On the Customer Management screen, you can view a list of all registered customers.

Subcustomer Management

Column

Description

xDRs

Click the View icon1 icon to go to the xDR view page.

ID

The customer’s identification name.

Accounts

Click the Accounts icon18 icon to go to the Account Management screen (for retail customers). If there are no accounts under the customer, the icon changes accordingly to icon4, so that you can easily see this.

Currency

The currency in which the customer’s account is maintained and billed.

Balance Control

The subcustomer category: either prepaid or postpaid, depending on the way their balance is controlled.

Available Funds

The amount of available funds to spend on services – is only shown for prepaid subcustomers.

Balance

The customer’s current balance.

Credit Limit

The credit limit applicable to the customer’s account (if any).

Email

Email contact for this customer.

Status

A customer may have the following statuses:

  • icon5 Permanently terminated – the customer has been closed and is only in the database for informational/regulatory purposes. No further operations are possible with this entity.

  • icon6 Blocked – the customer has been blocked by the administrator; no call services are provided until the administrator removes the block.

  • icon7 Suspended – services for this customer have been suspended because of an overdue invoice.

  • icon8 Provisionally Terminated – once a customer is provisionally terminated, all services are terminated. There still exists the option to reactivate the services that were disconnected if the customer changes their mind.

  • icon9 Credit Exceeded – this indicates that the postpaid customer’s balance is above his credit limit, so he will not be allowed to make outgoing calls unless they are free calls (e.g., toll-free numbers).

  • icon10 No Available Funds – this status is only for prepaid customers. When a customer’s funds reach zero value, services are no longer available.

  • icon11 Suspension Lifted – this indicates that the customer’s suspension has been lifted (the ‘as of’ date is specified on the Change status button).

  • icon12 Payment Frozen – this indicates that the customer’s payment has been suspended due to repeated errors (e.g., credit card cancellation).

  • icon13 Spending Limit Reached – this indicates that the customer’s daily spending limit has been reached.

Delete

Click the icon14 Delete icon to remove the customer. The delete icon appears only if there are no xDRs, accounts owned by the customer, other entities (products, tariffs, etc.) managed by the customer or the customer does not participate in bilateral traffic exchange with a vendor.

In advanced search mode, you can specify an unlimited number of search conditions. Every condition applies to a particular field (e.g., customer’s ZIP code). Click on icon15 add  Add a new search condition to add another condition.

Customer Management

Operation

Description

Is

The value of the field in the customer information must match the search criteria exactly.

Begins with

The value of the field in the customer information must start with the specified value (e.g., if you enter the filter value “John”, customers with the names “John” and “Johnny” will be selected).

Contains

The value of the field in the customer information must contain the specified value somewhere (e.g., if you enter the filter value “Eric”, customers with the names “Eric”, “Erica”, “Maverick” and “American” will be selected).

Ends with

The value of this customer information field must end with the specified value (e.g., if you enter the filter value “smith”, customers with the last names “Smith” and “Hammersmith” will be selected).

Is empty

The corresponding field in the customer information must be empty.

All search operations are case-insensitive, so you can enter “Eric” as a search criterion and, even if the customer’s name was originally entered as “eric” or “ERIC”, you will still see him in the list.

All conditions work in conjunction, so in the case of multiple search criteria, the customer’s record must satisfy all of them in order to appear in the result list.

 During a search operation using auxiliary fields (e.g., fax) or the “contains” comparison, the database cannot use indexes. This will result in a full table scan, meaning an increased load on the server and a longer time to produce the final result. Please avoid using such search operations if not necessary.

Edit Customer

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This page allows you to change details for a particular customer.

Edit Customer

Field

Description

Customer ID

Defines the customer name as it will appear in the PortaBilling system. This is distinct from the Company Name field in the Address Info tab.

Customer Class

The Customer Class assigned to this customer. In order to change any parameters of the particular Customer Class, click on the link “Customer Class”. When editing the Customer, the field Customer Class will only contain classes with the same currency, or classes with no defined currency.

Balance Control

The customer category: either prepaid (a customer who pays for services in advance) or postpaid.

Available Funds (only for prepaid customers)

The balance for prepaid customers. While consuming the service, the amount of available funds decreases. When it reaches zero value, no more services can be used.

Balance (only for postpaid customers)

The customer’s current balance

Current Credit Limit (only for postpaid customers)

The credit limit value defined for a customer during creation.

