Configuring Usage Buckets

Summary

UDR Buckets allow you to offer pooling or included usage (time, data, events) on Services. For example a Service could include one bucket which provides 1GB of data and another bucket that provides 200 Minutes for voice calls. The following article will walk you through how to setup buckets, assign them to services and retire them.

Creating UDR Buckets

1. Click on Setup

2. Click UDR Buckets

3. On the UDR Buckets page that loads, click the Add button in the lower right. Populate the fields as needed (see below for field descriptions)

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   • Name - a descriptive name for the bucket

   • UDR Unit Type:

     • Time - for buckets that are deducted by duration (e.g. days, hours, minutes, seconds)

     • Data (KB, MB, GB) - for buckets that are deducted by data usage  (KB=1000 Bytes)

     • Data (KiB, MiB, GiB) - for buckets that are deducted by data usage  (KiB=1024 Bytes)

     • Occurrences - for buckets that are deducted per UDR record events (e.g. each time something happens such as sending an SMS)

     • Pages - for buckets that are deducted by events (where billing by time or data are not suitable, for example billing per page for fax on demand service)

   • Start - the date that this bucket will be available for sale (the bucket activation date)

   • UDR Bucket Pool Group - this is an optional field and can be used to further group your UDR Buckets. For example, you can set up a UDR Bucket Pool Group to allow different groups of users to share buckets based on the services they have purchased (Shared Long Distance, Shared Data, etc.)

   • Time Period (Introduced in EngageIP 8.6.1) - allows you to specify a time period when the bucket can be used (deducted from). Outside the time period usage won't be applied to the bucket (usage will either be applicable to another bucket be charged). To configure time periods (Mon-Friday:9am-5pm, etc.) access the Setup page, click on Time Periods and add or edit periods

4. Click Save (this will take you back to the UDR Buckets list where you will see your newly created bucket)

Once the UDR Bucket has been created above, the next step is to add its Details. This is where you will associate any UDR Classes and Locations which are Included or Excluded in this bucket.

1. Click on the name of the UDR Bucket you would like to add details to from the list

2. Scroll down to the UDR Buckets Details section and click the Add button

3. Select the UDR Class which is the type of usage populated from your UDR Classes list (e.g. this might be 'Data' class or whatever describes the usage type, 'local', 'international', etc.)

4. If the detail is location based as in a VoIP calling scenario, select the Geographic location. If your Geo Tree is configured in a different fashion, (i.e. by IP addresses, Satellites, etc.) select the appropriate location for the list

5. Each detail is Included by default. If you would like to Exclude this detail item in the UDR Bucket, check the Exclude check box

6. Click Save to save the current detail or Save/New to continue adding more details to this UDR Bucket

Adding Buckets to Services

1. Click on Setup

2. Click Services

3. Locate and click on the name of the service you would like to add the UDR Bucket to from the list

4. Under the Components section, click the Add button

5. Select the UDR Bucket option

6. Complete the form based on the definitions below:

   • UDR Bucket - populated from your UDR Buckets list. Select the appropriate bucket

   • UDR Bucket Type - select which measurement option to use. This will be driven from the bucket you selected in the UDR Bucket field. For example if the bucket was configured with a UDRClass which has a 'UDR Unit Type' of Time or Data then select Value in this field and specify the amount of Time/Data in the Amount field below

     • Amount - makes the bucket a monetary bucket. A dollar value needs to be populated in the Amount field, e.g. if you set the bucket type to 'amount' and the Amount field to '50' then the bucket will provide $50 worth of usage for the service it is attached to

     • Occurrences - a per event value, for instance sending text messages or making API calls. E.g. if you were adding a bucket with a UDR Class of 'Mobile-Originated' you could include the ability to send 250 text messages with the service by setting this value to 'occurrences' and the Amount value to '250'

     • Pages - per object, for example providing included usage by the page for facsimile transmissions

     • Value - a specified number of minutes/data for voice/data class buckets. E.g. if you use value with a data class bucket and an amount of 500MB then the bucket would include 500 Megabytes of data

   • Amount - depending on which UDR Bucket Type you've selected above, enter the appropriate value in this field. Make sure to take note of specified formatting requirements if you are entering a Bucket Type of Value (time format: 1Y2M5D3h5m30s, e.g. 100m = 100 minutes, data format: KB = 1000B, 10B, 10KB, 10MB, 10GB e.g. 50MB = 50 Megabytes)

