Rate&Bill USE CASE: Sonic.net Fusion Internet, TV and Web Hosting

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Fusion® Internet, TV and Web Hosting High Speed and High Reliability Internet Presence

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Section 1: Introduction

Simplifies billing by making complex computations simpler...

© 2013 by Rate&Bill 2013. All Rights Reserved

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This document is a representation of how the Sonic.net Fusion Internet, TV and Web Hosting would be

represented on the Rate&Bill Billing and Customer Care Platform. The Sonic.net Fusion Internet, TV

and Web Hosting is one of the oldest packages offered by Sonic.net. Sonic.net began full-time internet oper-

ations in September, 1994, connecting to John Harkin's North Bay Networks. Based out of Santa Rosa, Cali-

fornia, Sonic is one of the first ISPs to bring DSL access to the wine country, and continue to lead the way in

making new access and hosting solutions available to the public.

The Sonic.net Fusion Internet, TV and Web Hosting represents an ultimate combination of internet, televi-

sion and web hosting service. It allows customers to select an exact package to meet specific usage needs. It

allows customers to subscribe to a bronze, gold or silver packages. These packages are directly related to ser-

vice bundle, speed and quality levels.

Using the Rate&Bill Billing and Customer Care Platform, the Fusion Internet, TV and Web Hosting covers

key areas in the format below.

The Rate Plan.

The rate plan is a flexible system that allows the customer access all offerings in the Sonic.net package.

The Services

The service represent the charges an usage rates allowed in each offer. Services differ for various offers, it is

therefore important to create specific scenarios where different charges in the same service will apply.

The Offerings

The offerings are designed with specific service scenarios assigned to them; a package for the customer.

With a spectacular GUI provided, you can design and configure different rate plans, offers, services,

charges, and rating scenarios.

Tips

Contact us for a FREE PROPOSAL covering Requirement Assessment, Project Charter Approval, Con-

tract Solicitation, and finally Statement of Work Approval. We may also offer DESIGN, IMPLEMENTA-

TION, TESTING and DEPLOYMENT at no cost to you depending on the length of the whole project.



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Table 2.1 The Sonic.net Fusion Internet and Hosting

Activation charges comes as part of Monthly Internet Data. Monthly Internet Data varies with regards to price an

quality (speed). Activation fee for Gold Plus and Monthly Internet Data remains the same for both Gold and Gold

Plus. Web Hosting can be subscribed to on a monthly or yearly basis for all the offers.

Television and Web Hosting are other packages with sub offers on their own.

FUSION Bronze Silver Gold Gold Plus

Activation fee (US$) 10 20 50 50

Monthly Internet Data (US$) 17 25 35 35

Television News Plus

(100)

Movies Plus

(120)

Sports Plus

(150)

All Channels (300)

Web Hosting Service (Month/annual) 87$ /250$ 87$ /250$ 87$ /250$ 87$ /250$

Section 2: Fusion® Internet, TV and Web Hosting

2.1 INTRODUCTION

The Sonic.net Fusion Internet and Hosting presents an ultimate combination of Internet, television and Host-

ing Services. With The Sonic.net Fusion Internet and Hosting you can have full access to internet services at

10, 20 and 50 United States Dollars activation fee for bronze, silver or gold respectively. Customers can choose

only Internet; Internet and Television; Television only; Web Hosting only or any combination of these.

Sonic.net provide internet and TV services across North America and some regions in Canada. Web hosting

services span across customers in more than 125 states.

2.2 PLANS

Built on the Eclipse Platform, a trusted and proven multi-language Integrated Development Environment.

The system allows for high level of flexibility

Tips



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Section 3: The Rate Plan

Step 1 New Rate Plan

Choose rate plan perspective and select rate plan view, then create new rate plan

Figure 3.1

3.1 INTRODUCTION TO RATE PLAN

A rate plan charge is part of a customer subscription designed to be flexible to manage customer offers, and it

comes as package or group of service that draws clients attention to buy this service.

