Steps

To create a new customer:

1. Click NEW on the Application bar.

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   This displays the New Customer page.

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2. Choose to create a billable customer (default) or a non-billable prospect.

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3. Note

   Complete each section as described below. Required fields are marked with asterisks (*).

   Basic Information

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   Account Type	Rating and billing classification for this account. Business accounts are often charged different rates than residential accounts. Select the appropriate Account Type from the drop-down list.
   Account Status	Disposition of this account (such as Active, Disconnected, Suspended, etc.). Select the appropriate Account Status from the drop-down list.
   Account Number	Subscriber's account number. If you do not enter an account number, the system automatically assigns the next available account number to this subscriber.
   Account Manager	Account Manager for this customer can be selected from SaaS security users. When specified, the Account Manager is shown on the Account Summary. Notes: When cloning, the account manager value will be copied. Account manager cannot be added to a prospect
   Customer Name	First name, middle initial, and last name of the subscriber associated with this account. Click the pencil icon to enable this field
   Market	Each subscriber is assigned to a market for purposes such as billing, POS location, General Ledger subcodes, customer region and customized reporting. Select the appropriate market from the drop-down list.
   Sales Associate	Identifies the member of the sales staff who is responsible for the sale to this subscriber.
   State	Select a State from the drop down menu.
   Zone	Zones configured in Admin Console Data management are used to group service numbers by NPANXX. This lets you use the Limit-To functionality for products and pricing plans, provide Zone reports, and manage the implications of NPANXX splits more easily.
   Region	Regions may be configured in Admin Console to further define how charges are assigned to customers.
   CPNI Opt In	Select/check this check box if the customer has "opted-in," meaning he or she is willing to allow agents to view Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI), as defined by the FCC.
   Currency	Optional field. Available options are as defined in Admin Console Currency Data Management table
   Language	Optional field. Available options are as defined in Admin Console Language Data Management table
   Establish date	Enter/select the date the subscriber is scheduled to be active. This defaults to the current date. Note When you assign start and end dates to accounts, services, and features you need to consider the scenario as well as your business practices. Refer to the article on start/end date guidelines in the IDI Knowledge Center for details.
   Disable E-Pay Notifications	Defaults to unchecked (notifications enabled). When checked, the account will be omitted from IDI platform notifications that use the E-Pay Account Notifications or E-Pay Transaction Notifications data sources. This property is not available for prospects.
   Disallow Checks/ACH	This lets you flag accounts with a history of bad check writing. Flagged customer accounts are not allowed to make ACH payments through Desktop Client, Customer Care, and OnlineBill. These customers can only use guaranteed funds for payments (i.e. cash or approved credit card transactions). This can help reduce returned check fees. The ability to toggle this setting may be restricted by adding the Disallow Checks/ACH setting to the Customer Field Configuration, and then specifying which Groups should be restricted. Note Identifying bad check writers is a manual process and establishing criteria is up to individual carriers. For more on how disallowing ACH payments works see Blocking ACH Payments for Customers in Bad Standing.
   Account Locks: Prohibit Port Outs Prohibit SIM Changes	In accordance with FCC compliance guidelines, this functionality provides the ability to provide an indication on an account in Customer Care that SIM Changes and/or Port Outs are prohibited. New Account Lock settings for SIM Change and Port Out are available when you add or edit an account. When enabled, a corresponding indicator is displayed on the account summary view. Note These settings and corresponding indicators are for information only to warn service representatives not to perform these actions. The actions are not actually blocked.

   Contact Information

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   You must enter a Primary Customer Contact. You may enter a separate Billing Contact or use the Primary Customer Contact as the Billing Contact:

   

   First/Mi/Last Name Company Name	Last name or Company name is required. First name and middle initial are optional
   Address	Use up to three lines to enter the street address
   City/State/Zip	Enter city, state and zip code. The values available for selection in the State drop down menu depend on the selected Country.
   Country	Defaults to the value set via Manage > Settings and can be changed as needed.
   Validation	Addresses must be validated. (More) Click Validate Now to validate the address. Success is indicated as: If the address cannot be validated the following warning is displayed: To bypass validation and continue with the address entered, click OK. Bypassing validation is indicated as: Clicking CANCEL will leave validation as undetermined:
   Phone Numbers	Add as many phone numbers and email addresses as needed. (More) To add phone numbers and/or email addresses for a contact click the corresponding . Click to delete.
   Email Addresses

