Page Comparison

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Summary

This article describes how to create packages and services and explains the configuration options available.

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1. Click on Setup

2. Click Services

3. Click the Add button in the lower right

4. The following page will load (required fields are outlined in red)

   

   • Name - name of your service, this will show on invoices if you are displaying service items

   • Description - description, generally internal information but this field can be used by a customer portal to show to provide service details to the customer

   • SKU - a code based identifier for your service. Generally this is never exposed to a customer unless you choose to display it on their invoice. Typically this is used for internal reporting and management purposes

   • Base Frequency - this is the numeric multiplier of the base unittime. 1,2,3,4 etc.

   • Base UnitTime -  this this is the period of time which interacts with the base frequency to determine the billing period. 2 Weeks, 1 Month, 12 Months, Once (for NRC), etc.
     Note: the frequency with which this service will actually bill is also dependent on the package frequency which can be set with the same frequency configuration or follow a different frequency. If the package bills at a different frequency, the package will automatically calculate the service charge based on the packages frequency
     Note: daily frequencies are supported for services, but the lowest frequency for packages is monthly

   • Type - this is a reporting identifier and will be displayed on reports such as 'Account Services'. No logic is specifically run against this value. Service Types need to be setup prior setting up the services. Some possible Examples:

     • 911 Access

     • Voice Service

     • Data Service

     • Fee

     • Equipment Rental

     • Professional Services

     • Recurring

     • NonRecurring

   • Base Fee - this is the charge for one billing period. If the Base Fee is set to '$5.00' with a Base Frequency of  '1' and Base Unit Time of 'Month', then the service will cost $5.00 per month
     Alert: any changes to the base fee on the service will affect any packages that the service is associated with, both at the Setup / Packages level and at the account level (user-packages). The updated base fee will be calculated in with any other discounts that are currently setup on user-packages or accounts.
     Note: if you wish to grandfather a service/package to maintain pricing for existing customers with the user-package on their accounts see the Grandfathering Packages section below.

   • Invoice Identifier - this is a tag that can be used on an invoice to control how services are displayed. For more information see the Invoice Template Sample Code article

   • Billing Period Type - this determines whether a service advance bills or not. See the Billing Period Type Configuration on Services article for more details on billing types

   • Show On Ticket Transaction (check box) - if checked, this service will be available for ticket transactions which are detailed in Ticket Transactions Use article

   • InActive (shown when editing a service) - if checked, you will not be able to assign this service to any NEW packages going forward. All existing packages with that service will continue to bill and be usable

5. Once the fields have been filled out click Save to create the service, or Save/New to create the service and begin creating another service

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1. Click on Setup

2. Click Packages

3. Click the Add button in the lower right
   The following page will load with required fields outlined in red

   

   • Name - this is the name of the package that will be shown on invoices in most cases (depending on the invoice template)

   • SKU - internal value mainly used for reporting and internal management of packages

   • Description - text based description of the package. Generally an internal information item however it could be displayed on the invoice or to the customer in a customer portal if desired

   • Bill Frequency - this is the numeric multiplier of the base unittime. 1,2,3,4 etc.

   • Base UnitTime -  this is the period of time which interacts with the Bill Frequency to determine the billing period. 1 Month, 6 weeks, 12 Months, Once (for non-recurring charges), etc. For example, if the Bill Frequency is set to '3' and the Base Unit Time is set to 'Month', then the billing period is every 3 months. If the package bills at a different frequency then its services, the package will automatically calculate the service charges based on the package frequency
     Note: package billing frequencies less than one month (e.g. billing every day, every 2 weeks) are not supported

   • Inactive Override - this check box will make the package inactive and will not permit users to add the package to accounts. When this option is enabled the package in question will not appear in the add package list on customer accounts. User-packages that are already on accounts prior to enabling this setting will remain active

   • Start Date - this is the date on which the package will be reflected in the add package dropdown list. The current date has to be equal or greater than this for the package to be available to be used. This date does not affect packages that already exist on customer accounts, the packages on customer accounts will continue to bill as normal. The Start Date, for example can be used with the Expiry Date to allow Promotional Packages to be available within a specific time period

   • Expiry Date - this is the date on which the package will no longer be available in the add package dropdown list. If the current date is greater than this date, the package will not be available to be added to customer accounts. This date does not affect packages that already exist on customer accounts, the packages on customer accounts will continue to bill as normal

   • Invoice Identifier - this is a tag that can be used on an invoice to control how this service is displayed

   • Show To User Portal - this check box determines whether this package is viewable in a customer portal. If left unchecked any EngageIP API method which returns a list of packages will not include this package in its results. E.g. if you provide your customers with a list of packages that they can add to their account (purchase) in a web portal, they will not see the option to add any package that has this 'Show to User Portal' setting unchecked

4. Once the fields have been filled out click Save to create the service, or Save/New to create the service and begin creating another service.

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