The rate plan is an element of pricing, predefined and independent of the quantities consumed or produced. It

can be used for example in the following cases: phone plan, Internet package, comprising either a minimum

number of minutes (fixed term) or a subscription to the time independent of actual consumption.

3.2 CREATING THE RATE PLAN—SMART PLAN

With the flawless real mode charging system, you

can make the charged amount transparent and un-

derstandable to all parties

Tips


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Section 3: The Rate Plan

Choose rate plan perspective and select rate plan view, then create new rate plan.

New Rate Plan is named SMART ISP Plan. All the offers and service charges attributable to the SMART ISP

Plan, the package offering Fusion Internet, TV and Web Hosting. The next step is to assign the rate plan to a

group of customers.

Step 2 Assigning the Rate Plan to a Customer Group

In Figure 3.1, the eligible customer group here is the VIP customer group. Customers may be classified into sep-

arate groups in other to target them with a single offering. Separate groups may be offered the same service, also

the same rate plan may be assigned to multiple customer groups.

You can assign customer group by simply selecting overview, then “Assign”

3.2 CREATING THE RATE PLAN—SMART PLAN

Remove interfaces, functions and setting you do

not need with just an uninstallation; Rate&Bill is

plug-in based.

Tips


Rate Plan may be created to contain a variety of service charges and different offering

A single rate plan may be assigned to multiple customer groups

A Rate Plan may be a complicated mixture of single charges, usage charges, limited internet

bundle, unlimited usage services; as well as multiple offers coming with a complex combination of these ser-

vices

A customer account must be in a group eligible and assigned to receive offers from a particular rate plan to

enjoy offers from that rate plan



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Section 4: The Service

Step 1 Creating the Service

Figure 4.1 (sample)

4.1 INTRODUCTION TO SERVICE

4.2 CREATING THE SERVICE— INTERNET, TELEVISION AND WEB HOSTING

A service is an act of assistance that help designer to configure how to consume this service and how it is to be

paid.

According to the Sonic.net Fusion Internet, TV and Web Hosting , three main services exist. With the addi-

tion of an activation charge service. The total number of services are outlined below.

Service Activation Fee

Monthly Internet Data

Television

Web Hosting

You do not have to spend days or months testing

your offer before they come live. Neither do you

need a large group of testers

Tips



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A service may be created by choosing the service view, right clicking in the left pane of the window and selecting

new service as indicated in Figure 4.1. Repeat the steps and name the new services as in Figure 4.2

The creation of three services Internet, Television and Web Hosting Service is outlined below in Figure 4.2. The

activation fee service is added to the internet service package according to the Fusion Internet, TV and Web

Hosting package, so it is not created as a separate service.

The result of creating the 3 services are shown below

Figure 4.2


The system is highly responsive and the real

mode charging system is simplified to allow more

client on the server during peak moments.

Tips



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Step 2 Creating the Scenarios

Each service may consist of several scenarios. That is, in each service, one may create more than one form of

charge scenarios.

The scenarios present or design how we can use the same service in another way. Right click on the service to

create new scenario as indicated below.

Figure 4.3 (sample scenario)

In the activation fee service (sample) created earlier, the service scenario is created in Figure 4.2 above.

Every New scenario may be made to bill customers real-time, recurrently or one single charge.


Rate&Bill supports full billing chain processes. Tips

Customers can choose the same service but separate scenarios

Activation Fee is a service with 3 separate scenarios. The scenarios in this case are mutually ex-

clusive and customers cannot assign to 2 or more activation fee scenarios at the same time.



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Using the first two steps the various services are created

1. The Television Service

Four scenarios are created under this service. The News Plus, Movies Plus, Sports Plus and All channel in that

order of more value added service; not forgetting to set status to Production. Scenario parameters must be set to

determine charges and rates for using any service scenario.

These are further explained below.

