Wholesale Billing

The IDI platform allows companies who are providing wholesale services to also offer billing services for their reseller’s end-customers. IDI will track:

• the cost to the service provider for usage and features being consumed

• the wholesale price being offered to the reseller

• the final retail price paid by the end-customer

Using this information, a provider can track the margins they are earning in their wholesale agreements, as well as the margins the reseller is earning by selling to the end-customer.

Wholesale Fields

IDI uses three values on usage and features to track the different charges that are used in Wholesale Billing:

• Cost – The amount it costs the service provider to deliver the service. This information is calculated outside the IDI platform but can be stored on usage and features for reference and reporting.

• Wholesale Cost – The amount the service provider is charging the reseller for the service. For usage, this is calculated by the IDI platform based on configured wholesale Pricing Plans. For features, this is set by the service provider.

• Charge – The amount the end-subscriber is being charged by the reseller. For usage, this is calculated by CostGuard based on configured retail Pricing Plans. For features, this is set by the service provider.

IDI Desktop Client Support for Wholesale Cost

Wholesale Cost can be configured in the Product Catalog; however, it is not displayed on accounts or orders in the Client. Users who need to view or override a Wholesale cost field must use the Customer Care or Orders web module.

Tracking Wholesale Usage

Wholesale Usage Overview

Cost

Cost for a usage record is tracked by populating the cost value in the usage detail record sent to the IDI platform for rating. IDI will identify the Cost provided on the original source record and preserve this through to the rated usage record.

Wholesale Cost

Wholesale Cost for usage is calculated by assigning a wholesale Pricing Plan to either the service or the customer. When the IDI platform detects an applicable wholesale Pricing Plan is assigned, it will calculate the rate and store it in the Wholesale Cost field on the record.

Wholesale Pricing Plans are configured and assigned like retail pricing plans, except when you create the wholesale plan, you must specifically indicate it will be used for wholesale.

Configuring Wholesale Pricing Plans

A Pricing Plan can be marked as Wholesale using either Pricing Plan Groups or Pricing Plan Categories.  Whether Groups or Categories are available in your environment is dependent on how your system has been configured.

Wholesale Pricing Plans using Groups

The Pricing Plan needs to be added to the Wholesale Billing Pricing Plan Group in order for it to work as a Wholesale Pricing Plan.  You can add it to this group by opening the New or Edit Pricing Plan window and clicking the browse button next to the Processing Order field.  If this field is not displayed then your system may not be configured to use Pricing Plan Groups.

This will open the Pricing Plan Groups window.  Highlight the Wholesale Billing Group, right-click and select Add to This Group.

Wholesale Pricing Plans using Categories

Customers using Pricing Plan Categories can configure a Plan to handle Wholesale rating by setting the Category to Wholesale.

Charge

In Wholesale Billing, the Charge for usage is calculated by using the retail pricing plans assigned. This works the same as for non-wholesale end-customers.

Tracking Wholesale Features

Wholesale Features Overview

Cost

Cost for a Feature is configured in the Product Catalog by setting the value in the Cost field.

Assigned instances of this Feature will display the associated Cost value for users who have the Show Cost permission assigned in Customer Care.

Wholesale Cost

Wholesale Cost for a Feature is configured in the Product Catalog by setting the value in the Wholesale Cost field.

Assigned instances of this Feature will display the associated Wholesale Cost value for users who have the Show Cost permission assigned in Customer Care.

Charge

In Wholesale Billing, the Charge for Features are calculated the same as for non-wholesale customers, using the configured Feature charge.

Assigned instances of this Feature will display the associated Charge value.

Overriding Cost, Wholesale Cost and Charge

The IDI platform lets you override the configured default for a Feature’s Cost, Wholesale Cost or Charge on an individual basis. This can either be done during an Order or by editing the Feature on the account.

Overriding during an Order

Users require the Orders – Override Cost permission to set the Cost or the Wholesale Cost for an individual instance of a Feature during an order. With this permission assigned users will see the default, and be able to supply their own value and save.

Overriding in Customer Care

Users require the Customer Care – Override Cost permission to edit the Cost or the Wholesale Cost for an individual instance of a Feature assigned to an account. With this permission assigned, users will see the default, and be able to supply their own value and save.

Tracking Resellers

Customer accounts can be associated to a reseller by using the Sales Channel property on the account. Sales Channels are a hierarchical grouping of sales organizations and individuals that are responsible for selling your services.

Creating Sales Channels that represent your different resellers and their sales reps and then assigning them to accounts allows you to track your margins as well as the revenues owed.