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12 Sharing Groups

You use sharing groups in Oracle Communications Billing Care to create and maintain resource sharing groups.

To work with sharing groups, see the following topics:

Working with Resource Sharing Groups

A resource sharing group consists of an owner and one or more members who share resources. A resource sharing group can be one of the following types:

You create resource sharing groups by selecting members and the services that the owner wants to include. For example, the charges and discounts for IP services could be shared. A member account can participate in multiple sharing groups. And, if multiple group owners invite a member to share charges or discounts for the same service, the member can join any or all sharing groups for that service.

About Charge Sharing

Charge sharing enables a customer to sponsor the charges of other accounts or services in the system. For example, it enables a company to pay for all of its employees' GSM telephony services, or a parent to pay for the child's SMS and email services.

When a member incurs charges sponsored by the owner, the charges are applied to the owner's balance group first. Any charges that remain afterward impact the member's balance group.

Use Charge Sharing in the Sharing Groups menu to add, view, modify, or delete charge sharing groups and to add or delete members from a charge sharing group. For more information, see the following topics:

Creating a New Charge Sharing Group

To create a new charge sharing group:

  1. From the Actions menu, select Sharing Groups, and then Charge Sharing.

    The Sharing Groups page appears.

  2. Click New, next to Charge Sharing.

    The New Charge Sharing Group dialog box appears.

  3. In the Name field, enter a name for the charge sharing group.

  4. From the Services list, select the required service.

    Note:

    Select Account for non-services.

    A list of charges appears in the Charges Shared table. This table displays the name, description, events, and the validity period of the charge.

  5. Select the charges for sharing.

  6. Click Apply.

Modifying a Charge Sharing Group

To modify a charge sharing group:

  1. From the Actions menu, select Sharing Groups, and then Charge Sharing.

    The Sharing Groups page appears with the Charge Sharing Ownership and Charge Sharing Membership dialog boxes.

  2. In the Charge Sharing Ownership dialog box, click on the edit icon for the group that you want to modify.

    The Edit Charge Sharing Group dialog box appears.

  3. (Optional) To change the name of the charge sharing group, enter a new name in the Name field.

  4. (Optional) To add or remove charges from the group, select or deselect the charges in the Charges Shared table.

  5. Click Apply.

Deleting a Charge Sharing Group

To delete a charge sharing group:

  1. From the Actions menu, select Sharing Groups, and then Charge Sharing.

    The Sharing Groups page appears with the Charge Sharing Ownership and Charge Sharing Membership dialog boxes.

  2. In the Charge Sharing Ownership dialog box, click the delete icon for the group that you want to delete.

    A warning message appears.

  3. Click Delete.

Adding Members to the Charge Sharing Group

To add members to a charge sharing group:

  1. From the Actions menu, select Sharing Groups, and then Charge Sharing.

    The Sharing Groups page appears with the Charge Sharing Ownership and Charge Sharing Membership dialog boxes.

  2. Click Add Members.

    The GroupName: Members section appears.

  3. Click Add account.

    The account search dialog box appears.

  4. Enter the account search criteria and click Search.

    The search results appear. Search returns a maximum of 50 results by default. Refine your search criteria if the account you are searching for is not initially found.

  5. Select an account and click Add Account.

  6. Click Close.

    After you add the account, you can select specific services for charge sharing. See "Selecting Specific Services for Charge Sharing".

Selecting Specific Services for Charge Sharing

You can configure charge sharing based on specific services when the group owner wants to limit sharing to a small subset of the services within a type. For example, if a member has work email (smith@internetprovider.com) and home email (john@internetprovider.com). Both are specific services of the email service type. If the group owner wants to share charges only for the work email, you can select only the work email service for the group owner to assume the charges.

The charges for each of the specific services you select are assumed by the group owner.

To select specific services for charge sharing:

  1. From the Actions menu, select Sharing Groups, and then Charge Sharing.

    The Sharing Groups page appears with the Charge Sharing Ownership and Charge Sharing Membership dialog boxes.

  2. In the Charge Sharing Ownership dialog box, click the number of members for the group that you want to edit.

    The GroupName: Members section appears.

  3. Click the edit icon for the member for which you want to select the services for charge sharing.

    The Specific Services to Charge Share page appears with a list of services eligible for charge sharing. In this list, the services for which the charges are currently assumed by the group owner are selected by default.

