Service Design
Topics in this document:
To access this section in Monetization, from the Menu, select Business configuration, and click Service design.
Information:
Monetization must be taught what service(s) are required for a business to operate internally. For example, assume a telecommunication industry with a data, voice, and SMS service. These services will consist of several fields or parameters. You can then use part of those fields to determine the quantity to be rated.Service fields
To access this section, click Service fields. A paginated list of all service fields is shown in a tabular format.
A service field is a parameter that can be part of a service type. The parameter will hold information about one session/event in Monetization.
Service fields example
Assume a telecommunication company that enables customers to make phone calls. The service fields can include the following:
- start_time
- origin
- destination
- duration
- direction
- quantity
Information:
These service fields can then be included in a service. Then, whenever a usage event comes in for the service, these are the fields Monetization will expect, and it can get the ratable quantity from these fields.Reserved fields
The session identifier and identifier are reserved fields that must exist as part of the service fields. They are created automatically when a site is created in Monetization.
The identifier will represent the service identifier of one customer—for instance, a mobile phone number for data or voice service. The identifier must be unique for each site; it could be an integer number, a device, or anything that can be used to identify a customer uniquely.
The session identifier should be included in each usage event. This ensures that the same event will only be rated once and cannot be duplicated.
Four actions/subpages can be performed/viewed under this section, namely:
Create a service field
Under service fields, to create a service field, click Create new. Provide a name and code. Optionally, add a description.
Information:
Multiple service fields can be created.Details service field page
Under service fields, to see the full details of a service field, click Details. It contains the following:
- Name
- Code
- Description
Update service field
Under service fields, to update a service field, first, click Details; it shows the details of the service field. Then to update, click Update.
Information:
All information filled out under the create a service field section can be updated except for the Code.Delete a service field
Under service fields, to delete a service field, click Delete.
Note:
Deleting a service field already used in other parts of Monetization cannot be done. Every particular reference to the service field first has to be deleted.Service types
To access this section, click Service types. A paginated list of all service types is shown in a tabular format.
A service type describes one service in Monetization—for instance, a voice or data service. It determines which service fields are meant to be part of one session/event for that particular service.
In addition, a service type defines a service by depicting the optional or mandatory service fields and rating set fields Monetization needs in usage events for a specific service.
Information:
A purchased product can offer a service when the created product contains a service type. Monetization can rate events for service usage.Four actions/subpages can be performed/viewed under this section, namely:
Create service type
Under service types, to create a service type, click Create new.
The mandatory input fields include the following:
- name
- code
- mandatory service field(s)
- authorization strategy
The optional input fields include the following:
- description
- optional service field(s)
- rating set fields
- Included on invoice
- Impact balances
Note:
The code is a unique identifier of an object. It can be used during integration with the Monetization API.Information:
Including the session identifier and identifier as mandatory fields is good practice. They are known as reserved fields. For more information, see Reserved fields.To include the service details on the invoice, use the Included on invoice toggle switch to enable/disable. Enabling this feature means that Monetization will pull this data on the JSON object generated for one invoice.
Note:
Only include the information needed on the invoice for performance optimization.If Impact balances toggle switch is enabled then this service will be impacting, reserving, and working with balances in real-time. In case this is not necessary, turning this off will increase rating performance.
Rating set fields
A rating set field is a field that, instead of being matched as raw strings, is compared against a rating sets object, which can have multiple matches. It is helpful for prefix matching.
Tip:
Monetization will map the rating set field towards a pattern.Rating set field example
The Slovenia rating sets in the telecommunication industry can have multiple matches: 003865, 003867, 003864, etc., representing telephone number prefixes. If an origin service field is defined as a rating set field on a service type, the field’s contents will be compared to all prefixes in Slovenia when Monetization tries to find a match. Therefore, if the origin is 003865123123, the Slovenia rating set will be matched.
Information:
Comparing a service field to a hierarchy of zones becomes a rating set field.Details service type page
Under service types, to see the full details of a service type, click Details. It contains the following:
- Name
- Code
- Description
- Mandatory fields
- Optional fields
- Rating set fields
- Authorization strategy
- Included on invoice
- Impact balances
Update service type
Under service types, to update a service type, first, click Details; it shows the details of the service type. Then to update, click Update.
Information:
All information filled out under the create service type section can be updated except for the Code.Note:
When updating the information from services used by customers and events, if a new service field is added to the service type, the service field will be missing from all previous events. This is because the service field was unknown to Monetization then.Delete service type
Under service types, to delete a service type, click Delete.
Note:
Deleting a service type already used in other parts of Monetization cannot be done. Every particular reference to the service type first has to be deleted.Unit groups
To access this section, click Unit groups. A paginated list of all unit groups is shown in a tabular format.
A unit group is designed to create related units in Monetization. A conversion factor must also be provided to enable Monetization to make conversions between the units automatically.
Example of a unit group
Assume a telecommunication company provides data service to customers. After configuring the units in kilobytes (kB), megabytes (MB), and gigabytes (GB), the usage event can have input in kB; at the same time, pricing can work in MB.