Address info

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The Address Info tab provides most of the commonly required contact information. Also, note that you may enable your account manager to receive a copy of every email sent to the customer by entering his email address in the BCC field.

Balance adjustments

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The Balance Adjustments wizard allows you to correct a customer’s balance:

Balance adjustments

Edit Subcustomer

Balance Adjustments

Field

Description

Action

Manual Charge: Use this transaction to manually charge a customer for a specific service they used; for instance, if you are selling SIP phones to a customer. This means the balance will be changed so that the customer is able to make fewer calls.

Manual Credit: Use this transaction to manually give compensation related to a specific service; for instance, if the customer files a complaint and you agree to give him credit toward future service use. This means the balance will be changed so that the customer is able to make more calls.

Manual Payment: Use this transaction when you receive a payment (e.g., cash or check) directly from the customer. This means the balance will be changed so that the customer is able to make more calls.

Promotional Credit: Use this transaction to give the customer credit, for example, as a sales promotion. The difference between this and the “Manual Credit” transaction is that this transaction applies to a special “Credits/Promotions” service, and not to any actual service. Basically, it provides some “virtual” funds to the customer for future use.

Refund: Use this transaction to refund an earlier payment received from the customer (e.g., a check returned by the bank). This means the balance will be changed so that the customer is able to make fewer calls.

E-Commerce Payment: Use this transaction to charge the customer’s credit card and apply the amount to the customer’s balance as payment.

E-Commerce Refund: Use this transaction to reverse a previous E-commerce payment. It withdraws funds from your company’s merchant account and applies them as a credit to the user’s credit card. The amount is added to the user’s account balance.

Authorization Only: Verifies that the customer’s credit card is valid and reserves a given amount. Returns a transaction ID to be used in a Capture Payment transaction. This does not affect the user’s account balance in PortaBilling or his credit card balance. Note: the transaction ID will be written to the customer’s Notepad entry.

Capture Payment: Charges the customer’s credit card and applies the amount to his balance as a payment (decreases the customer’s balance). Requires a transaction ID from the Authorization Only transaction. The amount must be less than or equal to the amount of the corresponding Authorization Only transaction.

Amount

Amount to charge/refund.

Service (only for Manual charge and Manual credit)

A service for which the manual charge/credit is made. The charged/credited amount will be included in the selected service section on the next invoice.

Tax Transaction Code (only for Manual charge and Manual credit)

An internal code by which taxes are calculated for this transaction. This code is mapped to the taxation codes of EZTax, Avalara, GST, or SureTax taxation plug-ins as defined in PortaBilling.

The Tax Transaction Code field is only available for Manual charge and Manual credit transactions.

Date (only for Manual charge and Manual credit)

A date associated with the manual charge/credit. For example, you can specify a date for manual credit action for when an item is credited.

Note that if the selected date falls within a previous (closed) billing period the transaction will be included in the next invoice.

Include into Out-Of-Turn Invoice (only for Manual charge and Manual credit transactions)

This allows you to include transactions on an out-of-turn invoice to be issued on demand. You should then generate the invoice with the requisite transactions on the Out-Of-Turn Invoice page. For example, if the end user visits your office to buy a new IP phone, your clerk will locate the account, issue an invoice covering the cost of the phone, take the money for the phone and give the phone and the invoice to the end user.

Transactions included in an out-of-turn invoice that was generated on the Out-Of-Turn Invoice page won’t be reflected on the regular invoice issued at the end of the billing period.

Transaction ID (only for E Commerce Refund and Capture Payment)

The transaction ID was obtained via the Authorization Only transaction. This is required to use the reserved earlier amount for a current transaction.

Visible Comment

A comment on this transaction visible to the administrator as well as the customer, in the xDR browser or on the invoice.

Internal Comment

An internal comment on this transaction; not visible in the xDR browser, and accessible only from the database directly.

Additional info

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Edit Subcustomer

Field

Description

Alias authentication /registration defaults

This defines whether an alias can be used independently for making and receiving calls.

  • Use system configuration (Enabled) – this is the default value. It allows to use an alias for making and receiving calls. The alias inherits the configuration of the main account and uses its balance, products, and other parameters for all further operations.

  • Enabled alias authentication/registration – this means a user can register an alias ID and use that number for making and receiving calls. The alias inherits the configuration of the main account. When a user makes a call via an alias, funds are drawn from the main account.

