID provisioning for the reseller.

1. Operations to be performed by the admin:
   • Initial configuration of PortaBilling
   • Create tariffs for charging the reseller
   • Enter rates for incoming calls applied to the reseller
   • Create a customer class
   • Create a reseller
   • Create tariffs for reseller’s use
   • Create a product for the reseller
   • Configure DID provisioning for the reseller
   • Provide login credentials to the reseller
2. Operations to be performed by the reseller:
   • Log in to the reseller portal
   • Modify the tariff for outgoing calls
   • Modify the tariff for incoming calls
   • Test rate configuration (optional)
   • Modify product
   • Create a customer
   • Create accounts

If you have just installed the PortaBilling software or dedicated a new billing environment to configure the services described in this handbook, make sure to first perform the initial configuration of PortaBilling. To do this, use the Initial configuration of PortaBilling handbook.

You will need two separate tariffs: one applied to outgoing calls (including forwarded calls) and one applied to incoming calls. These tariffs will be used to charge the reseller, so they should contain your selling rates for the reseller.

1. On the navigation menu on the left, go to Service catalog and click Tariffs.
2. Click + Tariff and fill in the tariff details:
   • Name – type a short name for the tariff object; this is the name you will see in the select menus (for example, Reseller).
   • Currency – this indicates the currency in which you charge your resellers.
     The currency for the tariff is chosen only once and cannot be changed later.
   • Service – select Voice calls here.
   • Applied to – select Reseller here.
   • Define prices – select per individual rate code.

     

3. Click Save.

Rates are per-destination prices. Please refer to the Real-time charging chapter in the PortaBilling administrator guide for more details on billing parameters.

1. On the reseller’s tariff panel, click Rates.
2. On the Rate list panel, click + Rate and fill in the rate details:
   • Rate code – select a rate code from the list or type it in directly (e.g., 47 for Norway).
     You should create an entry for certain phone prefixes in the Rate code register before creating a rate for them in the tariff.
   • Rating mode – select the Flat rate option here. If you want to enter different rates for the peak and off-peak periods, select the Separate peak/off-peak rate option.
   • Effective from – if you want this rate to take effect sometime in the future, you can either type in a date manually, or use the calendar (click the DD-MM-YYYY link).
     When using the calendar, you can specify that the date you are entering is in a different time zone than your current one. PortaBilling will then automatically adjust the time.
   • First interval – define the first billing unit in seconds.
   • First price – define a per-minute price for the first interval.
   • Next interval – define the next billing unit in seconds.
   • Next price – define a per-minute price for the next interval.

     

3. Click Save.
4. Repeat these steps if you need to enter more rates.

You can also upload rates from a .csv or .xls file – please consult the Rate import section.

The process of entering incoming call rates is similar to the one described above. If you do not actually charge the reseller for incoming calls (in most cases, there is no cost associated with them), or charge him the same rate for numbers in various countries, you can simply use the wildcard rate code (|) to enter a single rate in the tariff.

Customer class provides the ability to define a business model as well as a group of other parameters in a centralized way, then apply those parameters to many resellers and their customers at once. (If you have already created a customer class that you can use for postpaid resellers, skip this step and go to the next one.)

If the invoicing and collection parameters for resellers are not relevant at this moment, skip this step and use the Default customer class for your resellers.

1. On the navigation menu, select Sales, then select Customer classes.
2. On the Customer class list panel, click + Add and fill in the customer class details:
   • Name – provide a short name for this customer class.
   • Business model – select which services this reseller will be providing. Select Residential VoIP.
   • Currency – specify the currency in which you want to set the collection threshold. When specified, this customer class can only be assigned to resellers and their customers with the same currency. Once the currency selection is saved, it cannot be changed.
   • Managed by – select Administrator only.

