Configuring BRM to Create Rerate Jobs Automatically

3 Configuring BRM to Create Rerate Jobs Automatically

Learn how to configure Oracle Communications Billing and Revenue Management (BRM) to automatically create rerate jobs when specified events occur in the system, such as events being backdated.

Topics in this document:

About Creating Rerate Jobs Automatically

You can configure BRM to automatically create rerate jobs when specified events occur in your system. These rerate jobs are processed the next time you run the pin_rerate utility. If you create rerating jobs automatically, you should run the pin_rerate utility from a cron job.

To configure BRM to create rerate jobs automatically:

Configure BRM to automatically create rerate jobs for backdated events. See "Creating Rerate Jobs for Backdated Events".
Configure BRM to automatically create rerate jobs when cycle forward and cycle forward arrears charges change. See "Creating Rerate Jobs for Cycle Forward and Cycle Forward Arrears Charges".
Configure BRM to automatically create rerate jobs for rollover corrections. See "Creating Rerate Jobs for Rollover Corrections".
Configure BRM to automatically create rerate jobs when products with noncurrency resources are canceled. See "Enabling Rerating for Canceled Noncurrency Resources".
Configure BRM to automatically create rerate jobs for midsession-rating changes. See "Creating Rerate Jobs for Midsession Rating Changes".
Configure BRM to trigger notification events for automatic rerating. See "Configuring Event Notification for Automatic Rerate Job Creation".
(Optional) Customize BRM to assign reason codes to each automatically created rerate job. See "Assigning Reason Codes During Automatic Job Creation".
(Optional) Configure BRM to rerate backdated events older than the allowable date. See "Allowing Rerating of Old Events".
(Optional) Customize BRM to automatically create rerate jobs for custom events, such as when a charge offer is canceled. To do so, customize the PCM_OP_SUBSCRIPTION_POL_GENERATE_RERATE_REQUEST policy opcode. See "Customizing Automatic Creation of Rerate Jobs" in BRM Opcode Guide.

Creating Rerate Jobs for Backdated Events

You can configure BRM to automatically create rerate jobs when you backdate the following events:

The purchase or cancellation of a charge offer, discount offer, or bundle.
An extended rating attribute (ERA) modification.

For example, subscribers change their service-level agreement from Silver to Gold on July 12. The CSR backdates the change to July 1 to let subscribers apply the Gold-level benefits to all usage for July. BRM rerates all relevant events for those accounts that occurred between July 1 and the current time.
An adjustment to a noncurrency balance.

For example, a subscriber's billing day is the first day of the month. On February 15, the balance of free minutes is adjusted from 100 to 500, and the adjustment is backdated to January 15. BRM rerates all relevant events from the account that occurred between January and the current time. Billing events that previously occurred on February 1, such as billing-time discounts, rollovers, and folds, are recalculated based on the backdated amount of minutes.

To configure BRM to automatically create rerate jobs for backdated events:

Open the CM configuration file (BRM_home/sys/cm/pin.conf) in a text editor.
Set the backdate_trigger_auto_rerate entry to 1:
```
- fm_subs backdate_trigger_auto_rerate 1
```
Specify the minimum amount of time an event must be backdated to trigger rerating by setting the backdate_window entry:
```
- fm_subs backdate_window timeInSeconds
```
where timeInSeconds is the minimum amount of time in seconds. The default minimum is 3600 (1 hour).
Specify the maximum number of billing cycles allowed between the current time and the backdated event date for rerating events by setting the num_billing_cycles entry:
```
- fm_subs num_billing_cycles billingCycle
```
where billingCycle is the maximum number of billing cycles. The default is 1 billing cycle.
Save and close the file.
Stop and restart the CM.

Creating Rerate Jobs for Cycle Forward and Cycle Forward Arrears Charges

Important:

Rerating recurring events can affect performance.

To enable BRM to automatically create rerate jobs for rerate cycle forward and cycle forward arrears events after they are charged:

Open the CM configuration file (BRM_home/sys/cm/pin.conf) in a text editor.

Set the following entries to 1:

- fm_subscription rate_change 1
- fm_price log_price_change event 1

Save the file.
Stop and restart the CM.

Note:

You must also configure BRM to generate notification events when rerate cycle forward and cycle forward arrears charges occur. See "Configuring Event Notification for Automatic Rerate Job Creation".

Creating Rerate Jobs for Rollover Corrections

If a delayed event arrives after the end of the accounting cycle and during the delayed billing period, the event can borrow against the rollover of the current cycle even when the current rollover is consumed by events of the current cycle. You can configure BRM to automatically create rerate jobs when rollover corrections occur.

If rerating and rollover correction are enabled and delayed events borrow from the rollover of the current cycle, the current cycle events are rerated and the rollover is reallocated so that it comes from the appropriate cycles.

To create rerate jobs for rollover corrections:

Go to the BRM_home/sys/data/config directory.
Create an XML file from the /config/business_params object:
```
pin_bus_params -r BusParamsBilling bus_params_billing.xml
```
This command creates an XML file named bus_params_billing.xml.out in your working directory.
Open the bus_params_billing.xml.out file.

Set the RerateDuringBilling parameter to enabled:

<RerateDuringBilling>enabled</RerateDuringBilling>

Save and rename the file as bus_params_billing.xml.
Load the XML file into the BRM database:
```
pin_bus_params bus_params_billing.xml
```
Stop and restart the CM.
(Multischema systems only) Run the pin_multidb script with the -R CONFIG parameter. For more information, see "pin_multidb" in BRM System Administrator's Guide.

Note:

You must also configure BRM to generate notification events when rollover corrections occur. See "Configuring Event Notification for Automatic Rerate Job Creation".