   • UDR Bucket Pool Level Type - select the level at which you would like to pool (share) the bucket:

     • Parent - if your system is configured with parent/child relationships then selecting this value will pool the bucket to the parent level

     • User - select this option if you would like to only pool buckets to a specific user

     • User Service - only the specific user-service that the bucket is attached to on the user/account can consume usage from the bucket

   • Priority - if you have more than one bucket on a service this field allows you to add weighting regarding which bucket to consume. The bucket prioritization logic works as follows:

     • Logic prior to EngageIP 8.6.0:

       • Select the bucket based on the UDR Bucket Pool Level (consume user-service level buckets first, user level buckets next, parent level last)

       • If the bucket pool levels match, select the bucket based on this priority setting

       • If the priority value matches, select the bucket to use based on the bucket expiry date (soonest to expire = consume first)

     • Logic in EngageIP 8.6.0 and newer releases:

       • Pooling Level: of the available buckets user-service level buckets will be used first, then user level buckets and parent level pooled buckets last

       • Bucket Priority: select the bucket based on this priority setting

       • Expiry Date: the bucket that is set to expire first will be used

       • Bucket Refill Type: nonrecurring buckets will be used first, followed by recurring with rollover buckets and recurring buckets selected last

       • Carried Forward Bucket ID: if the bucket has usage that is carried forward from a previous period (i.e. there are multiple nonrecurring buckets or multiple recurring with rollover buckets to choose from) the carried forward bucket with the lowest ID will be selected (the oldest bucket)

       • Bucket ID: select the bucket with the lowest (oldest) bucket ID

   • Prorate - check this box if you would like the UDR Bucket to be prorated when the service is added to an account or canceled

   • UDR Bucket Refill Type - allows you to specify how rollover data/time/events should function.

     • Nonrecurring - used for one-time buckets with no carry over or refill. The bucket will expire once the balance has been consumed or an expiry date is reached (if specified below)

     • Recurring - the bucket is reset at the beginning of every month with no roll over allowed

     • Recurring with rollover - carry over previous month's balance and add current month's bucket

   • Expire After - this is an optional field allowing you to specify how long included usage in a bucket persists. For example, you could enter 3M if you are offering a promotional service which includes a UDR Bucket that must be consumed within 3 months. If an expiration date is set on a recurring with rollover bucket the rolled over usage will expire when the date is reached

   • Effective Date - this value will default to the current date unless a future date is specified. This field combined with Expire After could allow you to offer an extra data bucket for a customer who is traveling internationally for 30 days. For example, you create a service that charges the customer $25 for additional data for 30 days. Within the service a UDR Bucket would be created that specifies the Effective Date (when the customer is traveling) and has an Expire After of 30D

7. Click Save

Adding Optional UDR Buckets

It is possible using the Quantity Component to add optional services to a package, the optional service can have a bucket added onto it (as detailed in the 'Adding UDR Buckets to Account Services' section above) making the Bucket optional as well. For instructions on how to setup optional services see the article: Quantity / Optional Services Component

Retiring UDR Buckets

Occasionally you may need to retire a UDR Bucket that will no longer be available. The retirement date can either be immediately or at a future date to allow time for your customers to upgrade. During the UDR Retirement process an option to create a clone of the existing UDR Bucket is available, this saves time if you need to create a similar bucket to replace the bucket that you are retiring.

How to Retire UDR Buckets

1. Click on Setup

2. Click UDR Buckets

3. Locate and click on the name of the UDR Bucket you would like to retire

4. Click on the Retire button

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5. Specify the date on which this UDR Bucket will retire in the Retirement Date field

6. If you would like to clone this UDR Bucket and use it as a starting point for a new Bucket select the Create New Clone check box. This cloned bucket will become active as of the retired date

7. If you selected to clone the bucket after clicking the Save button you will be taken back to the UDR Buckets list. Here you will see the retired bucket with if life-time date in brackets beside the name, and your new cloned bucket which will have no date. This new bucket is the one you will want to make changes to, click on its name from the list to enter the UDR Bucket's edit screen

8. Click Save