  • Disabled alias authentication/registration – this means that incoming calls to the alias will be forwarded to the main account. Once disabled, a user cannot register an alias to make outgoing calls.

Bundle Promotion

Bundle promotion to be applied to this customer.

Discount Plan

Volume discount plan to be applied to this customer.

Subscription Discount Rate

Amount of discount applied by default to all subscriptions of this customer (assigned either directly to a customer or to one of his accounts).

Suspend on insufficient funds for subscriptions

This option allows you to suspend a customer when their balance or available funds are insufficient to cover subscription charges of subscriptions assigned to them directly.

  • As defined by the Customer Class – the option configured for the customer class is used.

  • Yes – customers who have insufficient available funds are automatically suspended. When they are suspended, they no longer receive the service and therefore no subscription charges are generated. As soon as funds become available, the service is resumed and new charges are generated.

  • No – the full amount of subscription will be charged and the balance of the customer will exceed the credit limit or the amount of available funds (in this case the negative value will appear).

Distributor

Assigns a distributor to this customer if any.

Representative

Assigns a representative to this customer if any.

Use Hierarchy of Offices

This defines two types of customers:

  • Main Office (HQ) customers.

  • Branch Office (site) customers.

Main Office (HQ) and Branch Office (site) customers are linked together into a group.

Balance & credits

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Balance and credits

Field

Description

Permanent Credit Limit

The credit limit value defined for a customer during creation.

Temporary Credit Limit Increase (only for postpaid customers)

Here you can temporarily increase a customer’s credit limit (the value should be defined either as an amount or as a percentage of a positive Permanent Credit Limit value). This shows a temporary increase of the customer’s credit limit.

Valid Until (only for postpaid customers)

Specify the date and time for when an increased credit limit value will automatically be reverted to a permanent state.

The values for the Temporary Credit Limit and Valid Until cannot be higher than the values provided in the Maximum possible increase prompt.

Low Funds/ Credit Limit Warning Threshold(s)

If a warning threshold is defined for a customer balance and the customer balance reaches this value, a notification is sent to the customer.

Depending on the customer balance model, warning thresholds are known as:

  • Credit Limit Warning Threshold for postpaid customers.

  • Low Funds Warning Threshold for prepaid customers.

For postpaid customers the balance warning threshold is defined either as an amount or a percentage of a positive Permanent Credit Limit value. For prepaid customers, balance warning thresholds are defined only as an amount of an Available Funds value.

To send customers multiple notifications, define several balance warning thresholds as comma-separated values.

Unallocated Payments

Unallocated payments show that the customer “overpaid” you sometime in the past, and are used to correct the paid/unpaid status of future invoices.

Unallocated payments do not represent a “cash reserve.” When a payment is made, the amount is immediately applied to the customer’s balance.

Credit Limit History

This shows changes made to the customer’s credit limit (e.g., increases, decreases, temporary increases, etc.). Available only for postpaid customers.

Subscriber-to-Subscriber transfers allowed

This allows end users to transfer funds among accounts (only debit accounts can transfer and receive funds).

  • As defined by the customer class – the option configured for the customer class is used.

  • Yes – debit accounts that have sufficient available funds are able to transfer funds.

  • No – debit accounts are not allowed to transfer available funds.

Web self-care

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Web self-care

Field

Description

Login

Customer login for his web Self-care interface.

Password

Web Self-care interface password for the customer. An easy-to-remember yet secure password may be generated automatically by clicking the Auto button.

Access Level

Access level assigned to the customer.

Time Zone

Time zone for the customer web Self-care interface.

Web Interface Language

Displays the customer Self-care interface in a particular language.

Date & Time Format

PortaBilling allows defining both input and output date and time formats for each customer registered in the system.

By making changes to the date and/or time format on this page, customers will be able to enter dates and times in the desired format throughout the entire customer self-care interface, on invoices, and so on (see the screenshot below).

See the Date & Time format section for examples of date and time format usage.

Service configuration

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Using this tab, you can activate/deactivate various features of the services provided. Note that features are defined per service type (the physical service provided to the user) rather than per service (the name used in the billing configuration and “visible” to the end user). Thus, if you decide tomorrow to bundle your VoIP services under a different name, and create a new service called “Internet Telephony” rather than the old name, “Voice Call”, you do not actually have to change the configuration settings for any of your customers.

Voice Calls

The Services links on the left allow you to specify for which service type you would like to define parameters.

