Defining Interval Billing Options
The transactions described in this section are only available if the interval billing module is turned on. This Customer Care and Billing functionality has essentially been deprecated and should be performed within a Meter Data Management system. This functional area remains within Customer Care and Billing exclusively for upgrading customers who currently use Interval Billing within an earlier version of this system.
The interval rating and billing functionality described in this chapter was designed and developed prior to the big data requirements of the smart grid. Implementations should use a meter data management application, such as Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management, for smart grid requirements.
The system provides capability to bill complex customers who measure usage in small intervals, such as one hour, thirty minutes, fifteen minutes, etc. The "Interval Billing" subsystem covers a variety of functionality including:
- Capturing billable interval data quantities linked to a service agreement
- Capturing "raw" interval data quantities linked to service points, which may be later aggregated to create billable quantities for the service agreement
- Application of contract-based modifications to produce interval data quantities
- Apply interval prices to interval quantities. (Sometimes this is known as "direct billing")
- Support time of use mapping, including override maps created for certain special periods, such as interruptions
- Support time of use pricing and time of use contract values
- Support special contract options under which certain calculations supporting a contract's rate may be overridden or altered occasionally for specific periods of time
The ability to capture and maintain interval prices and TOU prices is officially part of the Rates subsystem. Although we will refer to them here, the main documentation is in the Rates administration guide.
Setting up the interval billing control tables is as challenging as your organization's interval billing rules. If you have simple rules then your setup process will be straightforward. If your interval billing rules are complicated (e.g., specific prices for each customer, complicated TOU Mapping rules etc.), then your setup process will be more challenging.
Separate modules. Interval billing functionality is associated with separate modules, Complex Billing and Meter Data Management. If these modules are not applicable to your business you may turn them off. Refer to Turn Off A Function Module for more information.