   Billing Information

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   Aging Group	Establishes when payment is due
   Bill Cycle	Defaults to the Bill Cycle assignment configured in Desktop Client.You can change as needed by clicking the pencil icon. Typically bill cycles are set up such that bill periods occur on a monthly basis with the start and end dates both set to the bill cycle’s specified Day of Month. However, in practice bill periods run from the specified day of month in a given month up to one day before in the next month (for example, 7/15 to 8/14). In other words, a monthly bill period starting on the 15th does not include the 15th of the next month. It actually ends on 14th. Bill cycles set up for your use are viewable via Desktop Client > Tools > References > Bill Cycles Table. Bill Cycle configuration sets Bill Cycle based on selected Account Type, Market and Day. When a customer is created by clicking +New, as the Account Type and Market fields are set, the Bill Cycle will default based on the values entered. The default will use the current date as the Day when determining the default. When a prospect is converted to a customer account, the Bill Cycle will be set based on the Account Type and Market and current date as Day. The Bill Cycle value will update if the Market or Account Type are toggled, and the new default results in a different value. If the Bill Cycle value is overridden, the value will not be updated with the default when the Market or Account Type are toggled. You can revert to the default by clicking the revert icon. When a customer account is cloned, the Bill Cycle value will come from the account being cloned. Override and revert rules as described above will apply.
   Finance Group	Select the Finance Group from the drop-down list. Each finance Group has a set of rules for calculating finance charges, which defines the a grace period (number of days) allowed before a balance becomes past due. This grace period enables the finance group to charge a minimum finance charge.
   Invoice Format	Select the invoice format from the drop-down list (Business Landscape, Residential, and so on).
   Receivable Group	Select the Accounts Receivable Group from the drop-down list.
   Main Billing Number	Number to call for billing inquiries.
   Affinity Group	Select the Affinity Group from the drop-down list, if appropriate. This designates the group to which the affinity commission is computed and reported. Affinity pricing plans pay a commission to an outside organization for a percentage of the total calls charged to a group of customers.
   Home Region	An optional construct to drive usage rating.
   Child Sort Order	An optional construct for corporate accounts.
   Usage Rounding	Impacts how charges for individual calls are displayed: None Conventional - Numbers less than 5 are rounded down to the nearest cent. Numbers equal to or greater than 5 are rounded up to the nearest cent. Up - All usage values are rounded up.
   Finance Charge Exempt	Select/check this check box if the customer is exempt from finance charges.
   Pull Invoice	May be used to pull this invoice from a bill run (for example, if there is a dispute, or some analysis is required before the invoice can be sent).
   Paperless Bill	Check the box to opt in for paperless billing or uncheck to opt out. This may result in a discount for opting in or fee for opting out, depending on setup in the Product Catalog web module. Note You can also toggle this setting in the Billing section on the Account Summary. Additional setup is required for paperless billing. Refer to the article on Paperless Billing (, ) in the IDI Knowledge Center.

   Note:

   When editing an existing customer, this section will indicate pending bill cycle changes as applicable.

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   CPNI Information - CPNI Information is used to protect personal information from disclosure.

   Note:

   CPNI is only available for designated account types as set up via Desktop Client Applications > CPNI > CPNI Configuration Settings.

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   Refer to the CostGuard Client Online Help for further information.

   

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   Account Password	Follow the guidelines set by your company
   Security Question	Select one from the drop down list
   Security Answer	Enter the answer here
   Internal & External Marketing	Company-specific
   Manage Authorized Users	Click Add to add authorized users

   Tax Information

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   Exemptions	Use the Tax Exemptions option to define a list of tax exemptions by customer. Note you can select/deselect all tax exemptions using the associated control Select All/Deselect All).
   Extended Exemptions	These are very specific tax exemptions that are a subset of a general exemption. Use this area to add or delete an extended exemption.
   Exempt IDs	Record of the actual tax exempt ID that has been issued to the taxpayer.
   Tax Jurisdictions	Tax Jurisdiction is set based on the primary contact address specified in the Contact Information section. You can use the Override option to enter a different Tax State and Tax Jurisdiction. Click the Override checkbox, select a state, and then click the magnifying glass and pick a specific jurisdiction in the selected state.

   Credit Information

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   Date of Birth	Customer's date of birth.
   SSN	Customer’s Social Security Number. Note: Depending on your permissions, this field may be masked.
   FEIN	Customer’s Federal Employer Identification Number.
   Driver License Number	Driver license number
   Driver License State	Abbreviated State where the drivers license, of the individual responsible for the account, was obtained.
   DUNS Number	Dunn & Bradstreet number assigned to the customer.

   Accessibility

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   Select any accessibility characteristics that apply.

   Additional Information

   This area displays customer attributes, if any. Attributes are configured in Admin Console on your behalf as part of the SaaS service.