Parameters for the Voice Calls service type

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Field

Description

The Voice Calls service type

Legal Intercept

Intercepts all incoming and outgoing calls of this customer for law enforcement purposes.

First Login Greeting

When a new account (phone number) in this cloud PBX environment is provisioned and registers for the first time, call this phone back and play a pre-recorded voice message confirming service activation, giving information about various available options, and so on.

Music On Hold

Defines the music on hold to be used with the cloud PBX environment. Choose None to disable this feature, or select the default setting for the customer. To upload your own music, select a file on your local file system using the Browse button. To rename the music, enter the desired name in the Music Name field; otherwise, the local file name will be used. The uploaded music will replace the previous entry in the list, and is usually enabled within 10 minutes.

Call Parking

Enables call parking for this customer’s cloud PBX.

  • Park Prefix – the end user can dial this access code to park a call. The default value is *70.

  • Release Prefix – the end user can dial this access code to retrieve a call from the parked status. The default value is *71.

These access codes are available only if call parking is enabled for the customer.

RTP Proxy

This specifies the RTP proxy policy for this customer.

  • Use Default – this uses Optimal RTP proxy.

CLI Trust

Accept Caller Identity

  • Favor forwarder – use the redirector- provided ID for caller identification.

  • Caller only – use the caller-provided ID for caller identification.

  • None – do not accept caller-provided ID for caller identification.

Supply Caller Identity

  • Yes – accept the remote network and maintain caller ID on outgoing headers (even for private calls).

  • No – do not accept the remote network and strip any private caller’s ID.

Limit simultaneous calls

Limit Simultaneous Calls

Engage real-time checks of the number of concurrent calls made by this customer’s accounts. When the specified number of concurrent calls has already been established (calls are in a “connected” state) and the account tries to place another call, that call will be rejected.

To enable the Limit Simultaneous Calls feature, activate the send_start_acct option for the corresponding PortaSIP instances on the Configuration Server. To increase the features accuracy, activate the allow_reauth option too. Note that these features may slightly increase the load on the billing engine.

Count

  • All calls – choose this option to allow a specific number of concurrent calls (both internal and external).

  • Off-centrex calls only – choose this option to allow only a specific number of external concurrent calls. Once this specified number of simultaneous calls is established and an end user attempts to place another call, that call is rejected. This limitation applies to external calls only. Cloud PBX users can call each other as much as they need.

Codec connectivity profile

Select a suitable codec connectivity profile that will be used for bandwidth allocation calculation. Every new call’s allocated bandwidth is calculated by considering a negotiated codec and its parameters to enable full use of the available bandwidth and block new calls if no more bandwidth is available.

Max bandwidth

This allows you to configure the bandwidth utilization limitation to ensure that only an acceptable number of calls are allowed, in order to avoid severe degradation of the sound quality on calls in progress.

The system plays a ‘limit reached’ warning when allocated bandwidth is used up.

Playing warning prompts requires an additional 8 Kbps of bandwidth. Therefore, set aside a certain amount of bandwidth (about 8 Kbps) when you define the bandwidth limit.

Note that only external calls are scrutinized during bandwidth consumption calculation.

  • Max incoming bandwidth – this allows you to configure the bandwidth utilization limitation for incoming calls.

  • Max outgoing bandwidth – this allows you to configure the bandwidth utilization limitation for outgoing calls.

The Dialing Rules section

Dialing Rules

This permits you to enable/disable the dialing rules.

Dialing Format

  • Select one of the existent dialing rule formats. Click the icon17 wizard Wizard icon to review the selected dialing rule.

  • Select Custom Dialing Rule if you want to create personalized dialing settings for a customer. Then click the icon17 wizard Wizard icon to open the Dialing Rule Wizard.

Translate CLI on outgoing calls

This permits you to translate the CLI number in outgoing calls based on the selected dialing format.

Translate CLI on incoming calls

This permits you to translate the CLI number in incoming calls based on the selected dialing format.

                                                         The Fraud Detection section

Location Information

In this section, you can set the country that the end user is currently in or usually resides in (and thus this country will be treated as ‘safe’ when the system checks for fraudulent activity) and whether the end user is allowed to make calls from abroad.

  • Enabled – select this option to provide information about the end user’s current ‘default’ country and whether they are permitted to make calls from abroad.

  • Disabled – select this option if such information must not be provided. In this case, fraud detection, if enabled, is based solely on the geo/risk profile settings.

