Billing version 2

Auto-generated User Pin Codes

Users will by default be assigned an unique auto generated pin code when adding a user. The assigned user pin can be changed several time by using the “new” button or edit manually.

Tool Tips

Tool tips are implemtented on the on the user, extension and service account setup page. The tool tips give an overview of the Trunks defined in the Trunks Access Group.

Service Accounts

Service Accounts is a sort of common account where several calls can be made at the same time, and with one PIN code. All calls will then be logged on this account. If configured, the system can require users to use their PIN code to access the Service Account. The call is still logged on the Service Account, but the users that made the call is also logged. The user ID is just used as identification.

Trunk Access Group

This replaces the Barring Level that was used in Billing v1. The Trunk Access Group give access to one or more trunks. One trunk can be a member of several Trunk Access Groups. Trunk Access Groups are available for Users (also through User Group Membership), Extensions and Service Accounts. There are also options to select None (which effectively blocks the User/Extension/Service Account) or All (which gives access to all trunks).

User Groups

Users can be assigned to a User Group. Settings can be applied to all members in a group through the User Groups pages.
A User Group is normally assigned to a Login Account. Login Accounts are available through the Setup->Administration menu, and when logging in with this account, only the members of the assigned User Group and members in "Open" Groups are available. Login Accounts with the password level "Administrator" always have access to all User Groups.
"Open" Groups are not assigned to a specific Login Account, but are available to all.

Import Extensions

In the Extension page there is now an option to import all extensions from the AlphaCom configuration database and add them to the Billing Extension table. Extensions that already exist in the Billing Extension table will not be overwritten or changed by the Import function.
If extensions is deleted from the AlphaCom (by using AlphaPro), they must be deleted manually from the Billing Extension table.

NOTE: When importing extensions with this function, trunk numbers will also be saved as extensions and must be deleted after import. These Trunks will be imported because Trunks have feature nr 83. Extensions from all other then local node are also defined as feature 83.

Extension List - Status

It is implemented a new field "Assignment" in the Extension List and new STATUS option in Extension setup. Status on Extension setup shows the current Assignment of the Extension if assigned to a user, service account. "Blocked" when bloced as in earlier versions.

Trunk Type

Trunk can be an analog or digital trunk in the billing system and there are 8 different default trunk types in the system. It is not possible to delete the 8 default trunk in the system. All manually added Trunk types can be deleted by highlighting and using the Remove button at any time.

Dial PABX Breakout Code Automatically

It is possible to send the PABX Breakout code automatically. The PABX code will be sent immediately after dialing the trunk number when the flag is enabled. For Enbloc dialing, the PABX code will be added in start of the B-number.

Link User to Extension (PUE)

This will set a Primary User Extension (PUE) for a user, so that calls from this Extension will be logged as User calls. This also means that the user can make calls without using a PIN code. However, if it is allowed that other users can make user calls on the PUE, it is required to use a PIN code for identification.

Link Service Account to Extension (PSAE)

In the same way as an Extension can be linked to a User, an Extension can be linked to a Service Account. Then the Extension is defined as Primary Service Account Extension (PSAE) in the billing. Extensions can't be linked to both, a User and a Service Account at the same time.

Service Account Extension (SAE)

It is possible to defined and enable an Extension, additional to Primary Service Account Extension, to access Service Account. The SAE can be a normal Extension, PUE or a PSAE, enabled for Service Account calls.

Additional Discount when Invoicing

It is possible to give additional discount at the time of invoicing. It is possible to give this discount as a monetary discount or in percent. The additional discount is given on the total cost of the Invoice.
On the Invoice there is an entry field where the Additional discount is entered. To give a monetary discount, just enter the value that will be subtracted from the Total Cost of the Invoice. To give a discount in percent, enter the value and a %. The new Total Cost will be calculated and displayed on the Invoice.

Service Account Log

Similar to User Call Log and Extension Call Log, all calls done through Service Account Call is logged into Service Account Log.

Transaction Log

The Transaction Log is now updated with additional information field “Transaction Type”. It shows whenever it has been a “single user update” or “User Group Update”.

Invoice Log

Whenever calls in the Call Log and Extension log is invoiced, the Invoice Timestamp is saved in the Invoice Log table. This makes it possible to recreate the invoice. However, if calls are deleted from the Call Log table, either by deleting them through the web interface or by the automatic cleanup procedure, they will not show up in the recreated Invoice.

Administration

The Administration menu under Setup menu has a new option as mention under User Group. The Assign User group drop down menu can assign a group to a system-administratorwith level "user level" and have free access to Groups users. Login Accounts with the password level "Administrator" always have access to all User Groups. "Open" Groups and are not assigned to a specific Login Account, but are available to all.

Language setup

New respond messages has been added for display stations, to describe the call procedure to inform the user of the system: As usual the call will be disconnected with a

Text 1 : NO MORE LICENSES - all the billing trunks are in use

Text 2 : INVALID PIN CODE - Wrong PIN Code is entered

Text 3 : ACCOUNT OVERDRAW - Account is equal to 0 or in minus

Text 4 : OUT OF SERVICE - The database is not available

Text 5 : EXTENSION LOCKED - Extensions is blocked

Text 6 : INVALID TRUNK - The trunk is not configured in billing

Text 7 : BARRED NUMBER - Not allowed to call this number

Text 8 : SYSTEM ERROR - The AMCD is rapporting the call is ongoing

Text 9 : NO TRUNK ACCESS - No allowed to call through the dialed trunk

Text 10 : DIGIT TIMEOUT - To late dialing pin code

Text 11 : ACCESS DENIED - the user is not enabled for this service call

Text 12 : ANSWER TIMEOUT - No body has answered the call before timeout. (Timeout is configurable)

Text 13 : LOW BALANCE - The balance is low message occurs a pre defined before the account is overdraxn (Configurable)

Text 14 : NO BILLING EXT. - The extensions is not defined in Extension list in the billing

Text 15 : PIN CODE - Dial Pin Code

Text 16 : USER CODE - Dial User Code

Text 17 : USER BLOCKED - The user is blocked.

