VoIP Bundle Creation & Implementation
This page goes over how you can implement a simple VoIP bundle for reselling it to your customers
What is a VoIP Bundle?
VoIP Bundles typically consist of several items all bundled into one simple easy to understand product, e.g. it would usually include: a DID per phone, all Local/National/Mobile call charges, a handset and a VoIP Phone Extension.
Products that have all the services bundled into one product/package generally sell better as the customer doesn't need to try and figure out what they want, they can just choose whichever package they feel best suits their needs.
Below are some examples of some VoIP Bundle packages and what is included:
Bundle
Included Handset
Call Charges Included?
DID Included?
Extras?
BYOD (Bring your own device)
No Handset Included
Only "Special" number charges are not included**
1 DID per bundle
No Extras
Basic Bundle
Cordless Handset
Only "Special" number charges are not included**
1 DID per bundle
No Extras
Standard Bundle
Basic Phone (e.g. Grandstream GXP 1780)
Only "Special" number charges are not included**
1 DID per bundle
Option for Headset (Cabled)
Premium Bundle
Premium Phone (e.g. Grandstream GXP2170)
Only "Special" number charges are not included**
1 DID per bundle
Option for cabled or bluetooth headset
** - Special numbers are classed as calls made to 13,1300 and 1800 numbers
How can I configure my VoIP Wholesale account for VoIP Bundles?
There are multiple things that need to be setup in order for you to properly setup the VoIP Wholesale account for selling VoIP bundles, the biggest and most important one is how the Charging Plan/s are configured as it impacts what we charge you and what is on-charged to the customer.
Charging Plan Setup
Now you will want to consider a few very important points when creating your charging plans, specifically around whether you want all of your VoIP Bundle packages to follow the same charging amount or if you want to have different levels / types.
Typically we would suggest just having 1 Charging Plan for VoIP Bundles as this reduces the amount of Admin work and management, but it depends on what fits best into the model you are trying to build/sell.
IMPORTANT NOTE: One single charging plan can be used for all of your VoIP Organisations without an issue, as all the usage (time, credit, call charges, etc) are charged individually within the Organisations.
To configure the VoIP Charging Plan you can follow the below steps:
Step 1. Login to your VoIP Wholesale Service Provider account: sip01.mhn.net.au
Step 2. Once logged in click on "Charging Plans" under the System section to the left of the page to open the charging plan management page
Step 3. Click the "Add a Charging Plan" button to open a new charging plan which we will use as the VoIP Bundle Organisation charging plan
Step 4. There is going to be quite a few settings on this page that need to be changed, so please follow the information below for what recommend it to all be set to
Field
Value
Name
This needs to be set to something that allows you to easily identify the Charging Plan, e.g. "VoIP Bundle Charging Plan"
Allow extended local calls to extension
Tick this option. This allows the extension to not have to leave the VoIP platform if the number they are calling is on our system
Charging Plan Type
This needs to be set to "Post Paid" as it will need to match how we charge you (for simplicity sake)
Limit calls to public network to minutes
This we would recommend just setting to "9999999" so that there is no minute limit, you can set a limit if you would like to
After the first segment charge every
This needs to be set to 60 seconds, as we only charge you at 60 second increments and it allows all the billing to line up (Note: there are 2 fields with the same name for this, both need to be set to "60")
Charging Method
Set this to "Relative to call cost"
Charge Incoming Calls
Set the first field to be "1" and the second field to be "0"
It should read as "1 x Call Cost + 0 AUD/Second"
Charge Outgoing Calls
This is where you can add a little bit of margin on top of calls made to 13,1300 and 1800 numbers (we are going to make local,national and mobile calls free in a later step)
If you want to add a little extra on top you simply add it into the first field (e.g. extra 15% would be "1.15 x Call Cost")
The final result should read as something like "1 x Call Cost + 0 AUD/Second"
Charge Local Calls to Extensions
Set this to be "1 x Call Cost + 0 AUD/Second"
This will always be 0 as we don't change you for internal calls on the system
Charge Extended Local Calls to Extensions
Set this to be "1 x Call Cost + 0 AUD/Second"
This will always be 0 as we don't change you for extended internal calls on the system
Step 5. Click "OK" in the bottom right of the screen
Perfect! Now we have our VoIP Bundle Charging Plan setup and almost ready to use but we have one more thing we need to do before you can start creating VoIP Bundles.
How do I make Local/National and Mobile calls free?
A common issue for Partners when reselling our VoIP system is "How do I make Local/National and Mobile calls free?", this can be achieved using a function in VoIPNow called "Charging Exceptions".
The charging exceptions allow you to modify the value at which the calls are charged at depending on the number or area code dialed, this can be done on a per Charging Plan basis.
NOTE: This will only make it so that the customer doesn't get charged for local, national and mobile calls but that doesn't affect our charging to you.
To make life a little easier we have put together a CSV file containing all of the charging exceptions already so that you can simply import it without having to figure it all out!
Use the this link to download the CSV file: HN Cost Exceptions
Step 1. Go back into the "Charging Plans" section you were in before, you should be able to see the charging plan you made in the previous section in the list of charging plans
Step 2. Click on the icon to the right of the charging plan to open the "Charging Destinations"
Step 3. On the page that opens up click on "Manage Packages", we will need to add a package quickly for the CSV file at the top of this section to import correctly.
Step 4. You should currently have no packages created, so all you will need to do is enter the below information:
Package Name = Set this to be "Unlimited Calls"
Included Minutes = Set this to be "9999999"
Click the "OK" button in the bottom right of the page to save the package
Step 5. Click the "Up Level" button in the top right to go back to the charging destinations page
Step 6. Now its time to import the CSV file downloaded from the link at the top of this section. All you need to do is tick the "Agree to replace ALL destination costs" button and then click browse to select the downloaded CSV file. Once its selected simply click on "OK" to import the destination costs
And done! All the destinations should be added in now, there should be 42 entries in total.
So now any VoIP Organisations that have this Charging Plan assigned will get free Local, National and Mobile calls without you having to mess around with entering everything manually.
So your next steps would be to create your VoIP Organisations and start creating VoIP extensions!
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