This function allows you to query charging plans by plan name, charging model, and service group.
Operation Procedure
- Select the User tab and then select Accounting Manager > Charging Plans from the navigation tree to enter the charging plan management page.
- Specify the query conditions. By default, all charging plans will be displayed.
- Click Query. To perform a query by using the default conditions, click Reset.
This function allows you to add a charging plan.
Operation Procedure
- Select the User tab and then select Accounting Manager > Charging Plans from the navigation tree to enter the charging plan management page.
- Click Add to enter the charging plan setup page.
- Configure the basic information, charging settings, plan properties, rate settings, bonus settings, and discount settings. The configurations required may vary by the charging template and charging model. Refer to the subsequent sections for the differences and the descriptions of the parameters.
- Click OK.
This function allows you to modify a charging plan.
Operation Procedure
- Select the User tab and then select Accounting Manager > Charging Plans from the navigation tree to enter the charging plan management page.
- Click the
icon of the charging plan to be modified. - Configure the basic information, charging settings, plan properties, rate settings, bonus settings, and discount settings. The configurations required may vary by the charging template and charging model. Refer to the subsequent sections for the differences and the descriptions of the parameters.
- Click OK.
This function allows you to delete charging plans that have not been referenced by services in bulk.
Operation Procedure
- Select the User tab and then select Accounting Manager > Charging Plans from the navigation tree to enter the charging plan management page.
- Select one or more charging plans, and then click Delete.
Parameters
The configuration parameters may vary by the charging template and charging model:
| Charging template | Description | Charging model | Configuration parameters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usage-based | This is the most commonly used charging template. With this charging template, a user is charged based on the same rate all the time. | Usage-based | ①Basic Settings ③Rate Settings ⑧Discount settings |
| Flat rate | Charging for only the fixed fee. With a duration limit applied, a user will not be able to use the service after reaching the limit during a billing period. | Flat rate |
⑤Basic Plan Settings ⑥Service Usage Limit |
| Rate table per billing term | A billing term is divided into several usage levels, each of which corresponds to a rate. | Rate table per billing term | ①Basic Settings ②Plan Properties ④Rate Settings ⑧Discount settings |
| Usage-based with bonus | In a billing term, there are multiple usage levels, each of which corresponds to a certain amount of bonus. A user whose usage reaches a certain level gains the corresponding amount of bonus. | Usage-based with bonus |
①Basic Settings ②Plan Properties ③Rate Settings ⑦Bonus Settings ⑧Discount settings |
| Generic | With the Generic template, charging models Flat rate, Rate table per billing term, Usage-based with bonus, and Usage-based correspond respectively to charging templates Flat rate, Rate table per billing term, Usage-based with bonus, and Usage-based. With charging model Rate table per service usage, a single access is treated as several segments, each of which corresponds to a rate. Note that when the charging template is Usage-based, the Billing Term and Fixed Fee parameters are not available; when the charging template is Generic, if the charging model is Usage-based, you need to configure the Billing Term and Fixed Fee parameters. | Usage-based |
①Basic Settings ②Plan Properties ③Rate Settings ⑧Discount settings |
| Flat rate | Refer to charging template Flat rate. | ||
| Rate table per billing term | Refer to charging template Rate table per billing term. | ||
| Usage-based with bonus | Refer to charging template Usage-based with bonus. | ||
| Rate table per service usage | ①Basic Settings ②Plan Properties ④Rate Settings ⑧Discount settings |
① Basic Settings (available when the charging template is not Flat rate)
- Charge Based on: The way to charge users for usage of network resources, by time or traffic. You may choose one as needed.
- Max. Currency Resources/user: The maximum volume of resources allocated to a service after the user passes authentication. The CAMS system allows a user to use multiple services at the same time. Whenever a user starts to use a service, some of the user's currency resources are allocated to the service. When the resources are used up, some more will be allocated. To ensure that users can use the network normally, the volume of currency resources allocated every time must be at least enough for supporting a duration equal to an accounting update interval. For example, if the accounting update interval configured on the access device is 6 minutes, and the rate of the charging plan is 0.05 dollars per minute, the setting of this parameter must be greater than 0.3 dollars (6 * 0.05). Otherwise, users cannot use the network normally.
- Unit: Unit used for measuring the service usage of users. Which options are available depends on the charging mode: When it is based on time, available options include seconds, minutes, and hours; when it is based on traffic, available options include bytes, KB, MB, and GB.