Allowed Mobility

This option is available only when Location Information is set to Enabled. Specify whether the end user is permitted to make calls from abroad.

  • Stationary User (Permanent Location) – select this option for residential users who may only make calls from a single country. These end users are not authorized to make calls from countries other than their default one, and outgoing calls made from other countries will be screened.

  • Roaming User (Changeable Location) – select this option for users who frequently travel to different countries.

In this case, the call will be screened if it does not meet one of the following conditions:

  • The call is made from the end user’s default country.

  • The call is made from countries in the No Restrictions section in the geo/risk profile specified in the end user’s product.

  • The call is made from countries in the Suspicious section of the geo/risk profile, but the number of calls does not exceed the value permitted (also specified in the geo/risk profile).

Current Location

This option is available only when Location Information is set to Enabled. Select the country from the list.

                                                            The Outgoing Calls section

Override Identity

Here you can set options that an end user may use for an identity. If an end user applies an identity that does not belong among the options permitted, it will be replaced with an identity provided by an administrator. PortaBilling provides several options for overriding identity information:

  • Never – the caller’s identity information supplied by the remote party will neither be screened nor overridden. This implies that the remote party is trusted and takes full responsibility for the supplied display number and display name

  • If Different From Account ID And Aliases – the identity will be overridden if it differs from the ID of the account that is authorized for the call and any of the aliases assigned to this account

  • If Different From All Customer Accounts – the identity will be overridden if it doesn’t match an account ID (or account alias) of any account belonging to this customer

  • If Different From All Accounts In The Specified Batch – an end user may only specify an identity (account ID or account alias) that belongs to his account’s batch. If a specified identity does not belong to that batch, it will be replaced with an identity provided by an administrator.

  • If Different From All Accounts in the Specified Huntgroup – an end user may only specify an identity (account ID or account alias) that belongs to his account’s huntgroup. If a specified identity does not belong to the huntgroup, it will be replaced with an identity provided by an administrator.

  • If Different From All Accounts in the Specified Site – an end user may only specify an identity (account ID or account alias) that belongs to his account’s site. If a specified identity does not belong to that site, it will be replaced with an identity provided by an administrator.

  • Always – the identity value supplied by the remote party will always be overridden. This allows you to manually specify the display number and/or the display name for an account.

Batch

This allows you to specify the batch (this field is only available when If Different From All Accounts In The Specified Batch has been selected).

Huntgroup

This allows you to specify a huntgroup (this field is only available when If Different From All Accounts In The Specified Huntgroup is selected).

Site

This allows you to specify a site (this field is only available when If Different From All Accounts In The Specified Site is selected).

Identity

Here you can specify a default value that will replace the account identity (or display number) when the identity used for the call in the RPID/PAI headers (or From header) is invalid. If not specified, the account ID will be used instead.

Override Display Number

This allows you to control the “Caller number” value that will be placed in the From: header and typically displayed on the called party’s phone display. The possible values are:

  • Never – the display number supplied by the remote party is not restricted and therefore will not be modified. This allows the remote IP phone or IP PBX to supply any CLI/ANI number.

  • If Ruled Out By The Identity Constraint – the validity of a display number supplied by a remote party is verified according to a rule set for identity. For example, when the If Different From Account ID And Aliases option is selected in the Override Identity list, and the display number supplied by the remote party doesn’t match the ID of the account that is authorized for the call or any of the aliases assigned to this account, the display number will be overridden.

  • If Different From The Used Identity – the display number supplied by the remote party (in the From: header) will be overridden if it is different from the used (already checked and/or overridden according to the Override Identity constraint) caller identity.

  • Always – the display number supplied by the remote party will always be overridden. This allows you to manually specify the display number for an account.

Override Display Name

This allows you to override the caller name used by the calling account. The possible values are:

  • Never – the display name supplied by the remote party is not restricted therefore it will not be modified. This allows the remote IP phone or IP PBX to supply any display name
  • Always – the display name supplied by the remote party will always be overridden
Paging/Intercom

Paging/Intercom

This allows you to enable the intercom feature for accounts under this customer.

An end user can dial a special service code before a phone number to establish an intercom connection (two-way communication using phone’s loudspeakers) with a colleague (within the same cloud PBX).

                                                          The Incoming Calls section

Endpoint Redirection

This allows the end user to configure call redirection on their SIP phones (if this feature is supported by the SIP phone).

