Resellers purchase services from a service provider and sell them to customers under their own brand. A reseller has no billing system of their own. Instead, they manage their customers with individual accounts in a service provider’s PortaSwitch via the reseller portal. This business model is commonly referred to as white-label or virtual operator service.
In this guide, we use the term "subcustomers" to refer to resellers' customers, distinguishing them from the service provider's direct customers. A reseller can also sign up other resellers, called subresellers.
End users and resellers are billed separately for any service consumption and can be billed in different currencies. Typically, a reseller sells products to end users on a subscription basis. In that case, the service provider can also charge the reseller a subscription fee. If a subcustomer exceeds the included bundle minutes, overage charges can be applied per minute according to the product's tariffs.
A service provider creates a reseller tariff to charge the reseller for overage minutes when their subcustomers exceed the bundle. On the reseller portal, this tariff is called a wholesale tariff. A reseller creates a customer tariff to charge their subcustomers for overages. On the reseller portal, this tariff is called a sales tariff.
Owl Telecom is the PortaSwitch owner. ABC Shuttle, Owl Telecom's reseller, decides to offer the "Calls to Spain" product to their subcustomers for $20/month, which includes 500 minutes of calls to Spain. For calls that exceed the 500-minute bundle, ABC Shuttle charges their subcustomers $0.04/min. Owl Telecom decides to charge ABC Shuttle $10/month for each account subscribed to the "Calls to Spain" product plus $0.006/min for overage.
ABC Shuttle uploads a tariff with a $0.04/min rate for Spanish destinations, configures a 500-minute monthly bundle, and a $20/month subscription to be included in the product. Next, Owl Telecom's admin uploads a reseller tariff with a $0.006/min rate for Spanish destinations and creates an initial product for ABC Shuttle. This product includes the bundle, the $20/month account subscription configured by ABC Shuttle, and a reseller subscription of $10/month.
John Doe is an ABC Shuttle subcustomer. On May 1, John Doe signs up for the "Calls to Spain" product:
- ABC Shuttle charges John Doe $20/month.
- Owl Telecom charges ABC Shuttle $10/month for John Doe's account.
In May, John Doe makes calls to Spain totaling 520 minutes. The 20 overage minutes are charged according to the tariff:
- ABC Shuttle charges John Doe an additional $0.80.
- Owl Telecom charges ABC Shuttle an additional $0.12.
ABC Shuttle's profit for May: $10.68.
Resellers perform everyday operations via the reseller portal, such as managing customers, managing their products, adjusting rates, browsing xDR records, and creating role-based access for their staff.
Resellers can use branded self-care portals for their customers. For example, they can use a separate instance of the CloudPBX Self-Care Portal customized with their company name, logo, and color theme. A reseller also prepares a branded invoice template. PortaBilling automatically generates invoices for subcustomers using this template, with the reseller's name displayed on them.
The reseller collects payments from their subcustomers and is responsible for paying invoices issued by the service provider. If the reseller exceeds their credit limit or is suspended due to unpaid invoices, PortaBilling automatically blocks services for the reseller's subcustomers.
For configuration details, see Configuring a reseller for postpaid services.
