TAG LINE
TAG LINE
SMALL TITLE

Packages Screen

Last Updated: Wed Oct 18 2023

Packages are configured in Setup / Product Catalog / Package / Packages

Overview

Packages are products/offerings that are added to accounts and billed. A package contains one or more services, the services are the individual line items that charges are configured on. A package's price is determined by summing the charges for the services within the package. Packages have a sub element called 'package frequencies' which allow you to setup multiple billing frequencies for each package that you create (for example a monthly billed version of the package and an annual billed version of the package).

When packages are added to accounts they are referred to as 'account packages'. The term 'package' typically refers to a package in the product catalog, while the prefix 'account' indicates that an instance of an entity exists on an account (account package, account service, etc.).

Prerequisites

  • Services need to be configured before packages can be setup

  • Package statuses need to be configured before packages can be setup

  • Currencies need to be setup in order to enable currencies on package frequencies and specify service charges for the currencies

  • Rate plans are required if you need to attach a rate plan to a service or package frequency

  • Package contracts are required if you need to attach a contract to a package frequency

Packages Panel

The Packages panel on the left of this screen allows you to select existing packages to view and edit on the Edit Package panel to the right. Actions are also available in this panel which are shown as icons above the Filter text box. The available actions are described below.

Actions

Icon

Description

Deletes the selected package if not in use (added to an account)

Adds a new package

Packages List

The Packages list on the left of the screen shows packages that are currently setup. Details on the selected package's configuration will be displayed in the Edit Package panel to the right. These details are explained below.

Edit Package Panel

The information in this panel reflects the currently selected package. From here you can change package details (note: fields with a magenta left border are required).

Package Fields and Options:

  • Name: a unique name for the package. This name can be used internally or as a customer facing product name on invoices and in web portals if desired

  • Start Date: the date that the package becomes active in the product catalog. If left empty the package will be available to add to accounts immediately, provided package frequencies under the package are set as ‘Active’

  • Expiry Date: used to retire a package. When this date is reached the package will no longer be available when adding packages to accounts. Account's already configured with the package will not be affected when the package expiration date is reached

  • Description: a description of the package for internal purposes or (optionally) a detail that can be presented on invoices or in web portals

  • Default Account Package Status: specifies the status the package will be set to by default when it is added to an account. The package status determines if the account package is billable and if package settings can be modified. See the package status screen help for more information on package statuses

  • Currencies: sets the currencies that the package frequencies under the package can be sold in. E.g. if you enable CAD and USD in this section then the package frequencies setup under the package will be limited to configuring only USD and CAD prices on services

Frequencies tab

This tab will list any package frequencies setup on the selected package. Package frequencies are created to support all of the variants of a package that you require (a monthly billed version, quarterly billed version, annually billed version, etc.). Pricing for services is also defined at the package frequency level.

To modify an existing package frequency click on the (emoji) icon next to the right of the package frequency. To add a new package frequency click on the (emoji) icon. Performing either of these actions will load the package frequencies screen. See the package frequencies screen help for details on the options presented on that screen and guides on how to configure package frequencies.

Services tab

This tab allows you to view, add, remove or edit services within the package. See the Guides section below in this article for instructions on how to configure services on packages.

Options tab

This tab allows you to configure how the package is billed and define the type of package you wish to offer. The fields on this tab are explained below:

Billing Options:

  • Charge Full Period: if enabled the package will always bill at its full package price (i.e. service charges related to the package will not be prorated)

  • Charge Recurring Only If Usage: if enabled recurring service charges will only be applied when usage related to a service in the package occurs. Even if usage charges amount to zero the fact that usage occurred will still result in recurring charges being applied. Other non-recurring charges such as transition charges or one-time charges will still apply when this option is set

  • Postpaid: if selected, the package will be billed in arrears. Package charges will be applied for the previous period once the current period is reached. E.g. a monthly postpaid package’s charges for September will not be added to the account balance until the package’s next bill day in October is billed

  • Billing Activation Service: allows you select a billing activation service which triggers account package billing based on usage and/or time thresholds. This value can only be populated when creating a new package, it cannot be modified when editing an existing package in the catalog. See the services screen help for details on billing activation services and how to configure them

  • Allow Quantity: This setting enables the ability to apply a quantity in order to bill non-usage based recurring or one-time services multiple times (e.g. a package with one one-time service and a quantity of ten set will generate one transaction/one invoice line item at ten times the normal service charge amount). Usage based services cannot have a quantity multiplier applied to them. When this setting is enabled on a package a ‘Quantity’ field will appear when adding the package to an account, allowing the user to specify how many times to bill the one-time or recurring service charge

  • Bill On Account Bill Day: when enabled the package bill day will be in sync with the account bill day. If disabled the package and its services will bill on its own anniversary (effective date) and continue to bill on that date

Add-on Type Options:

