2 Creating and Finding Accounts
You can find existing accounts in Oracle Communications Billing Care by using its search function, and you can create new customer accounts using its account function.
To create and find accounts, see the following topics:
Finding an Account
To find an account:
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Click Search.
The Search dialog box appears. See "Search Dialog Box" for more information.
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From the Search list, keep the default of Accounts.
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Enter search criteria.
Tip:
Use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard to match one or more characters at the start or end of words or numbers.
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Click Search.
Billing Care displays search results on the right side of the Search dialog box. You can enter more criteria to refine the search if there are many results. You can also sort the search results. See "Sorting Search Results".
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Select an account, and click Open.
Tip:
You can also open an account by double-clicking the account in the results list.
Billing Care displays the selected account.
Search Dialog Box
Use the Search dialog box to search for accounts. Narrow your search results by using the filters provided under Account Information. You can also select the relevant schema to filter the account. By default, the primary schema is selected.
Search supports the searching of accounts of a service having multiple aliases.
Note:
For a multi-schema setup, the search criteria is used to search accounts in all schemas, and results are sorted according to the sort conditions for each schema.
The search is not case-sensitive.
Tip:
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Use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard to match any missing characters at the start, middle, or end of words or numbers.
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Scroll down to view recently accessed accounts.
| Search list | Description |
|---|---|
|
Account Information |
Enter search criteria in one or more fields in the Account Information area. |
|
Results |
Lists the items that meet your criteria. If an account has more than one match for a Service ID, <multiple> appears. You can see the service IDs and service types in the tooltip. You can do the following:
When you search by a particular service ID, the subscription associated with that service ID is automatically displayed when you open the account from the search results. Search returns a maximum of 50 results. Refine your search criteria if the account you are searching for is not initially found. |
Sorting Search Results
Initially, search results are sorted by last name. You can change how the results are sorted by clicking on a different column heading. Click the heading again to change from ascending to descending sort.
| If you sort results by: | The second sort is: | And the third sort priority is: |
|---|---|---|
|
Account Number |
Last Name |
First Name |
|
Last Name |
First Name |
Account Number |
|
First Name |
Last Name |
Account Number |
|
Company Name |
Last Name |
First Name |
Creating an Account
To create a new account:
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From the Home page, click New Account.
The Profile screen appears.
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Enter the following information for the new account:
Field Description Contacts
Account contact information. Provide one or more contacts for the new account.
Security
Security question and response. Provide a secure question to verify the new account's owner during future interactions.
Customer Type
Select the customer type for the new account.
Language
Select the default language for the new account. Billing Care sets the default language based on your browser locale.
Organization Hierarchy Type
(Optional) Select the organization hierarchy type. See "About Account Hierarchy Types" for more information.
Monitor Group Balance
Select the check box to make this account the owner of a payment responsible real-time credit enforcement (PR_RTCE) balance monitor group.
This allows the account to track the total rolled-up balance for all members in the PR_RTCE group in real-time. See "About Balance Monitoring Groups" in BRM Managing Customers for more information.
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Click Continue.
The Select screen appears with the list of available packages. You can filter the list by service type, tags, and contract period.
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Select the package that your customer wants to purchase.
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Click Continue.
The Configure screen appears.
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Under Services, select a service.
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Do one of the following:
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For non-telco services: Enter a service identifier in the Service Identifier field. The service identifier can be any text. It is a unique identifier that connects the customer to the service instance that the customer owns. For example, it could be an email address or a personal ID number. Customers use the service identifier as their login name for the service.
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For telco services: The associated SIM card and number details are displayed. To search and associate a SIM card and primary number with a service, see "Configuring SIM Cards".
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To backdate account creation to a date earlier than the current date, select Backdate account creation to and click the calendar icon to set the date. By default, the current date is selected.
Note:
Backdate account creation is hidden if the selected package has terms and deliverable-based revenue recognition is enabled.
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Under Bundles, click a bundle to configure the credit limit check. Select one of the following values:
- Override credit limit: The credit limit will be overridden
- Prorate based on credit limit: Prorated until the credit limit is reached
- Enforce credit limit: The transaction will fail if the credit limit check fails
By default, Enforce credit limit is selected.
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(Optional) Under Products and Discounts, click an offer to change the customer's purchase charges, such as by:
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Changing the purchase activation or deactivation dates.
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Decreasing the customer's monthly fee through discounts or overrides.
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Changing the length of the grace period. Customers can reactivate and extend their expired product if they repurchase it within the grace period.
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Select a reason for the purchase and enter notes if required.
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Under Products, click a product to override the charges.
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(Optional) Under Recurring (cycle), configure the cycle and billing attributes for the selected product's recurring charge.
Note:
These attributes and their available values appear only if you configure them for a product in PDC during design time.
Table 2-1 lists the available attributes and the values you can choose from.
Table 2-1 Cycling and Billing Attributes
Attribute Name Description Cycle Charge Type
Specifies the type of recurring charge applied for the billing cycle. Possible values are:
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Cycle Forward: Applies a recurring charge in advance.