Enabling Rerating for Canceled Noncurrency Resources

To enable the automatic creation of rerate jobs when a product with noncurrency resources is canceled:

Go to the BRM_home/sys/data/config directory.
Create an XML file from the /config/business_params object:
```
pin_bus_params -r BusParamsBilling bus_params_billing.xml
```
This command creates an XML file named bus_params_billing.xml.out in your working directory.
Open the bus_params_billing.xml.out file.

Set the CreateRerateJobDuringCancel parameter to enabled:

<CreateRerateJobDuringCancel>enabled</CreateRerateJobDuringCancel>

Save and rename the file as bus_params_billing.xml.
Load the XML file into the BRM database:
```
pin_bus_params bus_params_billing.xml
```
Stop and restart the CM.
(Multischema systems only) Run the pin_multidb script with the -R CONFIG parameter. For more information, see "pin_multidb" in BRM System Administrator's Guide.

Creating Rerate Jobs for Midsession Rating Changes

You can configure rerating to account for midsession changes in the rating conditions. For example, a subscriber might initiate a Friends and Family discount during a call, which changes the pricing midsession. When the call is rerated:

If you enable this option, rerating uses the original pricing from the call's start time until the called number is added to the Friends and Family list, and then uses the discounted pricing for the remaining session.
If you do not enable this option, rerating uses the discounted pricing for the entire call.

To create rerate jobs for midsession rating changes:

Go to the BRM_home/sys/data/config directory.
Create an XML file from the /config/business_params object:
```
pin_bus_params -r BusParamsRerate bus_params_rerate.xml
```
This command creates an XML file named bus_params_rerate.xml.out in your working directory.
Open the bus_params_rerate.xml.out file.

Set the <OfferEligibilitySelectionMode> parameter to timeperiod:

<OfferEligibilitySelectionMode>timeperiod</OfferEligibilitySelectionMode>

Save and rename the file as bus_params_rerate.xml.
Load the XML file into the BRM database:
```
pin_bus_params bus_params_billing.xml
```
Stop and restart the CM.
(Multischema systems only) Run the pin_multidb script with the -R CONFIG parameter. For more information, see "pin_multidb" in BRM System Administrator's Guide.

Note:

You must also configure BRM to generate notification events when midsession-rating changes occur. See "Configuring Event Notification for Automatic Rerate Job Creation".

Configuring Event Notification for Automatic Rerate Job Creation

To configure notification events for automatic rerating:

Open the BRM_home/sys/data/config/pin_notify file in a text editor.

Ensure that the default automatic rerate job creation entries are included:

3787 0 /event/notification/auto_rerate
3787 0 /event/notification/rate_change
3787 0 /event/notification/rollover_correction/rerate

To trigger notification events for first usage events, add the following lines:

9071 0 /event/billing/product/fee/cycle/cycle_arrear
9071 0 /event/billing/product/fee/cycle/cycle_forward_annual
9071 0 /event/billing/product/fee/cycle/cycle_forward_arrear
9071 0 /event/billing/product/fee/cycle/cycle_forward_bimonthly
9071 0 /event/billing/product/fee/cycle/cycle_forward_monthly
9071 0 /event/billing/product/fee/cycle/cycle_forward_quarterly
9071 0 /event/billing/product/fee/cycle/cycle_forward_semiannual
3787 0 /event/notification/rollover_correction/rerate

To trigger notification events when a charge changes midcycle, add the following lines:
```
3768 0 /event/audit/price/product_update
3768 0 /event/audit/price/product_complete
```
To trigger notification events when a rollover event is corrected, add the following lines:
```
3787 0 /event/notification/rollover_correction/rerate
```
Save and close the file.
Run the load_pin_notify utility.

See "Loading the Event Notification List" in BRM Developer's Guide.

Assigning Reason Codes During Automatic Job Creation

You can configure BRM to assign reason codes to jobs during the automatic rerate job creation process. To do so, you customize the PCM_OP_SUBSCRIPTION_POL_GENERATE_RERATE_REQUEST opcode to automatically assign a custom reason code to each job. By default, the opcode only returns the input as output. For more information, see "Specifying a Rerate Reason Code" in BRM Opcode Guide.

Assigning reason codes to rerate jobs allows you to control the order in which jobs are processed. See "Specifying the Order to Process Rerate Jobs" for more information.

Allowing Rerating of Old Events

When you configure automatic rerate job creation, you use the num_billing_cycles pin.conf file entry to limit the backdated events that can be rerated to a specified number of billing cycles in the past. This setting also applies to manually rerating events. To manually rerate backdated events older than the allowable date, you enable the AllowBackdateNoRerate business parameter.

To enable rerating older events when they are backdated:

Automatic rerate job creation must be enabled.
You must run the pin_bus_params utility to change the AllowBackdateNoRerate business parameter. For information about this utility, see "pin_bus_params" in BRM Developer's Guide.
After this option is enabled, run the pin_rerate utility manually, including the selection criteria necessary to rerate the events.

To enable rerating of old events:

Go to the BRM_home/sys/data/config directory.

Create an XML file from the /config/business_params object:

pin_bus_params -r BusParamsSubscription bus_params_subscription.xml

In the file, change disabled to enabled:

<AllowBackdateNoRerate>enabled</AllowBackdateNoRerate>

Save the file as bus_params_subscription.xml.

Load the XML file into the BRM database:

pin_bus_params bus_params_subscription.xml

Stop and restart the CM.
(Multischema systems only) Run the pin_multidb script with the -R CONFIG parameter. For more information, see "pin_multidb" in BRM System Administrator's Guide.