| Table of Contents |
|---|
Summary
This article describes how to setup UDR Rate Groups, UDR Rates and UDR Rate Plans. For an overview of UDR Rating and what these terms mean please review Usage Rating Overview.
UDR Rate Groups
The first step in the configuration of your rate structure is to define UDR Rate Groups. Once complete individual rates can then be created and assigned to their respective Rate Group.
...
Standard: for common rates (ex: Operating assistance, outbound calls, etc.)
Domestic: For USA rates, this UDR Rate Group can be divided into multiple groups depending on the complexity of the rates (ex: interstate vs. intrastate)
International: for international rates.
Creating Rate Groups
In the AdminPortal click on Setup
Click on UDR Rate Groups
On the UDR Rate Groups page click the Add button on the right side of the window
The Add window will load
Name - the name given to the rate group
Display Name - this is an optional field. The system will display the value entered here on customer invoices. Use this field if you would like to display a more end-user friendly version of the Rate Group name
Start - represents the date on which this rate group will become active
Use for Cost - indicates that the Rates in this group will be setup as 'cost' rates. Cost Rate Groups are referenced by Rates that are configured with a Rate Type of 'Markup'. For example if a Long Distance Rate with a 'Markup' Rate Type exists then when rating executes the charge for this Rate will be determined by first looking for a 'Use For Cost' Rate Group within the Rate Plan and then if the cost group exists, looking for a Long Distance UDR Class Rate in the Use For Cost Group. The 'Use For Cost' Long Distance Rate Amount that is found will be the cost value that is Marked up
Example Scenario:
A Rate is configured with a Class of 'Long Distance', Rate Type of 'Rated Markup' and amount of fifty cents a minute (0.50/m)
During rating a Markup Rate is found triggering a check for a 'Use For Cost' Rate Group in the Rate Plan
If the 'Use For Cost' Rate Group in the Rate Plan includes a Long Distance Class UDR Rate with an amount value of ten cents a minute (0.10/m), the Rated Markup would result in a charge of sixty cents a minute (ten cents cost + fifty cents rated markup)
If the Use For Cost Rate Group does not contain a Long Distance UDR Class Rate, or the Rate Plan is not setup with a Use For Cost Rate Group then a UDR Exception will occur
Time Period - driven from the Time Periods configuration (Setup > Time Periods), allows you to select a preconfigured time period (e.g. peak hours, evenings/weekends, etc.) to association with this rate group. Once set, rates in the rate group will only be used if the usage occurs in the specified time period. If a group is configured to a specific time period other rate groups will need to be setup in the same rate plan to provide the rates that are applicable outside of the time period (otherwise usage will fail to rate and UDR Exceptions will be generated)
Currency - the currency to be used with this rate group
Conditions - allows you to apply conditional elements which instruct the system to preform additional checks when using this rate group (more on this below)
Fill in the fields as desired
To quickly produce additional UDR Groups see the "Adding Rate Groups Using Cloning" section below.
...
Click on Setup
Locate the Rating and Usage heading and click on UDR Rate Groups
Click the name of the UDR Rate Group you wish to clone
On the page that loads click the Clone button to the right
Enter a Clone Name, and Start Date
Click the Save button
Click the name of your cloned Rate Group on the UDR Rate Groups page
Edit the values as desired (in the sample above "Domestic-Cost" the "Use For Cost" option would be checked)
Click the Save button when finished
Sample UDR Rate Groups
...
Adding Conditions to Rate Groups
EngageIP offers the ability to use a specific UDR Rate Group if a certain condition is met. If the condition is not met, the system uses the UDR Rate Groups that do not have the condition. When a condition is matched the Rate Group with the condition will be used, i.e. the Rate Group with the condition that was met will take priority over other rate groups even if their 'Priority' setting indicates they should be used first. See the section 'Assigning UDR Rate Groups to UDR Rate Plans' below for information on how Rate Group Priority is set and how it functions.
...
First we create the rate group (as described above) and then we add the condition (first test box displays all the Fields in the UDR table).
From here the the rate(s) as described in the UDR Rates section below need to be associated to these UDR Rate groups.
...
Once you have defined your Rate Groups you can now set up the individual UDR rates
| Info |
|---|
Note: Rates are imported by your LogiSense implementation team during the initial EngageIP setup, the steps below should only be followed if you need to add a new rate). |
Creating UDR Rates
Click on Setup
Locate the Rating and Usage heading and click on UDR Rates
Click the Add button in the lower right
The Add UDR Rates page will load, populate the fields as needed (Required fields are in red)
Display Name - the name you would like to appear on the customer’s invoice and reports
UDR Rate Group - populated from your UDR Rate Group list, this is the field that connects individual rates to their appropriate rate group (for instance, a 'North American Calling' rate group, or 'International' rate group)
UDR Class - this field allows you to classify your rate (i.e. Local, Long Distance, SMS, International, OnNet, etc.)