Ext-to-Ext Call Distinctive Ring

For incoming calls from phones within the cloud PBX environment, use a ring pattern different from the default one.

Sip Contact

Sip Contact

Enable this feature to define the way a SIP device will perform SIP registration to PortaSwitch.

Deliver Incoming Calls To

Define whether the IP PBX address for delivering incoming calls is taken from the IP PBX registration account or specified directly in the Static Address field.

Account

This shows the customer’s IP PBX registration account.

This option is usually selected if a customer’s IP PBX is located at a dynamic IP address and can register only the main phone line (provisioned as the registration account in PortaBilling) on the PortaSIP server.

Static Address

Enable this feature if the customer’s IP PBX can’t perform SIP registration to PortaSwitch.

  • Use Original CLD – specify the destination number that calls will be routed to. If left blank, the number originally dialed will be used as the destination number.

  • Host – this contains the destination host the calls will be routed to. A customer’s IP PBX can be identified with one of the following options:

    • A valid IP address (four numbers separated by points, e.g., 12.34.56.78).

    • A valid domain name (e.g., pbx.example.com).

    • A valid domain name with configured DNS SVR records. In this case, PortaSIP will round-robin through them.

Transport

Select the transport protocol (either TCP or UDP) that is used to deliver incoming calls.

User-managed SIP addresses

User-managed SIP addresses

Define to which external SIP proxies the customer can forward calls using the SIP URI forward feature.

Addresses – type IP addresses or hostnames of external SIP proxies here. Use one of the following formats:

  • IP address

  • IP address:port

  • hostname

  • hostname:port

A user-managed SIP address must be unique. Its value length should not be greater than the allowed maximum (255).

Group Pickup

Group Pickup

The Group Pickup feature enables members of the same huntgroup to answer each other’s calls by dialing a Group Pickup Prefix.

To fine-tune a group pickup functionality, a customer can organize cloud PBX extensions into pickup groups. Pickup groups are based on huntgroups, i.e., huntgroup A with number 2000 can serve as primary pickup group for its extensions 123 and 456. At the same time extension 123 can also belong to huntgroup B with number 9999.

In this example, extension 123 has the following pickup options:

  • To pick up an incoming call to huntgroup A (its primary pickup group) by dialing only *40;

  • To pick up an incoming call to extension 456 by dialing *40456 (both extensions belong to the same huntgroup and have it as their primary pickup group);

  • To pick up an incoming call to huntgroup B by dialing *409999 (since extension 123 also belongs to this huntgroup).

Note that group pickup must be enabled for the particular huntgroup as well.

In case no primary pickup groups are defined within the cloud PBX (e.g., a small company with only several staff members) any extension can pick up incoming calls of others by dialing only the pickup prefix.

Abbreviated dialing

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Here you can define a list of phone extensions for customers’ cloud PBX environment, plus create abbreviated dialing for external phone numbers. The Abbreviated Dialing feature works with both SIP and H.323, with adequate support from either PortaSIP or Cisco TCL IVR.

A PortaBilling customer can set up dialing rules as an international prefix, outside prefix, direct number (e.g., 911), or abbreviated dialing for his accounts.

To be able to add abbreviated numbers, first type the maximum number of digits that a short number must consist of into the Maximum Abbreviated Number Length field and click Save on the toolbar. For example, if you save ‘3’ in the Maximum Abbreviated Number Length field, you will be able to use abbreviated numbers like 1, 2, 34, 145, 999, etc.


Abbreviated Dialing

To add a new abbreviated dialing number, click the icon15 add Add button and enter the following information:

Field

Description

Abbreviated #

The number the end user will dial on his phone (extension number).

# to Dial

The number that the call will be forwarded to. You may enter the ID of one of the customer’s accounts (use the icon18 icon for a pop-up window where you can see all of them) or any phone number. If you leave this field blank, then the abbreviated number is considered to be a direct number, or “dial as is”. This is useful for making sure that special numbers (e.g., 112) are never converted by other translation rules. Note: Phone numbers must be entered in the E.164 format.

Description

Description of this abbreviated number, e.g., “Andrew’s IP phone”.

SIP

If # to Dial represents the ID of one of the customer’s accounts, you will see the SIP “lamp” icon here. It will light up if the account is currently being used by a SIP UA to register with the SIP server; otherwise, it will be gray.

Subscriptions

This tab displays the subscription plans currently applied to this customer.

