Feature Types

Feature types categorise the services and add-ons you sell, such as line rental, voicemail, bundled minutes or hosted extensions. They control where a feature can live, what it charges for, and the contract terms that go with it. Every feature on the platform belongs to a feature type.

Overview

A feature type is a template. When you add a feature to a customer or a number, the feature picks up defaults from its feature type: the transaction type for one-off charges, the transaction type for recurring charges, the carrier, the transaction code and the contract term rules. You can override any of these on the individual feature, but the feature type gives you sensible starting points.

Feature types also decide where a feature can be attached: at customer level, number level or service level. Trying to add a feature in the wrong place is blocked by the platform.

Where Feature Types Are Used

• Features inherit their transaction defaults and term settings from the feature type. See Features.
• Standard features use feature types as their category, so the same defaults apply to standard features that get rolled out across customers.
• Fixed fee tariff rates can be filtered by feature type, so a rate only applies to line rental, voicemail and so on. See Fixed Fee Tariffs.
• Invoices group and sort feature charges using the feature type’s invoice name and position.

Key Fields

Identification

Basic identification information for the feature type including unique identifiers and linking.

No fields defined for this section.

Feature Type Details

Core feature type configuration including name, availability, customer product associations, and seat designation settings.

Transaction Details

Default transaction configuration for features of this type, including transaction codes, types, and carrier assignment.

Invoice Details

Settings that control how features of this type appear on customer invoices, including display names, positioning, and visibility rules.

Term Details

Contract term configuration including renewal periods, minimum terms, committed terms, and notice period requirements.

Feature Type Validity

Rules determining where features of this type can be applied - either at customer level, number level, or both.

System Information

A few groups of fields deserve extra notes.

Transaction Defaults

The Default One-Off Transaction Type and Default Recurring Transaction Type are the two fields that link feature types to transaction types. They seed every new feature of this type: the one-off type is used for charges like connection fees, and the recurring type is used for ongoing monthly service. Setting both is what lets the platform automatically assign the correct type to each charge, whether the charge is added when the feature is created or later during daily processing.

The Default Transaction Carrier is only used when the feature itself doesn’t specify a carrier.

Validity

On Customer, On Number and On Service decide where features of this type can be attached. A single feature type can permit more than one level. Trying to add a feature in a place the type does not allow is blocked by the platform.

Term Settings

Renewal, minimum term, committed term and notice period each take a length and a unit (days, weeks, months or years). These flow through to new features so customer-facing cancellation rules stay consistent without having to set them per feature.

Relationship with Transaction Types

Feature types and transaction types work together. A feature type says “this is line rental, and line rental charges should be raised as Monthly Service (recurring) or as Connection Fee (one-off)”. Those two transaction types then decide:

• how the charges are grouped and labelled on the invoice,
• which accounting code they carry, and
• which carrier they default to when the feature itself does not specify one.

If you find yourself adding lots of feature types just to get different invoice labels, consider whether a new transaction type would handle the difference instead.

Managing Feature Types

Listing Feature Types

Go to Main Menu > Settings tab > Feature Types. The list shows active types with a running count of features and active features.

Adding a New Feature Type

1. Open the Feature Types list.
2. Click “Add Feature Type”.
3. Set the name, invoice name and position.
4. Set the one-off and recurring transaction types.
5. Choose where features can live (customer, number, service).
6. Set the contract term rules if they apply.
7. Save.

Editing a Feature Type

Changes to defaults only affect new features (or features that explicitly re-pick defaults). Existing features keep the settings they already have so historic billing is preserved.

Retiring a Feature Type

Once a feature type has been linked to features (or referenced from standard features or tariff rates), the platform won’t let you delete it. Set the availability to Historic instead. Existing features continue to reference the type, but it no longer appears in pickers for new features.

Deleting an Unused Feature Type

If a feature type has never been used, you can delete it outright:

1. Open the feature type from the list.
2. Click Actions menu > Delete Feature Type.
3. Confirm the deletion.

If any feature, standard feature, or tariff rate still references the type, the action is blocked and you’ll see a message explaining why. Retire it with the Historic availability instead.

Access

Users need the Feature Types permission to view or edit feature types. Assign it through the usual user or user group permissions.

Related

• Transaction Types — the one-off and recurring defaults come from here.
• Features — features inherit from the feature type.
• Fixed Fee Tariffs — use feature types as rate filters.
• Standard Features — reusable features that share a feature type.