12 Collections Manager Utilities
Learn about the syntax and parameters for the Oracle Communications Billing and Revenue Management (BRM) Collections Manager utilities.
Topics in this document:
pin_collections_process
Use this utility to find bill units (/billinfo objects) that are in collections and to trigger collections actions defined by the bill unit's collections scenario.
You must set a minimum value that this utility uses to determine whether bill units should be considered for collections. See "Setting the Minimum Overdue Balance to Process".
This utility is included in the pin_bill_day script. It should be run daily before "pin_collections_send_dunning". See "Running Billing Scripts" in BRM Configuring and Running Billing for more information about the billing scripts.
Note:
To connect to the BRM database, pin_collections_process requires a configuration (pin.conf) file in the directory from which you run the utility. A configuration file is installed automatically in BRM_home/apps/pin_collections when you install BRM Collections Manager.
Location
BRM_home/bin
Syntax
pin_collections_process [-billinfo BillInfoPOID] [-record_failure true|false] [-pay_type PayType] [-debug] [-verbose] [-report] [-help]
Parameters
- -billinfo BillInfoPOID
-
Triggers collections actions against the specified bill unit. Use this parameter to perform collections against a single bill unit that belongs to a collections group.
- -record_failure true|false
-
When set to true, records details about failed operations and transactions that occurred while the utility runs in /request/failed objects.
- -pay_type PayType
-
Triggers collections actions for the specified payment types, such as just the direct debit and credit card payment types. Replace PayType with the payment type's element ID, such as 10001 (invoice), 10002 (checking account debit), and 10003 (credit card). Delimit multiple payment types with a comma.
- -debug
-
Sets the log level to debug and outputs debug information into the log file for this process. If not set, only error-level information is output.
- -verbose
-
Displays progress information.
- -report
-
Shows the summary of this billing run that includes information about how many account bill units are in collections, how many exited collections, and which system actions were performed.
- -help
-
Displays the syntax and parameters for this utility.
Results
The collections status of all bill units with overdue balances is evaluated and, if necessary, updated. For bill units that enter or remain in collections, all actions defined by the relevant collections scenario are performed.
pin_collections_send_dunning
Use this utility to email or print dunning letters. It is called by "pin_collections_process", but it can also be run independently.
The delivery method for bill units that use the invoice payment type is specified in Billing Care or Customer Center:
-
If the delivery method is set to Email, pin_collections_send_dunning emails the dunning letter.
-
If the delivery method is set to Postal, pin_collections_send_dunning prints the dunning letter.
For other payment types, you specify the delivery option in the collections configuration (pin.conf) file. See "Setting Dunning Letter Delivery Preferences for Non-invoice Bill Units".
Note:
The Email Data Manager must be running when you run this utility, even for printing. For information, see "Sending Email to Customers Automatically" in BRM Managing Customers and "Configuring the Email Data Manager for Printing" in BRM Designing and Generating Invoices.
The data used to create the dunning letter is generated by "pin_collections_process" and stored in the database. This data is combined with a dunning letter template to create the final letter.
Note:
To connect to the BRM database, pin_collections_send_dunning requires a configuration (pin.conf) file in the directory from which you run the utility. A configuration file is installed automatically when you install BRM Collections Manager.
Location
BRM_home/bin
Syntax
pin_collections_send_dunning [-record_failure] [-verbose] [-export Path]
Parameters
Results
The dunning letters whose data is collected by "pin_collections_process" are prepared and sent using the delivery method for each bill unit.
pin_load_template
Use this utility to load dunning letter templates into the BRM database as /config/invoice_templates/dunning objects. These objects contain the XSL templates that you use to format dunning letters and invoice reminders.
For additional information, see "Loading Dunning Letter Templates".
Note:
To connect to the BRM database, pin_collections_process requires a configuration (pin.conf) file in the directory from which you run the utility. A configuration file is installed automatically in BRM_home/apps/pin_collections when you install BRM Collections Manager.
Location
BRM_home/bin
Syntax
pin_load_template [-brand poid] -name template_name [-type template_type] -format template_output_format -locale locale_string -template template_file [-usexsl] [-debug] [-logfile log_file]
Parameters
- -brand poid
-
Specifies the root account POID for which you are loading the template: 0.0.0.1 /account 1 must be used.
- -name template_name
-
Specifies the template name. The name is displayed in the Collections Configuration application.
Note:
If the name contains spaces, use quotation marks.
- -type template_type
-
Specifies the template category. Use dunning for dunning letter templates.
- -format template_output_format
-
Specifies the output format for the dunning letter templates.
- -locale locale_string
-
Specifies the locale string. The default is en_US.
- -template template_file
-
Specifies the template file name and path.
- -usexsl
-
Specifies the use of XSL to format dunning letters. Must be used when loading an XSL dunning letter template.
- -debug
-
Logs the flist and detailed messages in the log file.
- -logfile log_file
-
Specifies the full path and name of the log file.
Results
Loads the specified file into the BRM database as a /config/invoice_templates/dunning object.
The utility fails if the specified file or path is invalid.