Subscriptions

Subscriptions are divided into three groups:

  • Pending Subscriptions displays subscriptions that are not active yet (i.e., they will be activated sometime in the future). While a subscription is in pending status, it can be deleted.
  • Active Subscriptions displays currently activated (and billed) subscription plans.
  • Closed Subscriptions displays subscriptions that have already been closed.

Field

Description

Product/Subscriptions

The subscription plan name. Click this link to open the corresponding subscription plan.

Monthly Fee (for subscriptions charged progressively)

  • For subscriptions with prepaid plans: Shows the fee for the current prepaid period and the period duration.

  • For subscriptions without prepaid plans: Shows the subscription fee for the current billing period.

Discount Rate, %

Enter a discount rate for this subscription. If you leave this field empty, it means that the discount rate defined in the customer information should be applied. If you enter any value, it will override the customer discount rate. 0 means no discount (e.g., the rate defined in the subscription plan is applied)

Start Date

Enter the desired subscription activation date: immediately, or sometime in the future.

Activation Date

(Read-only) Displays the date when the subscription was activated.

Finish Date

Enter the date when this subscription should be automatically canceled.

Billed To

(Read-only) The date to which subscription charges have already been applied.

Subscription Plan Name Visible to End User

The subscription plan name as the end user will see it on the invoice.

Close

Allows you to close one of the optional subscriptions.

Life cycle

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21 Life%20cycle2

Field

Description

Current Billing Time Zone

Time zone in which customer’s billing period will be closed and invoices will be generated.

Current Billing Period

Defines the frequency of invoicing for this customer.

Next Billing Date

Read-only field; displays the date when the customer’s current billing will be closed (and invoice and statistics generated).

Status History

Read-only field; allows you to track important events in a customer’s lifecycle, such as when the customer was created, blocked/unblocked or provisionally terminated/opened.

Invoices & taxation

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On this tab you can define the following:

  • How to tax the customer for provided services.
  • Whether to send statistics and invoices by email.
  • What invoice template to use and how to enumerate the invoices.

Field

Description

Tax ID

Customer’s tax ID.

Taxation Plugin

  • No Taxation – select this option if the customer is exempt from taxation.

  • Avalara – select this method to use the Avalara plug-in. Avalara – one of the largest tax calculation companies in the USA. Tax calculation via Avalara is done using the XML API. Your taxation configuration is stored within Avalara and all taxes are calculated by the Avalara middleware.

  • EZtax (US, Canada) – the former version of the Avalara plug-in. Select this method to use the EZtax plug-in. Available for backward compatibility. due to the simplified management of the Avalara updates, it is recommended that you switch to Avalara taxation.

  • SureTax (US, Canada) – select this method to tax voice call services and subscriptions in the US and Canada. SureTax is another taxation system that allows you to accurately and easily calculate taxes for your US and Canadian customers.

  • Fixed VAT Rate – select this method when you need to specify a certain percentage of value-added tax.

  • Custom taxation – this taxation plug-in is similar to VAT, but allows you to specify more than one tax and rate.

    This option is only visible if at least one custom tax is defined on the Custom Taxes page.
  • GST (Malaysia) – this plug-in handles the goods and services tax (GST) that was implemented in Malaysia in April 2015.

Send Statistics via email

Defines what kind of xDR statistics should be delivered to the customer by email after the billing period is closed:

  • As defined by the Customer Class – use the settings for the customer class.

  • Full Statistics – send a .csv file with a complete list of xDRs.

  • Summary Only – do not send a full list of xDRs, only a brief summary

  • Do Not Send – this option prevents the delivery of event statistics to the customer via email.

Note that these options only affect the delivery of xDR files by email. The actual statistics files will always be generated and accessible for download from the administrator interface or customer self-care interface.

Generate Invoice PDF

  • As defined by the Customer Class – with this option enabled, PortaBilling uses the settings defined for the customer class.

  • At the end of the billing period – with this option enabled, PortaBilling processes the customer’s xDRs, applies charges (e.g., subscriptions, fees, etc.), creates a regular invoice, and generates a .pdf file at the end of the billing period.

  • Postponed, based on resource availability – with this option enabled, PortaBilling creates a regular invoice and charges a customer’s credit card immediately. PortaBilling begins to generate the .pdf files only once the calculations related to the previous billing period (e.g., xDR processing, statistics) for all customers have been completed.

