Products/About - Revision history

Scarpenter: /* Overview */

2017-02-01T03:06:59Z

‎Overview

Scarpenter at 02:35, 1 February 2017

2017-02-01T02:35:09Z

Scarpenter: /* Product Types */

2017-02-01T01:01:00Z

‎Product Types

Scarpenter at 00:56, 1 February 2017

2017-02-01T00:56:03Z

Scarpenter: /* Product Details */

2016-06-24T07:19:37Z

‎Product Details

Scarpenter at 07:14, 24 June 2016

2016-06-24T07:14:14Z

Scarpenter: Created page with "{{DISPLAYTITLE:About Products}} = Introduction= Products can be: * physical items, such as modems, handsets, hardware and accessories * a once off charge incurred for a servi..."

2016-06-24T06:38:41Z

Created page with "{{DISPLAYTITLE:About Products}} = Introduction= Products can be: * physical items, such as modems, handsets, hardware and accessories * a once off charge incurred for a servi..."

New page

{{DISPLAYTITLE:About Products}}
= Introduction=
Products can be:

* physical items, such as modems, handsets, hardware and accessories
* a once off charge incurred for a service, such as an installation fee
* used to apply a one-off discount, such as a "$10 off your next bill"
* used to bill to a customer a fractional-based item, such as 1.75 hours for a site visit by an engineer.

Before setting up any products, consider if any once off fees from your supplier that will need to be passed on to the customer - such as the installation fee mentioned earlier - comes in a data feed or not. For example, AAPT regularly include once-off and recurring charges in the data files processed via Emersion. If the supplier provides these charges in the data feed, service providers has two choices in terms of billing:

* Set these items up as Products so that the customer can be charged in advance at the time of order.
* Set a price in the [[ServicePlans/RateCard/Creating_Rate_Cards|Product Rate Card]] so that the customer will be charged in arrears. This will be done automatically by the system when the charge is received in the data feed by the supplier.

[[file: Product-list.png|1200px|Product List screen]]

= Product Details =

Clicking on the ID of a product will take the user to the main screen of the product, displaying all product details.

[[File: Product-details-main.png|1200px|The Product Details Page of a Product]]

The product details page contains the following sub tabs.

* [[Products/Pricing/Price_Points|Product Price Points]]
* Supply Rules
* [[Products/Serialised_Products|Product Inventory]]
* [[Commissions/Commission_Management|Commissions Tier]]

Click on the sub tab link to learn more about these pages.

=Serialised vs Non-Serialised Products=

Products can be flagged as serialised in Emersion. Serialised products are designed to work with an inventory, where a ''product instances'' can be identified by it's serial number. a Product instance is simply an instance of that product. Imagine 50 Samsung TVs where the model number is the same. The identifying aspect is the serial number. Each of the 50 TVs is a ''product instance''.

The product is made up of the brand, make, model, colour, etc. But each instance of the product has its own serial number, as seen in the inventory tab in the example below.

Non-serialised products have no inventory. For more detailed information or assistance regarding serialised products, [[Products/Serialised_Products | start here.]]

[[file: Product-with-inventory.png|1200px|An iPhone 6S 16GB product with product instances loaded into the inventory, ready to be sold.]]