     

3. Click Save.
4. On your customer class panel, click Finances, then click General info.
5. On the General info panel, fill in general information about the customer class:
   • Close the billing period – select the delay for closing the billing period.
   • Configure Periodic xDR export parameters:
     • Export xDRs to a .csv file – leave this option enabled to generate statistics for resellers who belong to this customer class.
     • Send the generated .csv files via email – define how you will provide statistics to your customers.
   • Suspend customers – specify whether PortaBilling should check whether the reseller has sufficient funds for their subscription charges.
   • Permanently terminate customers after provisional termination – enable this option to permanently terminate resellers and define the amount of days for the termination delay. Configure the Status change parameters:

     

6. On your customer class panel, go to Finances > Invoicing > Regular invoices.
7. On the Regular invoices panel, specify the invoicing parameters for the customer class:
   • Invoice template – select the appropriate template which will be used to create a .pdf file with the invoice for your customers (e.g., Retail customer invoice template).
   • Generate invoice pdf – leave the default option At the end of billing period selected.
   • Send invoices via email – select Automatically to automatically send an invoice to a customer at the end of a billing period.

     Please consult the PortaBilling help for a description of other parameters available here.

     

8. On the Taxation panel, select the taxation method and specify the taxation parameters.
9. Click Save.

For now, you may leave the rest of the configuration parameters with their default values. If you change them later, these changes will automatically affect all resellers that are already assigned to this customer class.

The reseller entity you are about to create will define your relationship with a business partner who is reselling your services under their own name, and allows them further independent service management (e.g., creating their own customers and accounts).

1. On the navigation menu, go to Sales > Resellers.
2. On the Create reseller panel, fill in the reseller details:
   • Name – a short name for this reseller; this will be used on the web interface.
   • Currency – the currency in which this reseller will be billed.
   • Credit limit – assign a credit limit for the reseller.
   • Customer class – customer class allows you to define a group of parameters. By choosing a specific class here, the reseller and their customers will automatically inherit all of the class properties (grace period, invoice template, payment collection, etc.). Select the customer class you have just created.
   • Billing period – choose a billing period for the reseller. A billing period defines the frequency of invoicing for this reseller.
   • The default tariff for voice calls – this is the tariff that will be applied by default to calls placed by the reseller’s subscribers. Select tariff A (Reseller) here.

     

3. Click Save.

Define the reseller’s personal information (such as name, email address, etc.).

1. On your reseller’s panel, click Company info, then click General info.
2. On the General info panel, fill in the reseller’s personal information and an email address for the receipt of accounting information. After the billing period is over, a list of xDRs and other statistics will be sent to this address.

Define credentials and preferred settings (such as language, time zone, date input and output formats) for this reseller’s self-care interface.

1. While on the General info panel, click Web self-care.
2. On the Web self-care panel, define credentials for the reseller self-care interface (such as login, password, time zone, etc.) and other preferred settings. The time zone you define for the reseller defines their billing period and when the reseller will see their xDRs. For example, if you choose America/Vancouver here and the billing period is Monthly, the billing period will start on the first day of the month at midnight (12 a.m.) New York time.

1. On your reseller’s panel, click Finances, click General info, then click Credit limit.
2. On the Credit limit panel, define the Credit limit warning threshold parameter. The reseller can be notified by email when their balance is dangerously close to the credit limit, and service will soon be blocked. The threshold can be specified:
   • As a percentage (e.g., 90%). The warning will be sent when the reseller’s balance exceeds that percentage of his credit limit. So, if the credit limit is USD 1000.00 and the threshold is 90%. A warning will be sent as soon as the balance exceeds USD 900.00. This is only applicable when the customer has a positive credit limit.
   • As an absolute value, the warning will be sent as soon as the balance goes above the specified value.
3. Click Save.

The reseller will use these tariffs to charge their subcustomers. Since the rates for outgoing and incoming calls are different, you will need two tariffs. The reseller will perform the actual tariff configuration on the self-care interface. You just need to provide him with a framework by pre-allocating tariffs.