  4. Select or deselect the services as required.

  5. Click Apply.

Removing a Member from the Charge Sharing Group

To remove a member from the charge sharing group:

  1. From the Actions menu, select Sharing Groups, and then Charge Sharing.

    The Sharing Groups page appears with the Charge Sharing Ownership and Charge Sharing Membership dialog boxes.

  2. In the Charge Sharing Ownership dialog box, click the link showing the number of members.

    The GroupName: Members section appears.

  3. Click the delete icon for the member you want to remove from the group.

    Caution:

    Be cautious while removing the members from the group. When you click the delete icon for a member, the member will be removed from the group. Billing Care does not display warning messages when you remove members from a group.

Modifying Priorities for Charge Sharing Group

You can increase or decrease priorities for charge sharing groups. To modify priorities of the charge sharing groups:

  1. From the Actions menu, select Sharing Groups, and then Charge Sharing.

    The Sharing Groups page appears with the Charge Sharing Ownership and Charge Sharing Membership dialog boxes.

  2. In the Charge Sharing Membership dialog box, click the edit icon for the member for which you want to modify the priority.

    The Modify Priorities dialog box appears with a list of group names and existing priority settings.

  3. Select the up arrow (ascending order) or the down arrow (descending order) to increase or decrease the priority.

  4. Click Apply.

Charge Sharing Group Dialog Box

Use the Charge Sharing dialog box to:

  • Create and modify charge sharing groups

  • Add or remove members from charge sharing groups

  • Select specific services for charge sharing groups

Field Description

Name

Name the charge sharing group. The name you enter must be unique. You cannot use this name for any other discount or charge sharing group owned by the account.

Services

Select a service.

Charges Shared

This table lists the charges that the group owner will assume for the group members.

Each row displays the charge name, description, event type included in the charge, and validity period of the charge.

Add Members

Adds members to a charge sharing group.

You can specify the search criteria for the accounts you want to add as members. You can use wildcard, First Name, Last Name, or Company name for the search criteria.

You use the search results to select accounts for membership.

About Discount Sharing

Discount sharing is based on discounts purchased by the owner as part of a product rate plan. Shared discounts impact the member's balance groups by either increasing noncurrency resources or reducing the currency impact of an event.

For discount sharing groups, the noncurrency resources that were offered as part of the discount have been depleted in the owner account; for example, a monthly discount of free minutes that has already been consumed by the owner or other members. In this case, the member still benefits from currency-type shared discounts such as a 10% reduction on bills for email usage or a $15 discount on overseas calls.

Use Discount Sharing in the Sharing Groups menu to add, modify, or delete discount sharing groups and to add or delete members from a discount sharing group. For more information, see the following topics:

Creating a Discount Sharing Group

To create a discount sharing group:

  1. From the Actions menu, select Sharing Groups, and then Discount Sharing.

    The Sharing Groups page appears.

  2. Click New next to Discount Sharing.

    The New Discount Sharing Group dialog box appears.

  3. In the Name field, enter a name for the discount sharing group.

  4. From the Services list, select a required service.

    Note:

    Select Account for non-services.

    A list of discounts appears in the Discounts to apply table. For more information, see "Discount Sharing Group Dialog Box".

  5. Select the discounts for sharing.

  6. Click Apply.

Modifying a Discount Sharing Group

Note:

You cannot use Billing Care to modify automated discount sharing groups.

To modify a discount sharing group:

  1. From the Actions menu, select Sharing Groups, and then Discount Sharing.

    The Sharing Groups page appears with the Discount Sharing Ownership and Discount Sharing Membership dialog boxes.

  2. In the Discount Sharing Ownership dialog box, click the edit icon for the group that you want to modify.

    The Edit Discount Sharing Group dialog box appears.

  3. (Optional) To change the name of the discount sharing group, in the Name field, enter a new name.

  4. (Optional) To add or remove discounts from the group, in the Discounts to Apply table, select or deselect the discounts.

  5. Click Apply.

Deleting a Discount Sharing Group

Note:

You cannot delete automated discount sharing groups.

To delete a discount sharing group:

  1. From the Actions menu, select Sharing Groups, and then Discount Sharing.

    The Sharing Groups page appears with the Discount Sharing Ownership and Discount Sharing Membership dialog boxes.

