Configuring the Bill Determinant Interface

Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing uses bill determinant data (usage transactions based on meter readings) calculated and stored in Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management when calculating bills for customers. This process allows Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing to send requests for usage transaction calculations to Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management, which in turn performs the requested calculations, and publishes the results back to Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing. Processing usage transaction requests is supported through a set business objects, pre-configured Inbound web services, and processing methods.

Business Objects

The table below lists the business objects used when processing usage transaction requests.


Business Object	Description
D2-UsgTranSeeder	Used to determine the usage transaction business object to use when creating new usage transactions.

Inbound Web Services

Inbound web services are used to facilitate invoking the Usage Transaction Seeder business object by the middleware components upon receipt of a usage transaction request, and to update the usage transaction upon completion of the bill.

The table below lists the pre-configured Inbound Web Services used to process usage transaction requests sent from Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing.


Inbound Web Service	Description	Schema Name
D2-UsageTransactionRequestInbound	Usage Transaction Request Inbound	D2-UsgTranSeeder (BO)
D2-UsageTransactionUpdateInbound	Update Usage Transaction Bill Flags	D2-UpdUTMul (Service Script)

Service Provider Processing Methods

Processing methods are used to determine the usage transaction business object to use when creating usage transactions based on the requests, and for determining the method by which usage transactions are sent back to Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing.


Processing Method	Business Object	Description
How To Send US Information - Online	D2-HowToSendUSInfoOnline	Used to specify the method (batch control, business object, or outbound message) by which usage transactions are sent to subscribing systems in real time.
How To Send US Related Information	D2-HowToSendUSInformation	How To Send US Related Information Used to specify the method (batch control, business object, or outbound message) by which usage transactions are sent to subscribing systems.
How To Create US Related Information	D2-HowToCreateUSInformation	Used to determine the type of usage transaction business object to create.
How To Send US Related Information Batch	D2-HowToSendUSInfoBatch	Used to specify the method (batch control, business object, or outbound message) by which usage transactions are sent to subscribing systems via batch processing.

Example Bill Determinant Process Steps

This section provides an overview of the processing that takes place when a usage transaction request is sent. For each step in the process, the table below provides a brief description of the processing that takes place, and lists the specific objects involved.


Step	Process	Objects
1	Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing sends a usage transaction request to the middleware integration layer.
2	The middleware components transforms the request from the Customer Care and Billing format, to the format used by Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management (this format is based on the business object schemas of the synchronization request business objects).
3	The middleware component invoke the appropriate Inbound Web Service, and sends the transformed request.	Inbound Web Service: D2- UsageTransactionRequestInbound (mapped to the D2-UsgTranSeeder business object)
4	The Inbound Web Service invokes the Usage Transaction Seeder business object. This business object: Determines the usage subscription ID based on an external usage subscription ID Determines the appropriate usage transaction business object to create	Processing Method: D2- HowToCreateUSInformation (How To Create Usage Subscription Related Information)
5	The usage transaction determines the usage calculation group(s) to use when calculating usage. These are retrieved from the usage subscription (with a fallback to the usage subscription type). This base package logic can be overridden by specifying an algorithm in the Usage Calculation Group Determination Override Algorithm field on the usage subscription type. If an algorithm is specified in this field, its logic overrides the existing method of determining the usage calculation group. A base package algorithm (D2-DRVUSGGRP) is provided that can be used here. This algorithm uses the CCB Rate Schedule extendable lookup used to map the rate schedules in Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing to usage calculation groups. The algorithm's logic looks for a combination of rate history list entries on the usage subscription and the type of device configuration installed during the bill period to determine the usage calculation group(s) to use for bill determinants calculation.
6	The usage transaction business object calculates usage based on the date range provided in the request.
7	If the usage transaction has a sub usage transactions, it checks the status of each.
8	If the usage transaction is configured to require an approval, a To Do Entry is created.
9	The usage transaction then sends the usage transaction to any subscribing systems.	Processing Method: D2- HowToSendUSInformation (How To Send US Related Information)
10	Upon completion of the bill, Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing invokes an inbound web service to update the "Used on Bill" and/or "Linked to Frozen Bill Segment" fields as appropriate to indicate if the usage transaction was used on a bill.	Inbound Web Service: D2-UsageTransactionUpdateInbound (Update Usage Transaction Bill Flags)