1. On the navigation menu on the left, select Service catalog and click Tariffs.
2. On the Create tariff panel, fill in the tariff details:
   • Name – type a short name for the tariff object; this is the name you will see in the select menus (for example, ABC Shuttle outgoing calls).
   • Currency – this indicates the currency in which the reseller charges their customers.
     The currency for the tariff is chosen only once and cannot be changed later.
   • Service – select Voice calls here.
   • Applied to – select Customer here.
   • Managed by – select the name of the reseller you have created here.
   • Define prices – select per individual rate code.
3. Click Save.
4. Repeat steps 1–3 until you have entered all of the tariffs your reseller needs (e.g., ABC Shuttle – Incoming Calls, the tariff that will be applied to incoming calls).

Optionally, you can add rates to this tariff. The procedure is the same as described in the Add rates to the tariff subsection of the Create a tariff for charging the reseller section of this handbook.

1. On the navigation menu, select Service catalog and click Products.
2. On the Create product panel, fill in the product details:
   • Name – type an internal product name that will be shown on the web interface.
   • Name visible to end users – type a name of the product that will be shown to end users on their self-care interfaces.
   • Product type – select Main product here.
   • Currency – choose a currency the product will be priced in. Only tariffs that have the same currency will be permitted in the rating list
   • Account role – select Phone line since this product is intended for making calls.
   • Managed by – select your reseller from the list.

     

3. Click Save.

Define which service types are included in the product. A service type is a description of the physical service provided to end users.

To add a service type:

1. On your product’s panel, click Services.
2. On the Services panel, click Add a service.
3. In the Select services to add dialog box, select Voice calls and click Add.

   

The reseller will not have access to information about your network, and therefore cannot view rating list information. You define it for resellers as follows:

This entry defines the tariff to be used when a customer of the reseller places an outgoing call.

1. On the product’s panel, click Charges, then click Usage charges.
2. On the Usage charges panel, click Add.
3. Fill in the required information:
   • Service – select Voice calls.
   • Node – select the PortaSIP node.
   • Access code – leave this field empty for the basic SIP service. This entry will then be applied by default, and thus will cover the situation when a user dials a number from their phone or forwards a call using the follow-me feature. (If you want to distinguish between these two scenarios, you may use the access codes OUTGOING and FOLLOWME, respectively.)
   • Tariff – select the tariff that will be applied to end users (residential VoIP customers of your reseller) for outgoing calls, referred to here as tariff C (e.g., ABC Shuttle – Outgoing Calls.)
   • Reseller tariff – select the tariff that will be used to charge the reseller when an account with this product makes a phone call. You can leave the DEFAULT TARIFF. This will be the same tariff as you have assigned as a default one when creating a reseller (e.g., Reseller).
   • Overdraft protection – to configure overdraft protection for this product, consult the Overdraft protection configuration handbook.
4. Click Save.

   

This entry defines the tariff to be used when a customer of the reseller receives an incoming call.

1. On the Usage charges panel, click Add.
2. Fill in the required information:
   • Service – select Voice calls.
   • Node – select the PortaSIP node.
   • Access code – type in INCOMING; this entry will then be used for calls going to end users’ IP phones.
   • Tariff – select the tariff that will be applied to end users (residential VoIP customers of your reseller) when they receive a phone call, referred to here as tariff D (e.g., ABC Shuttle – Incoming Calls).
   • Reseller tariff – select the tariff that will be used to charge the reseller when an account with this product receives a phone call, referred to here as tariff B (e.g., Reseller Incoming). Otherwise, the system will apply the resellers’ default tariff. This is probably undesirable, since that tariff contains rates for outgoing calls.
   • Overdraft protection – to configure overdraft protection for this product, consult the Overdraft protection configuration handbook.

For more information about the available product features, please refer to the System concepts section of the PortaBilling administrator guide.

In the case of a Residential VoIP service, an account is regarded as a phone line having a unique phone number (DID). This phone number serves as an account ID within PortaBilling and is provided by your termination partners. To allow resellers to create accounts for their customers, perform the configuration of the DID provisioning for the reseller according to the instructions provided in the DID provisioning for reseller (DID inventory) handbook.