UDR Rate Type - Defines how you would like the value in the Amount field above to be rated. Examples include:
Fixed – bill as a fixed amount (i.e. $5.00 for each occurrence)
Rated – rate the event based on an amount/duration (i.e. 0.01/s = $0.01 per second)
Markup – apply a factor (percentage) to the rate based on your cost. E.g. if you wanted to markup cost by 150% you would select this option and enter an amount of 1.5
Rated Markup – applies an Amount/Duration markup value to your cost for this rate
Fixed Markup – applies a fixed dollar value markup to your cost
Amount - the amount billable for this rate. For instance if the UDR Class was 'Long Distance' and configured with a UDR Unit Type of 'Time', you could bill $1.00 a minute by entering 1.00/m
Minimum Charge - allows you to define a minimum charge that will be applied if the charge calculated for the UDR Rate is less than the minimum charge value. For instance if you set the minimum charge at $1.00 and usage occurs that amounts to $0.50 then $1.00 would be charged because the charged amount did not meet the minimum charge
Connection Charge (introduced in EngageIP 8.6.1) - allows you to specify a connection charge that is applied before the minimum charge (if any) is calculated. This value is a flat rate and must be a positive number
UDR Location - associates the rate to a specific location in the GeoTree (e.g. a country, state, city, etc.)
UDR Location Group - UDR Location Groups allow you to setup custom areas (groups of locations) that a rate can be applied to. See the article GeoTree article GeoTree Configuration for more information
Additional - if enabled this UDR rate will become an 'additional rate' that can be billed for the same record. For example, you could bill $5.00 for the initial connection when dialing 911 and then bill $0.05 for each additional minute. For an additional rate to be applied in addition to another UDR rate both rates must belong to the same UDR Class and UDR Location. If the rate has Additional as True, it does not get overridden as the Geotree GeoTree is traversed, the way normal rates do. Setting the Additional flag means when you have a call further down the tree, add this rate as well.
UDR Round - these values are populated from your UDR Rounding Rules list which predefine a Unit Type (i.e. Time, Data, Occurrences, Pages) and associated minimum value and measured increments. For example, you could have a rounding rule called 60/6 which would be configured with a Unit Type of Time, the Minimum would be set to 60s and after sixty seconds the total usage time would be rounded up in six second increments. More information on UDR Rounding Rules can be found below
...
Click on Setup
Under the heading Rating and Usage click on UDR Rate Plans
On the UDR Rate Plans page that loads click the Add button on the right hand side of the page
Enter a name for the rate plan (for instance "RetailRatePlan")
Name - enter a value for the Rate Plan’s name
Display Name - value entered in this field will be displayed on the customer’s invoice and reports
Amount Precision - specifies the number of digits to round the amount to after the decimal place. The default is four decimal places but some organizations may choose to round up to two decimal places, in which case you would enter '2' in this field. This rounding occurs during rating. As of EngageIP 8.5.26.5 you can specify the maximum and default amount precision that rate plans will use by setting the UDRAmountPrecision value on the Configuration page. The Rounding behavior you observe will depend on your EngageIP version and setup, specifically:
If the Amount Precision field on the Rate Plan is left empty the result will be midpoint rounded. Meaning round up at a value of 5 or more and down at a value of 4 or less (an amount of 0.00015 becomes 0.0002 and an amount of 0.00014 becomes 0.0001). The Amount Precision field could be left empty in older versions of EngageIP, but after EngageIP 8.5.26.5 an amount precision value must be selected on rate plans
If the Amount Precision has a value specified the result will be 'roundup' rounding behavior (in a scenario with Amount Precision set to '2' on a rate plan and an amount of 0.051, the amount will roundup to 0.06)
If the EngageIP option 'UDRRatePlanPrecisionDoRoundTo' (introduced in EngageIP 8.5.26.5) is set to true then midpoint rounding will be enabled. If you need to enable this option please contact LogiSense support for assistance
Click the Save button when finished
...
Assumption: you have You have already created your package and it includes at least one service within EngageIP which UDR Rate Plans will be added to. If this has not been done please create your packages first (see: the Package and Service Setup article)
Now that you have your Packages and UDR Rate Plans setup and configured you can now link them together so that when a customer signs up for a package the appropriate UDR Rate Plan will be added to their account as well.
...