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Prerequisites

Before you can bill for bandwidth utilization, you'll need a few things in place. By completing the steps below, you will be ready to configure the client's service, as well as the service plan, to bill for bandwidth usage

Steps

Once you have all the prerequisites in place, you are ready for bandwidth billing. For Ubersmith to make the connection between a device that is using bandwidth, the appropriate client, and the service that will be used to bill for it, these items must be associated with one another. There are three ways to tie devices to a service for bandwidth billing. 

Associating the Device and Service

You can associate a device with a client and a service. See Associating a Device with a Client and a Service.

Using Dynamic Device Filtering

For clients that add or remove devices from their account frequently, specifying basic rules and parameters within the bandwidth billing service can specify which devices to tabulate in the usage calculation upon service renewal.

Some examples of this rule are "Client id is 1005" and "Device Description contains 'server'".

Multiple rules can be used in conjunction with one another using the 'and’ or 'or’ operators. For example, if you needed to bill for all server devices under a particular client's account enter client ID is 1005 and device type contains server. 

When the service renews it tabulates bandwidth for all devices that are associated with client 1005 and have the word 'server' in their device names. 

 The 'or' operator can also be used to include disparate devices such as device ID is 123 or device ID is 5390 or device ID is 9213. The resulting query will include bandwidth for all three devices.

Once set, the devices matching the specified rules will be listed on the service’s details window, in the bandwidth billing section.

Note: It’s possible that a device may match a specified rule, but isn’t able to report bandwidth usage. The Inc column indicates whether or not the device is properly configured for bandwidth monitoring. A green icon in the Inc column indicates a properly-configured device, while a red icon indicates a device not configured for bandwidth.

When Ubersmith tabulates bandwidth usage, any dynamic device filters set in a service will override the associated devices field, as well as any direct device-service associations.

Using the Associated Devices Custom Field

This method is primarily for backward compatibility with old Ubersmith versions. It is recommended to configure bandwidth billing for a service using device association or dynamic filter rules.

You can specify the ID number of one or more device that should be included in the bandwidth calculation. If multiple device IDs need to be configured, enter each number in the Associated Devices field, separated by commas.

 Bandwidth Billing monitors and bills your clients for the bandwidth they use. You can also include a bandwidth usage graph and chart on your client's invoice.

Bandwidth billing is a child service attached to an existing, renewing service, for example, the base parent service is the standard monthly fee for a dedicated server. You would enable the bandwidth billing service module on that service's service plan and then configure the various custom fields for it. When the parent service renews the first time, it adds the bandwidth overage child service and sets it to be the dollar value of whatever the overage was for the month that just ended. 

Going forward, each time the parent service renews, the bandwidth billing service module update the child service accordingly. Your client will receive an invoice each month for the amount due for the parent service for the new month and the overage for the month that just ended.  

In order to begin billing for this service, you need to configure Ubersmith. Once all the necessary pieces have been configured, any current or new service based on the service plan will be ready. The configuration steps are as follows:

1. Associate the bandwidth usage billing service plan to another appropriate service.
2. Configure the Bandwidth Monitoring and Switch Information device modules.
3. Add the Bandwidth Billing service module to your service plan.
4. Configure the service module (below).
5. Create a bandwidth usage billing service.
6. Configure the service plan with the service module fields (below).
7. Associate your device to your service.

Configuring the Service Module

The Bandwidth Billing service module monitors and bills your clients for the bandwidth they use. You can also include a bandwidth usage graph and chart on your client's invoice. 

1. In the Overage Precision field, select 0, 1, or 2 to determine how many decimal places to round the amount of bandwidth used.
2. In the Show Usage Chart in PDF invoice field, select Yes or No.
3. In the Show Usage Graph in PDF invoice field, select Yes or No.
4. In the Error when no devices are associated field, select Yes to receive notification if there is no device to track your client's backups. Select No to continue renewing services even if there is no associated device.
5. In the Initial Overage Discount field, select No Discount, Client default, or Parent service discount.
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Service Module Fields in Service Plan

1. Access the Service Details page for your bandwidth usage service plan.
2. In the Custom Field Defaults section, click edit.
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   The Edit Service page appears with the Custom Fields section active. 

3. In the Billing Method field, select the calculation method for billing. 

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   title Click here to view Billing Method inputs
   Not Billed does not charge for bandwidth overages. The monthly amount due for the parent service will still be billed. 95th Percentile involves the service’s associated switch or router measuring (or sampling) bandwidth, typically every five minutes, and saves the data to a log file. At the end of the month, the samples are sorted from highest to lowest with the top five percent, equaling approximately 36 hours of a 30-day billing cycle, thrown away. The next highest measurements become the billable use for the entire month. Total Transfer includes a total number of included mb, gb or tb along with an overage rate for the specified unit of measure for the month. Outbound Transfer includes a specified amount of included mb, gb or tb for outbound traffic, along with an overage rate for the specified unit of measure for the month. Inbound Transfer includes a specified amount of included mb, gb or tb for inbound traffic, along with an overage rate for the specified unit of measure for the month. Outbound 95th Percentile uses the 95th percentile described above for outbound usage. Inbound 95th Percentile uses the 95th percentile described above for inbound usage.

   
   

4. In the Included Transfer field, enter how much default data is permitted, before overages, for a given billing period.

5. In the Included Transfer Unit field, select the unit of measurement for the Included Transfer field.

6. In the Overage Unit field, select the unit of measurement for the Overage Rate field.

7. In the Overage Rate field, enter the dollar amount to be charged for overages.

8. In the Associated Devices field, enter any associated device ID numbers separated by commas.

9. All other remaining fields should be left blank.

10. Click Save.
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Configuring Tiered Bandwidth Billing

When using tiered bandwidth billing, you can charge different rates depending on the amount of bandwidth used. Each bandwidth usage tier is defined by a minimum amount and a rate, with the standard bandwidth billing fields comprising tier 1, with a minimum of zero. the tier minimum values are based on the overage, not the usage.

You can set default values for these amounts on the Data tab for either a service plan or a client-specific service, and the amount of tiers available is unlimited.

bw_tierX_minimum

bw_tierX_rate

where X is a number greater than 2.

In order to configure a server with 100GB included transfer, then $0.50/GB up to 1000GB total transfer, then $0.30/gb for any further usage, the configuration is:

bw_billing_method         transfer
bw_included_transfer      100
bw_included_transfer_unit GB
bw_overage_unit           GB
bw_overage_rate           0.50
bw_tier2_minimum          900
bw_tier2_rate             0.30

Related Topics 

Якорь
Related Topics Related Topics

Adding a New Client

Adding a Service Plan

Creating a Service for a ClientManaging Service Plans

Adding and Configuring a Monitor

Ubersmith DE Service Modules

Associating a Device with a Client and a Service