Figure 4.4


Using the GUI Interface one can create a rate plan,

create various services, and create separate scenarios

under each service.

Tips



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Create recurrent charges for all the scenarios using the view (sample) below. Right click on each service and se-

lect recurrent charge since the television service will be paid for on a monthly basis. Name all scenario Monthly

fee for each service name.

Figure 4.5 (sample)

Every new scenario must have a separate charge, as shown in the expanded view in Figure 4.4.

The News Plus has a recurrent monthly charge of 100

The Movie Plus has a recurrent monthly charge of 120

The Sports Plus has a recurrent monthly charge of 150

All channels has a recurrent monthly charge of 300

It is important to change the status of the service from Work (draft) to Production. In other to be able to apply the

service to the contract/customer successfully.


Rate&Bill uses decisional tree algorithm and

allows you the shortest time to reach each correct

node value

Tips



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After setting the Recurrent charges, customers will be required to pay the amount as per the scenario he or she

chooses. To arrive at the amount payable under each scenario. Right click on the scenario and enter details for

constant charges, this time for recurrent fees and not one shot charges, as shown below (in Figure 4.6) to arrive at

Figure 4.4 above. Name recurrent amount Monthly Fee.

Figure 4.6 (sample)

Details of each monthly fee is shown in Figure 4.7


Using a mixture of services and service scenarios one can create

attractive offers under the rate plan

Tips

Depending on the service, charge, frequency of charge and other rating information, one may

choose one shot charge, recurrent charge or real time charging.

Each charge sequence has its own rating and billing settings accompanying them.

A one shot charge may be once until the service is exhausted by the customer; a recurrent charge

may be on a daily basis, weekly, basis or monthly basis.



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Set recurrent charge parameters as shown below

Figure 4.7

Set a service as mandatory or optional by following the Figure 4.8 below. Setting service as mandatory means it

is a compulsory aspect of the rate plan and customers must subscribe to it. That is only if they want to enjoy the

service.

Activation fee may be a mandatory service. Other services like Television and Web Hosting may be optional.


Rate&Bill is plugin based and allows service

providers to install and uninstall features with-

out changing any line of code

Tips



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Figure 4.8

Multi values option may be chosen if several values exist under the same scenario, see Figure 4.9.

Directory Numbers serve as point of contact with the GSM or contacts sources. If the service provider is a tele-

communication service provider for instance the Directory Number will be the GSM provider number provided to

link the telephone number to the billing system.


After charging the customer, you can re-stimulate

exactly the real rating execution (transaction) and

show proof how the amount was calculated.

Tips

Setting a service as mandatory or optional allows the service provider to specify which services

are compulsory charges eg activation fees, and which ones are optional eg flexible minutes

Remember to set service to Production (Figure 4.2). This will enable you to apply the service to the rate

plan rather than storing it in the form of a draft



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2. The Internet Service

For internet services, there is bronze silver and Gold packages. Using the same procedure for creating the service

Figure 4.9


Rate&Bill can be used to bill your customers on a

daily, weekly, monthly yearly and all your recurrent

service charges

Tips

Use Usage Charge to bill customers real time eg. 1 AED per minute

Use Recurrent Charge to bill customers on regular intervals eg weekly, monthly, annually etc

Use One-shot charge to bill customers once eg activation fee



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Here both one-shot charges and recurrent charges are used. The one shot charges are used for the

After creating the bronze silver and gold service scenarios. Using the string comparator we set the service quality

comparator and set it to multi values as shown in Figure 4.9.

In Figure 4.10 (sample) below, the charge set was usage charge and the string comparator was used to set 3 sepa-

rate operations. These operations will therefore accommodate respective activation fees or activation options the

customer selects, that is, whether bronze, silver or gold.

Figure 4.10 (sample)

Rate&Bill is easy to understand and easy to use.