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 When considering whether to use products to bill customers, it is important to understand their scope and limitations.
-Before setting any products, service providers need to understand how they are charged by their supplier.  In a usage-based service type, some suppliers include once-off fees (e.g. installation fees, government charges, etc) within the data feed. AAPT and Telstra are examples of suppliers who include once-off and monthly recurring charges with their usage data files. If a supplier does this, service providers needs to make a choice in terms of how they want to bill:
+Products are another billing object, but they are not subscription-based billing objects. There is no subscription to products that can be created. To sell services, users use the order process to initiate the purchasing process and at the end, subscriptions are created. With products, they are purchased, not ordered.
-* Set these items up as Products in Emersion. Users will need to put through a purchase for these charges manually. Using this option means the customer can be charged in advance at the time of order.
+Before any products are created in Emersion, service providers need to understand how they are charged by their supplier for products. In a usage-based case, some suppliers include once-off fees (e.g. installation fees, government charges, etc) within the data feed. AAPT and Telstra are examples of this. Not only can once-off product charges be included in the usage, but some monthly recurring charges can also be included in usage data files. If a supplier does this, service providers need to make a choice about how they they want to bill these types of charges. The options are:
-* Set a price for the product in the [[ServicePlans/RateCard/Creating_Rate_Cards|Product Rate Card]]. This will charge the customer when the data is sent. This will be done automatically by the system when the charge is received in the data feed. This is billed in arrears.
 [[file: Product-list.png|1200px|Product List screen]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{DISPLAYTITLE:About Products}}
+{{DISPLAYTITLE: About Products}}
-= Introduction=
+= Overview=
-Products can be:
+When considering whether to use products to bill customers, it is important to understand their scope and limitations.
-* physical items, such as modems, handsets, hardware and accessories
+Before setting any products, service providers need to understand how they are charged by their supplier.  In a usage-based service type, some suppliers include once-off fees (e.g. installation fees, government charges, etc) within the data feed. AAPT and Telstra are examples of suppliers who include once-off and monthly recurring charges with their usage data files. If a supplier does this, service providers needs to make a choice in terms of how they want to bill:
-Before setting up any products, consider if any once off fees from your supplier that will need to be passed on to the customer - such as the installation fee mentioned earlier - comes in a data feed or not. For example, AAPT regularly include once-off and recurring charges in the data files processed via Emersion. If the supplier provides these charges in the data feed, service providers has two choices in terms of billing:
+* Set these items up as Products in Emersion. Users will need to put through a purchase for these charges manually. Using this option means the customer can be charged in advance at the time of order.
+* Set a price for the product in the [[ServicePlans/RateCard/Creating_Rate_Cards|Product Rate Card]]. This will charge the customer when the data is sent. This will be done automatically by the system when the charge is received in the data feed. This is billed in arrears.
 [[file: Product-list.png|1200px|Product List screen]]
@@ Line 28: / Line 23: @@
 ; Credit
-Credit products are for creating credits rather than charges. This product type allows users to enter positive dollar values. When the credit sold to a customer, the system will automatically transform the positive values to negative to ensure integrity of the ledger journal. While it is possible to simply create a negative cardline to achieve the same objective, this method is more robust and ensures better consistency when crediting a customer.
+Credit products are for creating credits rather than charges. This product type allows users to enter positive dollar values. When the credit sold to a customer, the system will automatically transform the positive values to negative to ensure integrity of the ledger journal. While it is possible to simply create a negative cardline to achieve the same objective, this method is more robust and ensures better consistency when crediting a customer. [[Credit_Products|Read more about credit products]].
-= Product Details =
+= Product Search =
 Clicking on the ID of a product will take the user to the main screen of the product, displaying all product details.
@@ Line 53: / Line 49: @@
 Non-serialised products have no inventory.  For more detailed information or assistance regarding serialised products, [[Products/Serialised_Products | start here.]]
-[[file: Product-with-inventory.png|1200px|An iPhone 6S 16GB product with product instances loaded into the inventory, ready to be sold.]]
+[[file: Product-with-inventory.png|1200px|An iPhone 6S 16GB product with product instances loaded into the inventory, ready to be sold]]
 =See Also=

@@ Line 28: / Line 28: @@
 ; Credit
-Credit products are for creating credits rather than charges. This allows users to enter positive values and will transform these to negative charges to ensure integrity of the ledger journal.
+Credit products are for creating credits rather than charges. This product type allows users to enter positive dollar values. When the credit sold to a customer, the system will automatically transform the positive values to negative to ensure integrity of the ledger journal. While it is possible to simply create a negative cardline to achieve the same objective, this method is more robust and ensures better consistency when crediting a customer.
 = Product Details =

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:56, 1 February 2017
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	[[file: Product-list.png\|1200px\|Product List screen]]		[[file: Product-list.png\|1200px\|Product List screen]]
		+
		+	= Product Types =
		+	There are several different types of products to choose from, each one having its own rules on how they work.
		+
		+	; Physical Item
		+	This product type is designed for tangible items that you can sell separately, or can suggestive-sell while placing an order for a subscription.
		+
		+	; Billable Item
		+	This product type is for intangible items that you may offer or include as an option with an order. It could be anything you deem as billable such as an installation visit, or other kind of labour charge.
		+
		+	; Voucher
		+	Vouchers are originally designed to be redeemed immediately, or later. For prepaid plans, they can be used to top-up credit for services. Vouchers can also be used in a post-paid scenario. The Voucher can be purchased by one person and used by another.
		+
		+	; Credit
		+	Credit products are for creating credits rather than charges. This allows users to enter positive values and will transform these to negative charges to ensure integrity of the ledger journal.

	= Product Details =		= Product Details =

@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 * [[Products/Pricing/Price_Points|Product Price Points]]
-* [[Products/Supply Rules|Supply Rules]]
+* [[Products/Serialised_Products/Supply Rules|Supply Rules]]
 * [[Products/Serialised_Products|Product Inventory]]
 * [[Commissions/Commission_Management|Commissions Tier]]