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Configuration of Services, Products and Structure in CentreBill (continued)Configuring Other Attributes
For each of the services configured in CentreBill, it is possible to record as much information as required against each service. Again, the mechanism of the three-tier structure also pertains
to the parent-child relationships when defining the attributes and values for Other Attributes.
The screen below shows the Other Attributes configuration for a typical ADSL service.
Other Attributes can be anything. For example, for an ADSL service, they may include:
- Service Installation Number
- Modem Description
- Modem Serial Number
- Local IP Address
- Gateway IP Address
- Subnet Mask
- Customer IP Gateway
- PPP Username
- PPP Password
- POP Server
- SMTP Server
- SLA Guarantee
- Etc.
Configuring Setup Charges
Setup charges are configured as a class of service under the services configuration procedure. Then
during the creation of a new service, the setup charges can then be assigned to each of the services, again at a Group, Type or Item level. Values may be added to the setup attributes and these will be
inherited at the instance level when a new service is added to a customer account. Again, these values can be overwritten at customer service setup time.
Configuring the Web Interface (MI3) in CentreBill's Main Interface (MI9)
CentreBill provides a comprehensive and flexible online web based Members Area. As part of the Members Area, customers are able to view the details associated with each of their services they receive from the provider.
The list of attributes that the customer may view online is configured using the Configure Web tab in CentreBill.
This list is a combination of all Default Attributes and all Other Attributes previously defined. The Configure Web screen (see below) provides a list of all of these attributes. Their position in the list
may then be reordered for a more meaningful presentation on the web.
For each of the attributes the following options exist:
- View Only
– allow the customer to view the attribute and its value online without being able to change it
- View and Edit
– allow the customer to view the attributes and their values online and if required, to change the value of the attribute (e.g. passwords)
- Hide – do not show the attribute in the online Members Area
The screen below shows the configuration of a typical service in CentreBill's MI9 interface followed by the corresponding view in the customer's MI3 interface.
Any changes made to the Configure Web area in MI9 is immediately reflected in the online Members
Area. Furthermore, the entire tree structure making up the customer's services is also displayed as part of the online navigation for the customer. This is shown below:
Contribution Margin Determination using CentreBill
CentreBill includes a module to assist the company's management to ascertain gross profit on a service by service basis. In order to avoid confusion with gross profit as defined in the accounting
system, this is referred to as Contribution Margin (CM) in CentreBill.
CM = Selling Price – Service Costs
An online report is provided which dynamically determines the Contribution Margin for a defined
period.
Setting Up Service Costs in CentreBill
For each service in CentreBill, it is possible to build a list of costs associated with the supply of the
service. These may, for example, include fixed monthly recurring costs billed by the wholesaler and variable charges based on overhead cost allocation for excess data utilization.
The screen below shows this for an ADSL service configured in CentreBill:
Assigning the Contribution Margin
During the configuration of the Contribution Margin module, the structure of the organization is
defined. Using this predefined structure, CentreBill may be configured to allocate the CM (or profits) as a result of a sale between the various Departments as follows:
- New Contracts
- contracts signed with new customers or new services signed up with existing customers
- Ongoing Contracts
– after the initial the initial term of the contract has lapsed, the allocation of CM will differ between the various departments
- Retained Contracts
– these are existing contracts which have been re-signed for another contract term and again, these will attract a different ratio of CM allocation between the various departments
Each of the values for each of the contract types is configurable for every service. Again, the three-tier structure's inheritance rules apply in defining CM for each service.
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