Provide a reseller with credentials to access their portal (defined on the Reseller > General info > Web-self care panel):

1. The reseller portal URL (by default https://<porta-billing-server-name>:8442).
2. Login credentials.

Log in to the reseller portal using the provided URL and credentials.

You can adjust various tariff parameters or add rates via the portal. For this, do the following:

1. Navigate to Service catalog > Tariffs.
2. On the Tariffs page, open a tariff for outgoing calls (e.g., ABC Shuttle - outgoing).
3. Go to the Rates panel and add rates if needed.

   Rates

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   You can add rates manually or upload them from a file.

   To add rates manually, click +Rate and fill in the following fields:

   • Rate code – select the rate code (destination prefix) from the dropdown list.
   • Effective from – specify one of the following options:
     • Specific time – the exact date the rate becomes effective.
     • Immediately – the rate will be effective after its creation.
   • Connected fee – specify a connection fee.
   • Status – select a checkbox near one or several options:
     • Payback – shows that the customer is credited for using certain services, rather than paying for them.
     • Discontinued – shows that the rate will either immediately or from the specified time-stamped date stop being active.
     • Forbidden – shows that the calls for this particular rate code are forbidden and won’t be authorized.
   • First interval – specify the first billing unit in seconds. The minimum unit is 1 second.
   • First price – specify a per-minute price for the first interval.
   • Next interval – specify the next billing unit in seconds, minimum 1 second.
   • Next price – specify a per-minute price for the next interval.
4. Go to the General configuration panel and modify the tariff parameters if necessary.

   General configuration

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   • Default off-peak period – if you do not differentiate between peak and off-peak rates, just choose Not defined; otherwise, select one of the previously defined off-peak periods.
   • Code group set – select the code group set from the dropdown list.
   • Short description – type a short tariff description. This will be shown in the rate lookup on the admin interface and the self-care pages for your accounts and customers. For example, for a tariff named Cust-ABC-Easy Call-1800, the short description will provide better information for your reseller ABC, who will be using this tariff, such as: “EasyCall – via a toll-free number”.
   • Free seconds – specify the number of free seconds granted for each call. We recommend granting free seconds after the first interval (one billing unit). Note that this option is only available for tariffs where prices are defined per individual rate code.
   • Post call surcharge, % – specify the post-call surcharge as a percentage. This increases the total call charge by the specified percentage. Note that this option is only available for tariffs where prices are defined per individual rate code.
   • Login fee – specify the amount to be charged immediately after the first user authentication.
   • Connect fee – specify the amount that will be charged immediately upon connection.
   • Rounding precision – select the number of digits to round up the charged amount in an individual xDR.
   • Update usage time – this setting defines when the First usage and the Last usage timestamps are updated for an account. Available options:
     • Always (default) – updates the timestamps when the account uses their services, including free ones like toll-free calls. Use this if you want to track all activity, even non-billable.
     • Only by billable records – updates the timestamps only when a billable event (such as a charged call or session) is generated. Choose this to track only paid usage.

   

This is similar to the process of adjusting outgoing rates, as described above.

1. Open a tariff for outgoing calls. Go to the Rates panel and click Test on the toolbar.

   

2. Enter the phone number for which you would like to test the rating, as well as the estimated call duration, and click Test. You will see the estimated amount charged for this call, as well as a detailed explanation of the rating process.

   

3. Click Close.

If necessary, you may modify the service configuration or certain product parameters.

1. Navigate to Service catalog > Products.
2. Open a product you want to modify (e.g., PostpaidServices).
3. On the product panel, change the following parameter if necessary:
   • Name visible to end users – specify the name of the product that your customers will see on their portals.

