28 About Rollovers
Learn how rollovers are managed in Oracle Communications Billing and Revenue Management (BRM) product offerings.
Topics in this document:
About Rollovers
A rollover is a type of charge that credits unused balances at the end of a billing cycle to the account balance for the next cycle. For example, minutes are often rolled over from one month to the next. Balances from rollovers are different from granted balances, which are valid between two specific dates.
You define rollovers in charge offers in Oracle Communications Pricing Design Center (PDC). When defining rollovers, you specify the following:
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The period in which the rollover is valid. You can specify start and end time dates.
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The balance to roll over.
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The type of cycle to which the rollover applies (for example, monthly).
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The maximum number of cycles that a balance can be rolled over to.
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The maximum amount that can be rolled over in a cycle.
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The maximum value for a rollover balance.
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A G/L ID for the rollover charge.
BRM maintains each rollover balance as a sub-balance.
BRM validates whether a rollover sub-balance can be rolled over by checking the rules that govern the rollover (such as the amount to roll over, the maximum rollover amount allowed, the maximum number of cycles to roll over, and so on).
When a rollover event occurs, one of three things happens to the rollover sub-balance:
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If the full amount is eligible for rollover, BRM does one of the following:
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If the existing rollover sub-balance has the same properties as the new rollover sub-balance (such as the balance type, rollover rules, valid-from and valid-to dates, sub-balance contributors, and so on), BRM adds the rolled over amount to the existing rollover sub-balance.
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If the existing rollover sub-balance has different properties then the new rollover sub-balance, BRM creates a new rollover sub-balance for the rolled over amount. The rollover sub-balance validity period has the same valid-from date as the original sub-balance, and its valid-to date is extended to the end of the new cycle.
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If only a portion of the balance is eligible for rollover, the amount in the rollover sub-balance is divided into a nonrollover sub-balance and a rollover sub-balance. The nonrollover sub-balance has the same valid-to date as the original rollover sub-balance Its balance is used for late-arriving usage events. The valid-to date for the rollover sub-balance is extended to the end of the new cycle. Its balances are available for the customer to use in the new cycle.
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If none of the balance is eligible for rollover, the rollover sub-balance is not changed. This condition occurs when the rollover sub-balance has already been rolled over the maximum number of times allowed. Amounts in this rollover sub-balance are available only for late-arriving usage events.
Note:
BRM memory limits might limit the number of months you can roll over a rollover sub-balance. The number of rollover sub-balances that BRM must maintain varies according to the number of rollover cycles allowed. You set the maximum number of rollover cycles allowed when configuring the rollover balance impact in PDC.
When Rollover Events Occur
Rollover sub-balances can be rolled over to another cycle as soon as they surpass the valid-to date (expire). Most rollover sub-balances expire on the account's billing day of month (DOM). However, some rollover sub-balances may expire in the middle of a cycle due to a charge offer or service cancellation or due to flexible cycles.
Because many BRM features depend on rollover sub-balances being rolled over the day after they expire, BRM rolls over balances at the following times:
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At the end of the billing cycle: BRM automatically rolls over all eligible rollover sub-balances to the next cycle as part of the billing process. This catches all rollover sub-balances that expire on the account's billing DOM.
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When you run the pin_bill_day script: The pin_bill_day script automatically runs the pin_rollover utility as part of the billing process. The pin_rollover utility rolls over any rollover sub-balances that have expired but have not been rolled over to the next cycle. This catches any rollover sub-balances that expired in the middle of the cycle.
About Rolling Over Noncurrency Balances during Package Transition
When your customers transition from one package to another, you can specify that noncurrency balances be rolled over from one package to another if both packages are in at least one package list together.
To specify that noncurrency balances rollover between packages during package transition, you must perform these tasks:
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If you use a custom application for customer management, provide the trigger for controlled rollover in the input flist to the PCM_OP_SUBSCRIPTION_TRANSITION_PLAN opcode.