Note:
Each unit group should hold units that belong together. For example, the data unit group can comprise kB, MB, and GB. Also, it should include a conversion factor that allows Monetization to convert between the units automatically—for example, converting between kB and MB.Information:
When creating a rate plan, a unit can be provided for possible quantity unit conversion.Four actions/subpages can be performed/viewed under this section, namely:
Create unit group
Under unit groups, to create a unit group, click Create new. Provide a name and code. Optionally, provide a description and some units.
To add a unit, under Units, click Add unit. Provide a name, symbol, and factor. To make a particular unit the base unit, check the checkbox Base unit.
Note:
The base unit must have a factor of one, while others should have a factor compared to the base unit.For example, assume the following units in a unit group:
| Name | Symbol | Factor | Base unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| kilobyte | kB | 1 | |
| megabye | MB | 1024 | |
| gigabyte | GB | 1048576 |
To delete a unit, under Units, click Delete
Details unit group page
Under unit groups, to see the full details of a unit group, click Details. It contains the following:
- Name
- Code
- Description
- Units - The units are shown in a tabular format.
Update unit group
Under unit groups, to update a unit group, first, click Details; it shows the details of the unit group. Then to update, click Update.
Information:
All information filled out under the create unit group section can be updated except for the Code.Delete unit group
Under unit groups, to delete a unit group, click Delete.
Rating metrics
To access this section, click Rating metrics. A paginated list of all rating metrics is shown in a tabular format.
Monetization uses a rating metric to determine the quantity to be rated based on the service field(s) from the session/event. In other words, a rating metric enables Monetization to know how to get the ratable quantity out of an event.
Information:
When a rating metric is created in Monetization, it is not tied to a service or product. This is done when creating a rate plan.Four actions/subpages can be performed/viewed under this section, namely:
Create rating metric
Under rating metrics, to create a rating metric, click Create new. Provide a name and code. Optionally, provide a description and a metric expression(s).
To add a metric expression, under Metric expressions, click Add metric expression. Provide a priority, expression, and unit. The unit is configured under unit groups. For more information, see Unit groups.
Note:
The Expression should refer directly to the service fields from the service type.For example, assume a quantity service field is inserted as the rating metric expression; Monetization will get the ratable quantity from the quantity service field.
Note:
Multiple metric expressions can be created with different priorities. For example, priority 0, priority 1, priority 2, etc. However, Monetization will initially use the metric expression with a greater priority number.Basic math expressions like addition, subtraction, and multiplication can be performed in a metric expression to determine the ratable quantity. For example, assume an end_timeand start_time service field; from that, a rating metric expression of the form end_time - start_time can be created.
Information:
The actual assignment of the metric happens later when the service product is being created.Details rating metric page
Under rating metrics, to see the full details of a rating metric, click Details. It contains the following:
- Name
- Code
- Description
- Metric expressions - The metric expressions are shown in a tabular format.
Update rating metric
Under rating metrics, to update a rating metric, first, click Details; it shows the details of the rating metric. Then to update, click Update.
Information:
All information filled out under the create rating metric section can be updated except for the Code.Delete rating metric
Under rating metrics, to delete a rating metric, click Delete.
Note:
Deleting a rating metric already used in other parts of Monetization cannot be done. Every particular reference to the rating metric first has to be deleted.Charge intervals
To access this section, click Charge intervals. A paginated list of all charge intervals is shown in a tabular format.
A charge interval describes how Monetization will round the ratable quantity from the rating metric. After the rating metric calculates the raw quantity-to-be-rated, the charge interval can round up or down based on the configurations.
Note:
When Monetization receives an event, the ratable quantity is gotten. It is then compared to the charge interval to round up or down to the next step. Once rounded, that will be the new ratable quantity.Four actions/subpages can be performed/viewed under this section, namely:
Create charge interval
Under charge intervals, to create a charge interval, click Create new. Provide a name and code. Optionally, provide a description, minimum step, step, rounding mode, and unit.
The minimum step represents the smallest quantity that can be rated. Therefore, if Monetization receives an event below that, it will be rounded to the minimum step. For instance, assume a minimum step configuration of zero, and Monetization receives an event below zero; the event will be rounded to zero.
The step represents how the ratable quantity should increment. For example, Monetization receives an event and figures out the ratable quantity to be 550 through the rating metric; if the step is configured to be 100, Monetization will round the quantity up or down depending on the configuration of the rounding mode.
If the rounding mode is configured to Up, the new ratable quantity will be 600, while if the rounding mode is configured to Down, the new ratable amount will be 500.
Details charge interval page
Under charge intervals, to see the full details of a charge interval, click Details. It contains the following:
- Name
- Code
- Description
- Min step
- Step
- Rounding mode
- Unit
Update charge interval
Under charge intervals, to update the charge interval, first, click Details; it shows the details of the charge interval. Then to update, click Update.
Information:
All information filled out under the create charge interval section can be updated except for the Code.Delete charge interval
Under charge intervals, to delete a charge interval, click Delete.