  • Share Plan Add-On: converts the package to a share plan add-on package. When this setting is enabled the package will become an 'add-on' offering which can be added to account share plans to increase the available shared usage (e.g. add another gigabyte of data to the share plan). The services configured on the package which contain buckets will determine the amount and type of usage that the add-on package provides

  • Global Add-On: configures the package as an add-on package that can be used to add additional services to existing account packages. E.g. can be used to sell additional equipment or apply additional charges so that the services applying these charges do not need to be configured on standard packages in the product catalog. Global add-on packages can only be added to account packages that are configured with the ‘Add-on eligible’ setting (described below). Packages cannot be setup as both a global add-on package and an add-on eligible package

  • Add-on eligible: configures the package to permit any global add-on packages to be added to it. Global add-ons added to the eligible account package will add the services contained within the global add-on package to the eligible account package (e.g. additional one-time or recurring services will be appended to the eligible account package). For an example on how to setup add-on and eligible packages see the Global Add-on Package Configuration Example

Buckets tab

This tab will appear when any usage based services within the package have been configured with usage buckets. Otherwise this tab will not be present when configuring the package.

Clicking on the (emoji) icon next to the service name on this tab will reveal bucket details and allow you to configure buckets as shared. Shared buckets are available to be used by other usage based services within the package but a shared bucket will only be used after the services in the package have consumed their own buckets.

You can also view bucket threshold notices configured on the bucket by clicking on the (emoji) icon next to the service name and then clicking the (emoji) icon. Notifications are only viewed from this modal, if you wish to add notifications then you will need to modify the service that contains a bucket.

See the Services screen help for more information on configuring buckets and bucket notifications on services.

Custom Fields tab

This tab will display any custom fields that have been setup with an 'Entity' value of 'Packages'. Custom fields are used to capture/provide additional data on the package within the product catalog. Custom fields on this tab are typically used to store internal/back-end details related to the package. To display custom data or require users to enter custom data when adding packages to accounts you would setup custom fields with an 'Entity' value of 'Account Package'. For more information see the custom fields article.


Guides

Adding Packages

  1. In the Packages panel to the right of the packages heading click the (emoji) icon

  2. Under the Add Package heading on the right specify the package details and currencies that the package can be sold in.

  3. To add services to the package, click on the Services tab

  4. At the bottom of the tab click in the Services field

  5. Type in all or part of the service's name that you want to add to the package, select the service and click + Add to the right of the Services field

  6. When you have finished adding all the desired services you can modify them by clicking on the (emoji) icon to the right of the service

  7. The Edit Service Configuration pop-up will appear if you edit a service and provide you with several options:

    • Minimum Instances: the number of the particular service that the account must have within the account package at any given time. E.g. in a mobile share plan package you could require that at least five services (which represent users/devices/sim cards) need to be configured when adding the package to an account. If minimum instances is set to zero, the service is considered optional and can be either added to the account package or left off of it when configuring the package on an account

    • Maximum Instances: the maximum number of services that can be configured when adding the package to an account. E.g. if you wanted to limit the number of devices in a package to three devices, you would set this value to 3 for the service in the package that represents the device

    • Default Instances: the number of services that are added by default when the package is added to an account. This value can be modified when adding the package to an account, e.g. if the default is 1, you can edit that number to add less or more services depending on the minimum and maximum instances values that you have configured

    • Dynamic Usage Class Group: an advanced usage configuration option which allows the usage class on the usage related to the service to be dynamically changed based on additional usage attributes (e.g. usage occurring in the same location can be set to a specified usage class based on the network/carrier that the usage occurs on, resulting in different usage rates being charged for different network providers). For more information see the dynamic usage classes help

  8. Configure the settings on the Options tab to define how the package is billed and if it will function as an add-on or add-on eligible package

  9. If usage based services contain buckets review the Buckets tab to ensure the bucket configuration is setup as desired (for instance, if the bucket is shared or not)

  10. Review the Custom Fields tab and if needed populate any custom fields present with the proper details for your organization

  11. Click Save to commit your changes and create the package


Editing Packages

  1. Under the Packages heading on the left click the package you wish to edit

  2. Under the Edit Package heading on the right modify the package details

  3. To edit services on the package click the (emoji) icon to the right of the service

  4. Click Save when finished making changes


Deleting Packages

Note: Packages that have been added to accounts are in use and cannot be deleted. If you need to disable a package so that it cannot be added to accounts you can set an Expiry Date on the package in the product catalog. If you wish to disable a package frequency you can edit the frequency under the package and uncheck the 'Active' option.

  1. Select the package you wish to delete in the list on the left under the Packages heading

  2. On the left under the Packages heading click the (emoji) icon

  3. On the confirmation dialog click Yes to confirm that the selected Package should be deleted


Adding Package Frequencies

  1. Under the Packages heading on the left click the package you wish to add a frequency to

  2. Click on the Frequencies tab and then click the (emoji) icon to the far right of that tab and the package frequency screen will load. Load the Package Frequencies help for details on the options presented on that screen and links to guides on how to configure package frequencies