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When you create your package lists, ensure that packages between which you want to allow rollovers are in at least one package list together.
These general rules apply to controlled rollovers:
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Controlled rollovers are not affected by the charge offer cycle rollover settings.
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A controlled rollover does not count as a rollover sub-balance and hence is not restricted to the maximum rollover quantity and the rollover units per period settings for the cycle rollover.
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The cycle grants of noncurrency balances that have been prorated during the package transition are rolled over to the next package.
About Rolling Over Balances That Expire in Midcycle
A balance can expire in the middle of a cycle: for example, when the balance is valid for only minutes, hours, or days or when the balance is valid for one or more months and starts in the middle of a month.
If a balance's validity period does not end when the cycle ends, the rollover sub-balance is valid for the entire cycle in which the balance is granted and for the whole of the next cycle.
In Figure 28-1, a monthly cycle event grants 60 minutes that are valid for two weeks from the grant date. The minutes are granted on January 1. On January 14, when the balance of minutes expires, any remaining balances that can be rolled over are added to a new rollover sub-balance, which is valid from January 1 to March 1:
Figure 28-1 Grant and Rollover Balance Date Validity Example 1
Description of "Figure 28-1 Grant and Rollover Balance Date Validity Example 1"
The same rollover period applies when the validity period of the minutes ends after the cycle in which they are granted. In Figure 28-2, a monthly cycle event grants 300 minutes that are valid for six week from the grant date. The minutes are granted on January 1. On February 11, when the balance expires, any remaining balances that can be rolled over are added to a new rollover sub-balance, which is valid from January 1 to March 1:
If the balance's validity period does not start at the beginning of the last cycle, the balances are rolled over for one entire cycle.
Figure 28-2 Grant and Rollover Balance Date Validity Example 2
Description of "Figure 28-2 Grant and Rollover Balance Date Validity Example 2"
Prorating Rollover Balances
Customers typically purchase and cancel charge offers at some point in the middle of a cycle. When you set up a rollover in PDC, you can specify whether rollover sub-balances are prorated for the first and last cycles based on the number of days in the cycles that the charge offer is owned.
Table 28-1 describes the rollover proration options:
Table 28-1 Rollover Proration Options
| Proration Option | Description |
|---|---|
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Roll over entire amount |
Roll over the available monthly rollover balances. |
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No rollover |
Do not roll over any available monthly rollover balances. |
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Prorate rollover amount |
Calculate the rollover balances based on the percentage of the cycle that the customer owned the rollover. |
If you choose to prorate the rollover amount, BRM uses the equation in Figure 28-3 to calculate the amount to roll over:
Figure 28-3 Calculation for Amount to Roll Over
Description of "Figure 28-3 Calculation for Amount to Roll Over"
where:
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ValidFrom is the validity period's starting date. For example, if the validity period is from March 15 to April 14, ValidFrom is March 15.
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ValidTo is the validity period's ending date. For example, if the validity period is from March 15 to April 14, ValidTo is April 14.
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DaysInCycle is the number of days in the current cycle. For example, if the validity period is from March 15 to April 14, DaysInCycle is 31.
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Rollover is the available monthly rollover balance, such as 100 minutes.
For example, suppose:
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A customer buys a charge offer on January 15 that grants 500 minutes of use during each cycle.
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A rollover is set up so that up to 200 unused minutes roll over into the following cycle.
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The usage cycle is a calendar month.
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The customer does not use any minutes during the first cycle.
Table 28-2 describes how the rollover is handled, depending on the purchase midcycle proration setting:
Table 28-2 Impact of Proration Options
| Proration Option | Amount Rolled Over into February |
|---|---|
|
Roll over entire amount |
200 minutes are rolled over from January into February. In February, the customer has 700 minutes (200 rolled over plus the 500 minutes February grant). |
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No rollover |
No minutes are rolled over from January into February. In February, the customer has only the February grant of 500 minutes. |
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Prorate rollover amount |
Approximately 110 minutes are rolled over from January into February: (17/31) * 200 = 109.67 In February, the customer has about 610 minutes (110 rolled over plus the 500 minutes February grant). |
A similar set of results applies to the last-month proration calculation specified in the cancel midcycle proration setting.