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Cycle Arrear: Applies a recurring charge to the previous month, with the balance impact for the charge applied at the end of the accounting cycle.
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Cycle Forward Arrear: Applies a recurring charge to the previous month, with the balance impact for the charge applied at the beginning of the accounting cycle.
Cycle Unit
Specifies the length of one recurring cycle. For example, if you want to bill the customer every 1 month, select Months.
Possible values are:
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Days
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Months
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Years
Cycle Frequency
Specifies the length of one recurring cycle. For example, if you want to bill the customer every 1 month, enter 1.
Cycle Alignment
Specifies whether to align the recurring charge cycle with the billing date or the purchase date. Possible values are:
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Billing
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Purchase
Billing Type
Specifies the type of billing process applied. Possible values are:
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Regular Billing
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In Advance Billing
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Deferred Billing
In Advance Billing Unit
Displayed only if In Advance Billing is selected for Billing Type.
Specifies the time period for which billing is calculated in advance.
Possible values are:
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Days
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Months
In Advance Billing Frequency
Displayed only if In Advance Billing is selected for Billing Type.
Specifies how many units of the in-advance billing unit duration should be billed in advance.
Set this to a positive integer.
Deferred Billing Unit
Displayed only if Deferred Billing is selected for Billing Type.
Specifies the time period for which billing is deferred.
Possible values are:-
Days
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Months
Deferred Billing Frequency
Specifies how many units of the in-arrear(deferred) billing unit duration should be billed as deferred.
Displayed only if Deferred Billing is selected.
Set this to an integer.
Note: Billing Care stores the integer value as negative.
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Click Continue.
The Terms screen appears with details about the contract's commitment period, early termination policy, and renewal behavior.
Note:
The Terms screen is disabled if a package or plan does not have subscription terms associated with it.
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Review the terms associated with the selected package and then click Continue.
The Pay screen appears.
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Select a payment type.
If the payment method is not defined, select No Payment Method.
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Do one of the following:
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For New Credit Card (credit card), enter card number, CVV2/CID details, card expiration details, name, address, and billing details.
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For New Direct Debit (debit card), enter bank number, account number, account type, name, address, and billing details.
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For New Invoice, enter the invoice payment method ID, delivery method, email, name, address, and billing details.
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For New SEPA, enter SEPA-related information, such as the International Bank Account Number (IBAN), Bank Identifier Code (BIC), Unique Mandate Reference information, type of payment, date of signing, mandate signed place, creditor's ID and other details, debtor's ID and reference details, mandate contract description, address, and billing details.
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To add one or more bill units, click Manage how individual resources are paid.
A bill unit is a group of one or more bills. Because each bill unit has its own payment settings and produces one invoice, your customers can control the number of invoices they receive and the payments they make for their account.
The screen displays the customer's bill units.
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Click Add Bill Unit to add another bill unit.
The details of the default bill unit appear on the page. You can add new bill units from this page. The bill units that are added are available in the Pay screen.
This page also displays the services from the selected plan. The services are grouped by the balance group and are identified by the service type. You can drag and drop the balance groups from one bill unit to another.
See "Moving Services Between Bill Units" for more information on how to move balance groups to the new bill unit.
See "Financial Setup" for more information on configuring payment methods and bill units.
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Click Finish to create a new account.
Billing Care displays the newly created account. See "Financial Setup" for additional information on managing account financial information.
Configuring SIM Cards
To find and associate a SIM card and primary number with a service, do this from the Configure screen of the Account Creation wizard:
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To select a SIM card, click Search.
A search dialog box appears.
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Do the following:
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(Optional) Enter a Description.
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(Optional) To search for a specific SIM card, enter a search criteria. You can search by SIM number, IMSI number, network element, or status.
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Click Search.
The search returns a maximum of 50 results by default. Refine your search criteria if the SIM Card you are searching for is not initially found.
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Select a SIM card and click Associate.
The selected SIM number is associated with the service.
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To select and associate a number, click Search.
A search dialog box appears.
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Do the following:
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(Optional) Select Primary number if the number to be associated is a primary number.
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(Optional) Enter a Description.
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(Optional) To search for a specific number, enter a search criteria. You can search by number, number category, network element, vanity, or status.
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Click Search.
The search returns a maximum of 50 results by default. Refine your search criteria if the number you are searching for is not initially found.
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Select a number and click Associate.
The selected number is associated with the service.
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Working with Subscription Groups
You can group services by subscription and allow sharing of resources among them. You can also perform collective administrative operations for the entire group, such as activating or canceling services or making them inactive.
Customers can have several subscriptions, such as a wireless phone and Internet access, or two wireless phones with different numbers. Grouping services by subscription allows you to rate and bill for services according to the customer's subscription rather than by account. For more information about subscription-level services, see "About Grouping Services by Subscription" in BRM Managing Customers.
To associate multiple services to a subscription group, you must create an account and associate the account with a plan that contains a group of subscriptions. See "Creating an Account" for more information on creating accounts.
Billing Care allows you to purchase services that are grouped in a plan. See "Purchasing Add-On Products" for more information about purchasing products and services.