  • On demand – with this option enabled, PortaBilling makes all calculations for the customer, creates their regular invoices, and saves them to a database. These invoices are then accessible via API. However, the .pdf file will not be generated unless explicitly requested.

Regular Invoice Template

Defines the regular invoice template for this customer.

  • Select As defined by the Customer Class in order to apply the regular invoice template defined for this class, and so avoid defining an invoice template for each customer specifically.

  • Select Do Not Create Invoice to disable regular invoice generation for this customer.

Choose the required invoice template from the list.

Out-of-Turn Invoice Template

Defines the out-of-turn invoice template for this customer.

  • Choose As defined by the Customer Class in order to apply the out-of-turn invoice template defined for this class, and so avoid defining an invoice template for each customer specifically.

  • Choose Do Not Create Invoice to disable out-of-turn invoice generation for this customer.

Select the required invoice template from the list.

Send Regular Invoices

Defines whether new regular invoices should be delivered to the customer by email.

  • As defined by the Customer Class – use the settings defined for the customer class.

  • Yes – send regular invoices by email.

  • No – do not send regular invoices by email.

Send Out-of-Turn Invoices

Defines whether out-of-turn invoices should be delivered to the customer by email.

  • As defined by the Customer Class – use the settings defined for the customer class.

  • Yes – send out-of-turn invoices by email.

  • No – do not send out-of-turn invoices by email.

Invoice Number Sequence

Select an invoice number sequence that will be used for this customer:

  • Default – the default numbering sequence will be selected for this customer’s invoices.

  • Individual for Environment – this customer’s invoices will have globally sequenced invoice numbering (throughout the environment).

  • Individual for Customer – this customer’s invoices will have their own sequential numbering.

Since taxation parameters depend on the specific taxation module and your local tax laws, please consult your tax attorney for details regarding their use.

Measured services

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On this tab, you can configure which allocated resources will be measured and what charges will be applied for their consumption. All resources consumed have their own metrics.

Each metric can only be added once per customer.


Measured services

Field

Description

Measured Parameter

Specify which consumed resource will be measured and aggregated.

The available options are:

  • Active calls – the actual number of connected calls at a specific moment in time.

  • Concurrent calls – the number of simultaneous outgoing calls allowed for a particular customer. This amount is defined for the customer or customer site by the administrator (in the Limit Simultaneous Calls service feature).

  • PBX Extensions – the number of extensions a customer defines within their PBX environment.

Apply Charge

Select this check box to apply charges to customers for consumed resources. If left clear, measured resources data will be used for statistical purposes only.

Charge Based On Value Within Period

Select which criteria will form the basis for charges to be calculated and applied to customers.

The available options are:

  • Average – at the end of a billing period the system collects aggregated measurements and calculates their average. It is then used for calculating a customer’s charges.

  • Maximum – at the end of a billing period the system collects aggregated measurements, extracts their maximum value, and uses that for assessing a customer’s charges.

  • Minimum – at the end of a billing period the system collects aggregated measurements, extracts their minimum value, and uses that for calculating a customer’s charges.

Charge for Each Item

Specify the price for each consumed unit of resources.

Do Not Apply Charges for the First Items

Specify the amount of consumed resources that the customer will not be charged for (as a rule this is included in the customer’s service bundle).

Charge Rate Code

Select which rate code is to be used to calculate charges for resources consumed. This rate code is shown in the customer’s xDRs and invoices.

Service

The service type used to calculate charges for resources consumed. This service type is shown in the customer’s xDRs and invoices.

Measured services

To browse resource usage statistics, click the icon19  Click here to view graphs icon next to the necessary resource metric.

view graphs icon

The statistics window consists of two graphs. The bottom graph displays resource usage data for the last three months; the upper graph displays a detailed view of the resource usage for a particular time interval selected from the three-month period below.

To select a time period, click on the start date in the bottom graph and drag the mouse cursor to the finish date.

The topmost part of the window provides additional information about the selected metric. The following options are available:

Field

Description

Charges for the period

This represents the customer’s billing period. You can select any of this customer’s billing periods within the xDR storage time and see their charges.

Value

This is the measured resource value defined for the selected metric for the current billing period. It can be minimum, maximum or average.

Amount

If any resource consumption charges have been applied to the customer, they are displayed for the selected billing period. Charges for the current billing period will not be displayed since it is not yet closed. If no charges were applied to the customer, a zero amount is displayed.

Remained Free Items

The number of available allocated resources that are included in the service bundle for the current billing period.

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