There is no need for a big team of expert to design

your offer

Tips

Use the string comparator to set how usage charges are consumed, renewed and recharged. In

this case the string comparator was used to set service quality levels for activation and data fee



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Figure 4.11 (sample)

Use counter settings to change string comparator parameters as indicated in Figure 4.11 above. Here real time

charge of 1.0 (step) was used in a descending order for a total of 600… reset should be every minute.

After setting these parameters the next step is to create the various offerings


Use Rate&Bill for all your subscription fee, auto-

matic and manual service activation fees, one shot

charges and other service charges

Tips

Use the function to offer returns to the customer upon usage of any particular service.

Use splitters to split billing time intervals

Use Counter settings to specify the customer’s assigned monthly value, and charge rate. Eg.

600 minutes may be offered by setting step @ 1 and reset every @ minute.

Activation fee does not need to be charged real-time so no need for string settings

Set default counter parameters to set any future parameters that may be added



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3. The Web Hosting Service

For Web Hosting there is monthly recurrent charge and yearly recurrent charges under a single scenario, named

Hosting. For web hosting quality will be set on contract creation.

The web hosting service one scenario and charge will be applied depending on service period parameters. Choose

when creating contract “ choose to allocate server by month or by year”: Two recurrent charges are created, one

on a recurrent monthly basis and another on a recurrent yearly basis.

A string comparator is created and named Period. Using a constant function we create Monthly fee and Yearly

Fee. In the default settings for both charges we set restricted function to See other Period, i.e in creating the con-

tract one may choose to allocate on a recurrent monthly basis or on a recurrent yearly basis.

Figure 4.11

Rate&Bill is easy to understand and easy to use.

There is no need for a big team of expert to design

your offer

Tips



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The offering is any specific combination of services assigned to a particular or a group of customers. The service

needs to be added to the rate plan to create any particular service offering.

The various offers for the Sonic.net Fusion Internet, TV and Web Hosting are

Bronze

Silver

Gold

Gold Plus

When creating contract, the customer will choose service package named rate plan. In this rate plan we assign

and configure services and various scenarios. Now one would have the liberty to choose even by offer or by ser-

vice with smart check box. This is illustrated in Figure 5.1 below

Each client must respect rules of rate plan between offers and services to have a suitable offer.

Section 5: The Offerings

5.1 INTRODUCTION TO OFFERING

5.2 CREATING THE OFFERS— BRONZE, SILVER, GOLD, GOLD PLUS

Rate&Bill comes for free to all small and medium

service providers whose billing project lasts less than

180 man days

Tips

FREE

OFFER

Some services are mandatory as others are optional.

Some services may be mutually exclusive and cannot both be placed onto a single contract



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Figure 5.1

Arrange your services according to your offer specifications

Section 5: The Offerings 5.2 CREATING THE OFFERS— SMART 150, SMART 300 AND SMART 600

Proposal for projects are free for all companies. Proposal covers fice

stages including Requirement Assessment; Project Charter Ap-

proval

Tips

100% FREE

PROPOSAL

View your full array of services. Select only those you want to apply at any time.



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The inscription of client must pass with account creation. this inscription will offer all information to the system;

personal info, contacts and if the client have relation between other client as child or parent to manage payment

responsibility.

Figure 6.1

Section 6: Other Functions 6.1 CREATING THE PARTY

Take advantage of our partnership programs and have an all in one

package consisting of a CRM, ERP and any other enterprise applications

or interest

Tips

Rate&Bill allows you to collect, store and retrieve detailed customer information

Switch customer from one group to another with ease. Applying new offers and rate plans



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The party merely feeds the system with information on the customer. After creating the party, two or more con-

tracts may be created and assigned to the account created. A contract therefore represents all separate mutually

independent offers/packages a client enjoys. One can check account to print invoice alongside other account de-

tails for the customer.

The new contract is created as shown in Figure 6.2 below

Figure 6.2

Each contract may be accessed for transaction history and other information on any particular account.