- Charging Threshold: If a user uses a service but the usage does not reach the charging threshold, no charge will be made for the service usage.
- Min. Charged Usage: The minimum service usage charged for access to a service. If the service usage of a user is greater than the usage defined by Charging Threshold but less than Min. Charged Usage, the user will be charged as per Min. Charged Usage. For example, when Charging Threshold is 5 seconds and Min. Charged Usage is 180 seconds (3 minutes), if the duration of a call is longer than 5 seconds but shorter than 3 minutes, the user will be charged for a 3-minute usage. Charging Threshold takes precedence over Min. Charged Usage. For example, when Charging Threshold is 50 seconds, and Min. Charged Usage is 30 seconds, if the duration of a call is shorter than 50 seconds, no charge will be made.
- Discount Type: This parameter is effective only when there is one or more discount plans configured. Available discount types include Consistent with Start and Exact Charging. For description convenience, the term Actual Rate is used to refer to the rate calculated based on the basic rate and discount for the period. With Consistent with Start, a user will be charged according to the actual rate of the moment the user starts to use the service. With Exact Charging, however, the actual rate may vary over time. For example, when the basic rate of a service is 0.10 dollars per minute and a discount of 20% applies after 21:00 everyday, if a user uses the service from 20:55:00 to 21:05:00, the user will be charged one dollar (0.1 * 10) in the case of Consistent with Start and 0.90 dollars (0.1 * 5 + 0.1 * 80% * 5) in the case of Exact Charging.
- Rounding Type and Rounding Interval: For an access to a service, if the usage exceeds the Min. Charged Usage, the charge for the extra part will be calculated in units of the rounding interval. If the extra part is not a multiple of the rounding interval, the extra part will be rounded as per the rounding type. For example, when Min. Charged Usage is 180 seconds and Rounding Interval is 10 seconds, if a user uses the service for 4 minutes 5 seconds (245 seconds) during an access, rounding will occur for the extra part, that is 65 seconds (245 - 180 = 65). When the rounding type is Round Down, the extra part will be rounded to 60 seconds, making the total charged usage to 240 seconds (180 + 60). When the rounding type is Round Up, the extra part will be rounded to 70 seconds, making the total charged usage to 250 seconds (180 + 70). When the rounding type is Round Off, the extra part will be also rounded to 70 seconds, making the total charged usage to 250 seconds (180 + 70).
② Plan Properties (available when the charging template is Rate table per billing term, Usage-based with bonus, or Generic)
- Charging Model: Charging model for the charging plan, which can be Rate table per service usage, Rate table per billing term, Usage-based with bonus, Flat rate, or Usage-based. This parameter is available only when the charging template is Generic, and different charging models mean different charging plan configuration procedures.
- Billing Term: For easy management and statistics collection, service usage billing is usually based on the billing term. Available billing term options include Monthly, Bimonthly, Quarterly, Semiyearly, Annually, None and User-Defined. If no billing term is required, select None.
- Fixed Fee: Fixed fee for a single billing term. Available when there is a billing term. If no fixed fee is needed, type 0 in this field.
- Billing Period: Enter the billing period for the user-defined billing term. The value ranges from 1 to 27 days.
③ Rate Settings (available when the charging model is Usage-based or Usage-based with bonus)
- Default Rate: Rate when there is no discount. For example, you can set the default rate to 1 dollar per 60 seconds.
④ Rate Settings (available when the charging model is Rate table per service usage or Rate table per billing term)
- Rate Table: Service usage levels and the corresponding rates. You can maintain the rate table by specifying the following configuration items. Note that up to four levels can be configured and that the end point of the last level is the upper limit of the user usage. For example, suppose that the start point and end point of the last level are 50 hours and 100 hours respectively. With Rate table per service usage, a user will be forced to log off after staying online for 100 hours during a single access, and the user can relog in afterwards. With Rate table per billing term, however, a user will be forced to log off after staying online continually for 100 hours during the current billing term, and the user can no longer relog in during the current billing term.
- Unit: Unit used for measuring the service usage of users. Which units are available depends on the setting of the Charged Based on parameter.
- From: Start point of the usage level. You do not need to specify the start point. The system will maintain this setting automatically. The start point of a level is the end point of the last level.
- To: End point of the usage level. For the last level, it can be No limit.
- Rate: Rate for the usage level. For example, you can set the rate to 1 dollar per 60 seconds for the current usage level.
