Siebel Field Service Guide > Charges and Invoices > Process of Setting Up Charging >

Setting Up Use Plans

Use plans can be defined to create usage-based charges for equipment. For example, a usage charge could be based on the number of photos printed from one of the printers sold by the company.

To set up use plans and their corresponding charges, you must first create a product and asset with associated measurements. The setup process includes creating a serialized product, creating a measurement type for the product, and creating a service product. A service product can be defined as a product sold as a service, which can be sold independently, packaged, or combined with the physical product.

When the asset is created with the correct measurement, measurement information can either be entered manually (for example, a gas company employee reading a gas meter) or automatically, using some type of electronic feed.

Upper and lower limits for readings may indicate threshold or trigger values for an asset. For example, exceeding an upper limit could trigger a preventive maintenance action.

See Defining Charge Plans for Agreement Line Items for more information on how use plans are associated with agreement line items.

To add measurements to a service product

1. Navigate to the Administration - Product screen > List view.
2. Create or select a service product record.

   See Defining Service-Based Pricing for more information on how to create a service product.

3. Click the Service Information view tab.
4. On the link bar, click Measurements.
5. Measurements associated with a product are not automatically associated with assets of the product.
6. Create a new record, and complete the fields as appropriate.

Some fields are described in the following table.

NOTE:  A read-only version of the Measurements view is available in the Products screen.

To add measurements to a service product asset

• See Defining Asset Measurements and Associating Measurements with Assets for more information.

To create use plans

1. Navigate to the Administration - Contracts screen > Use Plans view.
2. Create a new record and complete the fields as appropriate.

   Some fields are described in the following table.

   Field	Comments
   Estimate	Allows for an estimate of use if the readings do not cover the specified billing period. If selected, the information in the Expected Usage and Use Basis (Days) fields is used. If cleared and incomplete data is found for this billing period, this period is not billed.

3. Click the Plan Details view tab.
4. In the Plan Details view, create a new record, and complete the fields as appropriate.

   The usage charge is based on asset readings or estimates for this product.

5. Scroll down to the Pricing list, create a new record, and complete the fields as appropriate.

   Some fields are described in the following table.

   Field	Comments
   From	Lowest value of a measurement for this pricing record.
   Rollback	Provides discounted pricing for higher usage. Selecting Rollback on a specific tier causes the record's price to override the prices for all lower tiers. A Rollback flag set for the tier labeled Over 1,000 would result in all miles billed at the rate of $0.40 per mile, if the usage reaches this tier during the specified time period. For more information, see Adding Use Plan Pricing Information.
   Units	Provides the following selections: Per Count. Charges the amount specified in the Amount field for each unit of measure; for example, $0.50 per mile. Total. Charges the amount specified in the Amount field for the total measurement interval (From and To fields); for example, $15 for 0 to 100 miles (100 miles total).

6. Repeat Step 4 and Step 5 for each product included in the use plan.
7. Return to the Plan Detail view and select the Commit check box.

   All records should now be read-only. Selecting this check box also makes the Pricing view's fields read-only.

Adding Use Plan Pricing Information

The Pricing list on the Administration - Contracts screen > Use Plans > Plan Details view defines the price structure of each product in the selected use plan. Enter a record for each range of measurement. The Pricing subview allows tiered pricing. See Table 57 for some examples.

NOTE:  To set up aggregate rather than tiered pricing, choose Absolute for the Use Plan Bill Method field. This setting supplies a cumulative reading, starting from the beginning of the plan.