Glossary
account
A customer, company or debtor in the accounts receivable system to whom one or more
subscriptions are provided. For example, you can provide mobile subscription 0401234567 to
the account of Joe Smith. The account defines who bills are sent to, how much the customer
owes and their payment terms.
account terms
The credit control settings for an account. Account terms
specify the duration of treatment levels and the action taken at each treatment level,
among other settings.
account type
A reporting concept that helps you report on different groups
of accounts in your company. For example, you may have different account types for
different companies that you have acquired or for GST exempt and non-GST exempt
accounts.
ACMA
The Australian Communications and Media Authority. ACMA is an
independent statutory authority tasked with ensuring most elements of Australia's media and
communications legislation, related regulations, and numerous derived standards and codes of
practice operate effectively and efficiently, and in the public interest.
activity statement
An itemised list of subscription usage over a period of time.
adjustment
A transaction that increases or decreases the amount charged
for another transaction.
agent
An entity that associates a commission structure with a commission
earner.
alert threshold
A percentage of value that, when consumed, triggers a
notification and raises a message. For example, you can configure alert thresholds at
60%, 80% and 100% of a value pool. Alert thresholds apply to spend limits, usage alert
groups and value pools.
BSS
Business support system. A system that manages your customer-facing operations, for example, creating orders, tracking payments and managing plans.
CAT
Customer access toolkit. Smile's online customer portal that lets customers view their
usage history, download invoices and pay online.
CDR
Call detail record. The usage data associated with a phone call, for example,
destination, tariff type and duration.
commission earner
A person who is paid commission. Each commission earner
is added to at least one agent and associated with a commission
structure.
commission structure
The commission rates that you pay to a commission
earner.
commission payment delay
The period of time between when an invoice is fully paid and the
commission is raised. The commission payment delay ensures that you do not pay
commission on invalid payments.
credit control
A series of actions that Smile automatically applies when an
unpaid account reaches a treatment level.
credit limit
The account balance at which a customer's access to one or more subscriptions is
suspended. When calculating a credit limit, Smile includes the value of outstanding account
balances and any usage in the current billing cycle. The credit limit includes all
subscriptions for an account. For example, if an account has a mobile subscription and a DSL
subscription and the customer exceeds the credit limit on the account, Smile suspends both subscriptions.
debtor close date
A date that prevents changes to earlier transactions and
ensures long-term report stability. You cannot change a transaction that was raised
earlier than the debtor close date. The debtor close date lags behind real time to give
you a window of time to correct mistakes before the transaction is locked.
deprecated
Items marked as deprecated are obsolete, no longer in use or being phased out.
disposition
The debtor status of an account. An account's disposition is
also known as its treatment level.
feature
An item that modifies a subscription and that can be switched on
and off, for example, voicemail, call forwarding or DSL shaping. Features have their own
schedule, for example, the start and end dates for the period that call forwarding is
active on a subscription.
invoice
A list of charges raised against a subscription or account over a
given period of time. The invoice may contain usage charges, recurring charges, GST or
other taxes, discounts and rounding amounts. Each invoice is associated with an account,
although the invoice may contain charges for any subscriptions associated with the
account.
invoicing cycle
Specifies when an invoice is generated. When you perform a
billing run, Smile generates an invoice for all accounts that have subscriptions with an
invoicing period that ends on the date of the billing run.
invoicing period
An instance of an invoicing cycle. For example, a
subscription may have an invoicing period that ends on the 1st of each month and an
invoicing period of 2 August-1 September.
IPDR
Internet protocol detail record. The usage data associated with an internet session,
for example, duration, bytes uploaded and bytes downloaded.
operator
An account that can access Smile. For example, customer service
representatives (CSRs), helpdesk staff and accounting staff may all be
operators.
OSS
Operational support system. A system that manages the network services that support your business, for example, provisioning and customer access to the network.
package
A bundle of services added as a group to an account. Packages
specify default values for bill layout and billing frequencies, and are used to order
subscriptions and accounts.
payment plan
An agreed series of payments that lets customers pay
outstanding invoices in installments. Smile suspends credit control actions against each
invoice in a payment plan.
PCI DSS
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a
proprietary information security standard for organizations that handle branded credit
cards from the major card brands.
plan
The set of rules that determine how much is charged for a
subscription. A plan can include recurring charges, usage charges, minimum charges,
included usage and access rules such as modem speed.
plan schedule
Specifies the plans a subscription uses throughout its lifecycle.
The plan schedule is made up of plan schedule items.
plan schedule item (PSI)
Specifies when a plan becomes active for a
subscription.
pre-rating
A process that runs at intervals in open periods and provides an indication of subscription usage in the period to date.
rating cycle
Specifies the period for which usage charges are calculated. Rating
periods can end at the end of each month or at a preset, recurring interval after the
subscription was created.
rating period
An instance of a rating cycle. For example, a subscription
may have a rating period that ends on the 1st of each month and a rating period of 2
August-1 September.
RCTI
Recipient created tax invoice. An invoice from a creditor requesting
payment that is created by and addressed to a company. Smile generates RCTIs on behalf
of creditors to manage commission payments. RCTIs include GST and other tax where
applicable.
recurring charge
A regular charge that is not based on usage, for example, an
insurance surcharge.
service
A generic kind of product that can be provided to customers, for example, ADSL or mobile telephony.
setup charge
An initial charge to add a customer to a plan, for example, an ADSL
connection fee.
SID
Service ID. A number that uniquely identifies each Smile
service.
spend limit
A limit that tracks the amount a subscription spends on a
particular type of usage in each rating period, and lets you take action when a customer
exceeds spend limit alert thresholds. For example, you can define a spend limit of $100
on premium SMS for a mobile service. Default spend limits are defined on a service, but
you can override and customise the default spend limits for a subscription.
stationery
The format of printed documents. Smile's stationery
functionality lets you specify the logos, background images and layout for invoices,
journal entries, receipts and statements.
subscription
A single instance of a service that is provided to a customer, for example, a single mobile number. Subscriptions belong to an account and are often the source of usage and recurring charges.
SZU
Standard zone unit. An SZU is a geographic area of a charging
zone specified by ACMA. Australia is divided into almost 2100 SZUs.
treatment level
The debtor status of an account. Smile has three default
treatment levels: settled (account is paid before the due date), overdue (the account is
overdue by 14 days or less) and delinquent (the account is overdue by 15 days or more),
although you can configure additional treatment levels. An account's treatment level is
also known as its disposition.
usage alert group
The physical amount of included usage in a plan. For
example, you can define a usage alert group for 50 GB of included data on a ADSL plan,
or 100 included SMS on a mobile plan.
usage charge
A charge that specifies how much to charge for different blocks of
continuous use, for example, telephone flagfall and timed charges, the number of pages
in a fax transmission or mobile internet downloads.
UO
User object. Related to custom fields, attributes and forms.
USN
Unique subscription number. A number that uniquely identifies each account and
subscription in your database. A USN is associated with the same account or subscription
throughout its lifecycle and is not reused after the account or subscription is
closed.
value pool
The monetary amount of included usage in a plan.
walled garden
An environment that limits the content and services a customer can
access.
workflow
The steps through which a process moves as it progresses from
initiation to completion.
xDR
A generic term for a usage record for a service. For example, CDRs and IPDRs are both
types of xDRs.