Text 18 : S.A. BLOCKED - The Service Account is blocked

Text 19 : TRUNK BLOCKED - The Trunk is blocked

Text 20 : ACCOUNT IN USE - The user is already in a call

Backup/Restore

On the Backup/Restore page is a list of backup files present on the AMC Flash. The file name of each backup file contains the date and time for when the backup was created: db_YYYY-MM-DD-HH-MM-SS.tbz2. It is important that uploaded files use this naming convention, as it is used by the schedule procedure to determine which file(s) to delete.

Scheduled Backup

The scheduled backup can be set to 4 possible modes: Off, Daily, Weekly and Monthly.
Daily backup will be run each day at 03.33 (AM). Weekly backup will be run each monday at 03.33(AM). Monthly backup will be run the 1.st of each month at 03.33(AM).
When setting a scheduled backup, select one of the modes and click the Apply button.
The Scheduled Backup function will save up to 3 backup files on the AMC Flash. If there already are 3 backup files present, the oldest will be deleted and a new backup file will be created. Each of the saved backup files can be downloaded to the operators PC, restored or deleted.

Backup Now

The Backup Now function will create a backup file that will be immediately downloaded to the operators PC, and it will not be saved on the AMC Flash.

Upload

Uploading a backup file to the AMC flash will save the backup file in the same location as the other backup files, and can be restored from there. Uploading backup files can lead to the situation where there are more than 3 backup files stored on the AMC flash. In this case, the scheduled backup procedure will, when run, analyze the file name of each backup file and delete the oldest one and keep the 2 newest files and create a new one. This can lead to the situation if uploaded backup file is the oldest; the file disappears from the list in the Backup/Restore page.

Download

To download one of the backup files from the AMC Flash to the local PC, select one file in the backup file list and click the Download button. A "Save As..." dialog will be opened where the directory to save the file can be selected.

Restore

To restore the database from a backup file, select the file to restore from and click the Restore button. When the restore process have completed, the Billing Web application automatically will run the Logout procedure, and the Login page will be presented.

Delete

Backup files on the AMC Flash can be deleted by selecting a file from the backup file list and clicking the Delete button.

Wake Up

The Wake Up page have two ways of setting the wake up time.
To set a wake up time within the next 24 hours, the edit field in the station list can be used. The time is entered in a 4 digit, 24 hour format (HHMM), but if only one or two digits is entered (for example '8' or '08') it will be interpreted as '0800'. After entering the time, use the TAB key to move to the edit field for the next extension.
If the entered time has already passed today, the wakeup function will interpret it as tomorrow. An example: If the time now is 12:00 and the entered time is 08:00, then the wakeup time will be set at 08:00 tomorrow.
To set a wake up time more than 24 hours ahead, click on the Extension number and use the Calendar to pick a date and enter the hour/minute.

NOTE:It is not possible to set Wakeup on stations or via web interface when the extensions is on AlphaNet, only on the local stations on the billing node.

Import Fee from .csv file

It is now possible to import fee settings from a .csv (comma separated values) file.

The format of the .csv file is as follows:
<Dialed Number>,<Description>,<Start Cost>,<Cost per Minute>,<Use ICP>

Note that the decimal separator for the Start Cost and Cost per Minute fields must be a ".", The Use ICP field can be either 0 (don't use ICP) or 1 (use ICP).

An example:

93.,Afghanistan,0.79,6.66,1
355.,Albania,0.79,1.83,1
35538.,Albania-Cellular,0.79,1.83,1
213.,Algeria,0.79,1.77,1
2xxxxxxx,Oslo,0.79,0.2,0
3xxxxxxx,South Norway,0.79,0.2,0

The file should not have any heading and the file extension must be .csv.

The procedure for uploading a fee group:

*Create a .csv file with the entries you want to update/add
*Click the 'Import from .csv' button in the Fee Setup page
*Use the File Selection dialog to locate and select the file you want to upload
*You will be prompted to enter the Fee Group number to update
*When you click OK on the Fee Group Number prompt, the file is uploaded and processed
*When the file processing is finished, a message will be given with information on how many lines was imported.

If you enter an existing Fee Group Number to update, then existing entries will be updated with new Description, Start Cost and Cost per Minute. Dialed number and Use ICP code is not updated. If an entry in the .csv file doesn't exist in the selected Fee Group, it will be added to the Group.
If you enter a Fee Group Number that doesn't exist, the Fee Group is created and all entries in the .csv file is added to this group.

NOTE:
This import function can only handle Fee Groups that have default settings for the Day of Week and Start Time/End Time fields. If there are more than one match on the Dialed Number, then all matches will be overwritten with the values from the .csv file.

Delete a Fee Group

It is possible to delete a whole fee group at once by selecting to show only one Fee Group in the Fee list, and use the Delete button that appears next to the Fee Group drop-down.

Transfer call Feature in Alphacom is now supported in Billing

It is now possible to bill and log right Extension/account when transferring outgoing call to another station. It is only possible to transfer SIP Trunk outgoing calls from Alphacom station to Alphacom station or Alphacom station to SIP. Only one transfer is allowed when the call is billed.