     

4. Go to Charges > General info and specify the value of the following option if necessary:
   • Service availability threshold – a leftover balance (e.g., in USD) which is considered “useless” (for statistical purposes). Accounts with a balance lower than the service availability threshold will count as depleted. This does not affect account authentication or authorization, so the account can still make calls if there is enough money left to cover at least the first interval.
5. Go to Additional information and fill in the fields:
   • Description – your description of the intended use of this product.
   • Information URL – if you have an external server with a description of product features, enter the URL (e.g., http://www.myproduct.com). Your customers will be able to go there from their portals.
   • Description visible to end users – provide a description to be shown to end users on their portals.
6. Click Save.

A customer is the owner of accounts (phone lines). The customer’s contact information is used to distribute account usage information, call statistics, invoices, and so on.

1. Navigate to Sales > Customers, click +Add, and fill in the following fields:
   • Name – type a customer name (e.g., John Welsh).
   • Balance control – specify one of the following ways the customer will pay for the service (e.g., Postpaid):
   • Postpaid – after consuming the services.
   • Prepaid – prior to consuming the services.
   • Currency – specify the currency in which this customer will be billed.
   • Credit limit – assign a credit limit for the customer.
   • Business model – specify a business model that defines what type of service is to be provided to the customer.
   • Customer class –  by default, your customer class will be applied. This means that all invoicing and payment collection parameters that are defined will apply to this customer. If necessary, you can create another customer class for postpaid or prepaidservices.
   • Billing period – specify the billing period for invoice generation.
   • Billing period timezone – specify the time zone in which the customer’s billing period will be closed and invoices will be generated.

     

2. Click Save&Edit details.
3. On the Customer page, go to the General and Finances pages, and fill in additional information about the customer.

1. Open a customer page, go to Accounts.
2. Click +Add, and fill in the fields on the General and Additional tabs.

   General

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   • ID – you can type in the user’s mobile phone number manually or provision it from the DID inventory.
   • Service password – together with the account ID, this password will be used to authenticate registrations and call attempts on the SIP server. It is very important to assign a secure (difficult to guess) password to prevent the account from being wrongfully entered and used to inject fraudulent calls to your network. You can generate a secure password by clicking Generate password.
   • Account role – select an account role that defines usage for this account (e.g., Phone line).
   • Product – assign the main product you want this account to have.
   • Account type – select one of the following account types (e.g., Credit):
     • Debit – usually associated with prepaid cards and has its own balance.
     • Credit – will be invoiced for incurred costs.  
   • Balance control – select whether the credit account has an individual balance and credit limit or uses that of the customer. Select one of the balance control types (e.g., Subordinate):
     • Subordinate – the balance will directly depend on the customer.
     • Individual credit limit – the account has an individual account balance and credit limit. When the balance reaches the limit, services are not available for this account.

     

   Additional

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   • Activation – select when to activate the account:
     • Immediately – activates an account right after its creation.
     • Specific date – specify the exact date when you’d like to activate the account.
   • Batch – a batch is a group of accounts that simplifies account management. Select one of the following options (e.g., ‘None’):
     • None – an account will not be assigned to any specific batch.
     • Add new – create a new batch that the account will be tied to. You’ll be prompted to enter a batch name in the dialog that opens.

   

3. Click Save&Edit details.
4. On the created account page, specify additional account information on the General and Services panels.

   General

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   • Go to Web self-care and fill in the following fields:
     • Login – specify an account login to the self-care web interface. Can be the same as the account ID.
     • Password – generate a password for the portal by clicking Generate password.
     • Time zone – check a time zone when an account owner (SIP services subscriber) accesses the portal to see a list of their calls.
     • Web interface language – select the language to be used on the account self-care web interface.
   • Go to Service configuration. You can activate/deactivate various features of the services provided to this account. Note that the features are defined per service type (the physical service provided to the user, such as Conferencing, Data Service, Voice Calls, Messaging, etc.). Please refer to the service configuration documentation for more details. For now, you may leave these with their default values.
5. Click Save.
6. Repeat steps 2–5 if the customer has more than one phone line (extension).