Section 6: Other Functions 6.2 CREATING THE CONTRACT

Have access to 24/7 web and telephony support from all around the

world

Tips



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After creating the contract, the various services in the rate plan can be placed on the contract by adding or remov-

ing packages as shown in Figure 6.3 below

Figure 6.3

After placing your offer on the contract, billing resumes and procedure is complete. Interact with system anytime

through any of its interfaces and change settings or print invoice as shown in Figure 6.4 and 6.5

Section 6: Other Functions 6.3 PLACING THE OFFER ON THE CONTRACT

Take advantage of our free training sessions to train your customer

service and support staff on how to use the system.

Tips



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Figure 6.4

Figure 6.5

Section 6: Other Functions 6.4 CREATING THE INVOICE

Rate&Bill is offered in six different project sections… you can have as

many as six levels of the project free of charge

Tips



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Essentially, Rate&Bill is a fast, efficient and smart Billing and customers care system that can be used by small,

medium or large service providers to build attractive offers an charge customers on real time or on batch. Grace

to his flexible design, Rate&Bill is able to support any kind of service provider on different markets : Telecom

operators, Internet service provider, web hosting provider, web streaming provider, media services and many oth-

er small and medium scale service providers.

Rate&Bill was designed to rate customers for a various types of charges :

Service Usage charge : telephony, mms, Data bundle, video downloaded, hosted domain,...

Recurrent charge: Monthly/Yearly subscription fees,…

One-shot charges : Charge for after specific events:

Service activation, deactivation , suspension and reactivation charge

Contract activation, suspension and reactivation charge

Support adding other customizable events

Section 7: Conclusion

Email [email protected] for your free proposal or call us on Tel:

(+971) 04-268-3901 | Mob: (+971) 050-718-6452

Tips

Customize invoice template with your company logo, advertisements, promotions and other in-

formation for the customer.

Wrong transactions or wrong amounts charged may be changed with a very simple set of functions without

any difficulty .

25

WEB SOLUTIONS

simplifying IT

Rate&Bill: Use Case


Contact US

For more information about

the product, promotions and

packages please contact

Marketing department

Tel: (+971) 507186452

(+971) 567650376

Email: [email protected]

www.rateandbill.com

ABOUT THE FOUNDER

Use a SMART Billing and Customer Care System… Use Rate&Bill

Mr. Hosni Hamdi, the CEO and Manag-

ing Director of Rate&Bill Company

Limited, started his career in 2006 as a

JAVA/J2EE Developer in Tunisia. With

humble beginnings, he later worked as a

BSCS IX R3 Consultant in Talan, a well

know Information Technology and ser-

vices firm in France.

Mr. Hamdi later settled in Dubai as a BSCS IX R3 Developer in

ERICSSON, where he implement change requests in BSCS to ful-

fill Business and marketing requirements. He developed new

change requests in CX, CMS, JBOSS Workflow, AQ Listener,

scheduler, EAI integration etc. He also played a crucial role in pro-

duction support, as part of a fast track team which was responsible

for fast resolving production issues. After 2 years of exceptional

performance, he moved up in his career in ERICSSON as a BSCS

Solution architect. He conducted end-to-end solution design across

multiple systems (BSCS, CRM, OM+, EAI, ICS and Self-care);

wrote end-to-end solution design documents to fulfill Business re-

quirement; and produced high level and low level design docu-

ments for BSCS. He later worked for Accenture in the same posi-

tion carrying similar roles and responsibilities as a billing system

architect. Among the numerous years of experience, Mr. Hamdi

has a frontline project manager experience with Oracle.

Before retiring to form and manage Rate&Bill, a dedication to tele-

com billing systems, Mr. Hamdi led a team of professionals in cre-

ating a system based on the many years of experience with multi-

national telecoms operators. Putting together the strengths and

flaws of existing systems, Rate&Bill (v1.0) was born.


Watch our video on

Visit our website for more views on how our system works

http://www.rateandbill.com

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