  2. In the Discount Sharing Ownership dialog box, click the delete icon for the group that you want to delete.

    A warning message appears.

  3. Click Delete.

Adding Members to the Discount Sharing Group

Note:

You cannot use Billing Care to add members to automated discount sharing groups.

To add members to a discount sharing group:

  1. From the Actions menu, select Sharing Groups, and then Discount Sharing.

    The Sharing Groups page appears with the Discount Sharing Ownership and Discount Sharing Membership dialog boxes.

  2. Click Add Members.

    The GroupName: Members section appears.

  3. Click Add account.

    The account search dialog box appears.

  4. Enter the account search criteria and then click Search.

    The search results appear. The search returns a maximum of 50 results by default. Refine your search criteria if the account you are searching for is not initially found.

  5. Select an account and then click Add Account.

  6. Click Close.

    After you add the account, you can select specific services for discount sharing. See "Selecting Specific Services for Discount Sharing".

Selecting Specific Services for Discount Sharing

You can configure discount sharing based on specific services when the group owner wants to limit sharing to a small subset of the services within a type.

To select specific services for discount sharing:

  1. From the Actions menu, select Sharing Groups, and then Discount Sharing.

    The Sharing Groups page appears with the Discount Sharing Ownership and Discount Sharing Membership dialog boxes.

  2. In the Discount Sharing Ownership dialog box, click the number of members for the group that you want to edit.

    The GroupName: Members section appears.

  3. Click the edit icon for the member for which you want to select the services for discount sharing.

    The Specific Services to Discount Share dialog box appears with a list of services eligible for discount sharing. In that list, the services for which the discounts are currently assumed by the group owner are selected by default.

  4. Select or deselect the services as required.

  5. Click Apply.

Removing a Member from Discount Sharing Group

Note:

You cannot remove members from automated discount sharing groups.

To remove a member from the discount sharing group:

  1. From the Actions menu, select Sharing Groups, and then Discount Sharing.

    The Sharing Groups page appears with the Discount Sharing Ownership and Discount Sharing Membership dialog boxes.

  2. In the Discount Sharing Ownership dialog box, click the link showing the number of members.

    The GroupName: Members section appears.

  3. Click the delete icon for the member you want to remove from the group.

    Caution:

    Be cautious while removing the members from the group. When you click the delete icon for a member, the member will be removed from the group. Billing Care does not display warning messages when you remove members from a group.

Modifying Priorities for Discount Sharing Group

You can increase or decrease priorities for discount sharing groups. To modify priorities of the discount sharing groups:

  1. From the Actions menu, select Sharing Groups, and then Discount Sharing.

    The Sharing Groups page appears with the Discount Sharing Ownership and Discount Sharing Membership dialog boxes.

  2. In the Discount Sharing Membership dialog box, click the edit icon for the member for which you want to modify the priority.

    The Modify Priorities dialog box appears with a list of group names and existing priority settings.

  3. Select the up arrow (ascending order) or the down arrow (descending order) to increase or decrease the priority.

  4. Click Apply.

Discount Sharing Group Dialog Box

Use the Discount Sharing dialog box to:

  • Create and modify discount sharing groups

  • Add or remove members from discount sharing groups

  • Select specific services for discount sharing groups

Field Description

Name

Name the discount sharing group. The name you enter must be unique. You cannot use this name for any other discount or charge sharing group owned by the account.

Services

Select a service.

Discounts to Apply

This table lists the discounts that the group owner will share with the group members.

Each row displays the discount name, description, quantity, event type included in the discount, and validity period of the discount.

Add Members

Adds members to a discount sharing group.

You can specify the search criteria for the accounts you want to add as members. You can use wildcard, First Name, Last Name, or Company name for the search criteria.

You use the search results to select accounts for membership.

About Profile Sharing

A profile sharing group enables an account or an account's service to share a profile with other accounts or services. A profile stores ERAs or other types of information about an account.

The group owner can be an account or a service. If an account is the owner, profiles from all the services owned by the account are available for sharing. If a specific service is the owner, only profiles of that service are available for sharing. For example, a friends and family list can be set up for a GSM service owned by one account and then shared so that a GSM service belonging to other accounts can use the same list.