⑤ Basic Plan Settings (available when the charging template is Flat rate)
- Charge Based on: The way to charge users for usage of network resources, by time or traffic. You may choose one as needed.
- Billing Term: For easy management and statistics collection, service usage billing is usually based on the billing term. Available billing term options include Monthly, Bimonthly, Quarterly, Semiyearly, and Annually.
- Fixed Fee: Fixed fee for a single billing term. Available when there is a billing term. If no fixed fee is needed, type 0 in this field.
⑥ Service Usage Limit (available when the charging model is Flat rate)
- Usage Threshold: Maximum usage allowed in a billing term. Required when it is necessary to impose a usage limit. Blank means no limit.
- in: Unit of the Usage Threshold. When the usage is by time, this unit can be seconds, minutes, or hours; when the usage is by traffic, this unit can be bytes, KB, MB, or GB.
⑦ Bonus Settings (available when the charging model is Usage-based with bonus)
- Two bonus types are available: Bonus table and Fixed bonus.
- Bonus table: During a billing term, if the usage of a user reaches a certain level, the user will gain the corresponding bonus, by time or money. For example, when the usage of a user reaches 100 dollars, the user will gain a bonus of 20 dollars; when the usage reaches 200 dollars, the user will gain 50 dollars, and so on. You can specify different bonus amounts for different levels. For example, you can specify a higher bonus for a higher usage level to encourage users to use your service.
- Fixed bonus: During a billing term, whenever the usage of a user reaches a certain amount, the user will gain a fixed amount of bonus. For example, when the usage of a user reaches 100 dollars, the user will gain a bonus of 20 dollars; when the user uses another 100 dollars, the user gains another 20 dollars of bonus.
- Unit: Unit used for measuring the service usage of users. Currently, only the unit specified as the main unit is supported. For example, dollar is usually used as the main unit in America.
⑧ Discount settings (available when the charging model is not Flat rate)
- Discount Name: Name of the discount scheme. It cannot be null and must be unique in a charging plan.
- Term: Discount term. Available options include Fixed time period, Annually, Monthly, Weekly, and Daily. With Fixed time period, the discount takes effect only once. With Weekly, Sunday is the first day of a week and Saturday is the last day.
- Discount: Expense calculated based on the rates * Discount = Charged fee. The discount must be an integer in the range 0 to 100. This field is required.
- Validation Date: Specifies the validity period of the discount together with the Expiry Date parameter.
- Expiry Date: Specifies the validity period of the discount together with the Validation Date parameter.
- Start Time and End Time: Start time and end time of the discount, where the end time must be later than the start time. A discount applies only when the service usage time falls within both this period and the period defined by Validation Date and Expiry Date.
Example 1: If the discount is on a daily basis, the discount validation date is 2010-08-01 and expiry date is 2010-08-31, the discount is 20%, and the discount start time and end time are 08:00:00 and 12:00:00 respectively, then the discount 20% applies during 08:00:00 to 12:00:00 everyday from August 1st, 2010 to August 31st, 2010.
Example 2: If the discount term is Fixed time period, the discount validation date is 2010-08-01 and expiry date is 2010-08-10, the discount is 20%, and the discount start time and end time are 2010-08-01 00:00:00 and 2010-08-20 00:00:00, the discount applies from 2010-08-01 00:00:00 to 2010-08-11 00:00:00. - Priority: When multiple discount schemes are effective at the same time, the scheme with the highest priority applies.
Precautions
- The Service group parameter is not available when the setting of the UAM Service Group parameter is Deny (on the page you enter by selecting the User tab and then selecting User Access Policy > Service Parameters > System Settings from the navigation tree and clicking the Configure icon of System Parameters).
- A charging plan in use cannot be deleted.
- If an operator is authorized with the management rights of service group A, the operator can view the charging plans of service groups A and ungroup, and can delete or modify the charging plans of service group A, but cannot delete or modify those of service group ungroup.
- After adding a charging plan, if the plan fails to take effect, you can select User Access Policy >Service Parameters > Validate from the navigation tree to put the charging plan into effect.
- If an account uses a flat rate charging plan with a usage threshold and multiple users use the account simultaneously, usage control of the account may not be precise. To address this problem, set the maximum concurrent logins to 1 for the account.
- CAMS uses the rounded-off usage, instead of the actual usage, for calculating the accounting or accumulative total usage.
- A usage-based billing policy with bonus may result in an error of less than 1 second or 1 byte.
- If you modify the charging plan too frequently (at an interval less than 30 seconds), you must manually validate the modification.