Rollover Example
In this example, the customer's charge offer includes:
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500 minutes granted at the beginning of each usage cycle.
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A rollover specifying that:
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Up to 100 unused minutes from each month can be rolled over.
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The maximum number of rollover cycles is 2.
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A limit of 150 total rollover minutes from previous months can be rolled over into a new month.
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Other assumptions:
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Cycles are monthly and start on the first day of each calendar month.
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The charge offer with the rollover is valid starting January 1.
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The customer consumes no minutes until March.
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On January 1, the customer is granted 500 minutes for use during January as shown in Figure 28-4. The minutes are maintained in a sub-balance.
Figure 28-4 Initial 500 Minutes Grant in January
Description of "Figure 28-4 Initial 500 Minutes Grant in January" -
On February 1:
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The cycle forward event creates a new sub-balance to track the grant of 500 minutes for use during February as shown in Figure 28-5.
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The cycle rollover event creates a new sub-balance for tracking unused January minutes that roll over into February. 100 minutes are put in the new sub-balance, and they are valid until March 1. The original sub-balance for January is decremented 100 minutes, leaving 400 minutes available for late-arriving January events as shown in Figure 28-6.
The customer now has 600 minutes (500 granted February 1 plus 100 rolled over from January) available for use during February as shown in Figure 28-7.
Figure 28-7 February Total Minutes Available
Description of "Figure 28-7 February Total Minutes Available"
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On March 1:
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The cycle forward event creates a new sub-balance to track the grant of 500 minutes for use during March as shown in Figure 28-8.
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The cycle rollover event creates a new sub-balance for tracking unused February minutes that roll over into March as shown in Figure 28-9. 100 minutes are put in the new sub-balance, and they are valid until April 1. The original sub-balance for February is decremented by 100 minutes, leaving 400 minutes available for late-arriving February events.
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The cycle rollover event divides the January rollover minutes into two sub-balances to enforce the rule that only 150 total rollover minutes for a balance can carry forward into a new month. Because 100 free February minutes are already rolled over, only 50 minutes can be rolled over from the January rollover sub-balance for use in March.
One new sub-balance contains 50 minutes available for use for late-arriving February and January events. The other contains 50 rollover minutes that the customer can use in March. The balances for each month are shown in Figure 28-10.
Figure 28-10 Remaining January Minutes Rollover
Description of "Figure 28-10 Remaining January Minutes Rollover"The customer now has 650 minutes (500 granted March 1 plus 100 rolled over from February plus 50 rolled over from January) available for use during March as shown in Figure 28-11.
Figure 28-11 March Total Minutes Available
Description of "Figure 28-11 March Total Minutes Available"
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During March, the customer consumes 620 minutes as shown in Figure 28-12. Sub-balances are used starting with the newest sub-balance, as indicated by the sub-balance valid-from dates:
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All 500 minutes from the March grant are consumed, leaving a zero balance.
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All 100 February rollover minutes are consumed, leaving a zero balance.
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20 of the 50 January rollover minutes are consumed, leaving 30.
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On April 1, the cycle forward event creates a new sub-balance to track the grant of 500 minutes for use during April as shown in Figure 28-13.
No minutes roll over into April from the March and February rollovers because these balances were consumed in March. The 30 minutes remaining from the January rollover are not rolled over into April because the maximum number of cycles a grant can be rolled over is set to 2.
The customer has only 500 minutes available for April.
Note:
If two charge offers contributing to the same balance group have rollover charges configured for the same balance with the same rollover frequency, either of the charge offers can be used to roll over the balances. In this case, rollover results may vary depending on the charge offer that is selected first.