Note:

Only service-level profiles can be shared. Account-level profiles cannot be shared, even if the profile sharing group is owned by an account.

Use Profile Sharing in the Sharing Groups menu to add, modify, or delete profile sharing groups and to add or delete members from a profile sharing group. For more information, see the following topics:

Creating a Profile Sharing Group

To create a profile sharing group:

  1. From the Actions menu, select Sharing Groups, and then Profile Sharing.

    The Sharing Groups page appears.

  2. Click New, next to Profile Sharing.

    The New Profile Sharing Group dialog box appears.

  3. In the Name field, enter a name for the profile sharing group.

  4. From the Group Owners list, select the group owner.

    A list of profiles that are available for sharing, appear in the Profile Shared table. This table displays the type, label and the account/service of the accounts.

  5. Select the accounts for profile sharing.

  6. Click Apply.

Modifying a Profile Sharing Group

To modify a profile sharing group:

  1. From the Actions menu, select Sharing Groups, and then Profile Sharing.

    The Sharing Groups page appears with the Profile Sharing Ownership and Profile Sharing Membership dialog boxes.

  2. In the Profile Sharing Ownership dialog box, click on the edit icon for the group that you want to modify.

    The Edit Profile Sharing Group dialog box appears.

  3. (Optional) To change the name of the profile sharing group, in the Name field, enter a new name for the group.

  4. To add or remove profiles shared from the group, in the Profiles Shared table, select or deselect the profiles in the group.

  5. Click Apply.

Deleting a Profile Sharing Group

To delete a profile sharing group:

  1. From the Actions menu, select Sharing Groups, and then Profile Sharing.

    The Sharing Groups page appears with the Profile Sharing Ownership and Profile Sharing Membership dialog boxes.

  2. In the Profile Sharing Ownership dialog box, click the delete icon for the group that you want to delete.

    A warning message appears.

  3. Click Delete.

Adding Members to the Profile Sharing Group

To add members to a profile sharing group:

  1. From the Actions menu, select Sharing Groups, and then Profile Sharing.

    The Sharing Groups page appears with the Profile Sharing Ownership and Profile Sharing Membership dialog boxes.

  2. Click Add Members.

    The GroupName: Members section appears.

  3. Click Add account if there are one or more members in the group.

    The account search dialog box appears by default, if the group is empty.

  4. Enter the account search criteria and click Search.

    The search results appear. Search returns a maximum of 50 results by default. Refine your search criteria if the account you are searching for is not initially found.

  5. Select an account and click Add Account.

  6. Click Close.

Selecting Specific Services for Profile Sharing

You can configure profile sharing based on specific services when the group owner wants to limit sharing to a small subset of the profiles within a type.

To select specific profiles for discount sharing:

  1. From the Actions menu, select Sharing Groups, and then Profile Sharing.

    The Sharing Groups page appears with the Profile Sharing Ownership and Profile Sharing Membership dialog boxes.

  2. In the Profile Sharing Ownership dialog box, click the number of members for the group that you want to edit.

    The GroupName: Members section appears.

  3. Click the edit icon for the member for which you want to select the services for profile sharing.

    The Specific Services to Profile Share dialog box appears with a list of services eligible for profile sharing. In that list, the services for which the profiles are currently assumed by the group owner are selected by default.

  4. Select or deselect the services as required.

  5. Click Apply.

Removing a member from a Profile Sharing Group

To remove a member from a profile sharing group:

  1. From the Actions menu, select Sharing Groups, and then Profile Sharing.

    The Sharing Groups page appears with the Profile Sharing Ownership and Profile Sharing Membership dialog boxes.

  2. In the Profile Sharing Ownership dialog box, click the link showing the number of members.

    The GroupName: Members section appears.

  3. Click the delete icon for the member you want to remove from the group.

    Caution:

    Be cautious while removing the members from the group. When you click the delete icon for a member, the member will be removed from the group. Billing Care does not display warning messages when you remove members from a group.

Profile Sharing Dialog Box

Use the New Profile Sharing dialog box to:

  • Create and modify profile sharing groups

  • Add or remove members from profile sharing groups

Field Description

Name

Name the profile sharing group. The name you enter must be unique. You cannot use this name for any other profile sharing group owned by the account.

Group owner

Select a group owner.