Managing Numbers

Overview

A number is the record that receives usage charges. Most numbers are telephone numbers, but the same record also covers SIP channels, broadband lines and any other service that produces call detail records (CDRs, the usage records your carriers send). Each number belongs to one customer, carries its own tariffs, and holds a call plan: the feature that lets it receive usage charges.

Billing administrators and support agents use this guide for day-to-day number work. For every field, and step-by-step instructions for each action, see the Numbers reference.

This guide shows you how to:

• Add numbers, one at a time or as a range
• Change a number, including its type and tariffs
• Move a number to another customer
• Control which calls match a number and how they are priced
• Fix calls that are missing, on the wrong number or at the wrong rate

Quick start

Most common tasks

Add a number -> Customer page > Add menu > Number Add a range of numbers -> Customer page > Add menu > Number, leave Number blank and use the Numbers box Find a number -> SmartSearch in the left-hand menu Drop a number -> Number page > Actions menu > Drop Number Reinstate a number -> Number page > Actions menu > Reinstate Number Move a number to another customer -> Bulk import with the Number Migrate file type

Adding numbers

Before you start

What you need:

• The customer the number belongs to, already set up
• The number exactly as your carrier sends it in CDRs. A sample CDR is the most reliable source.
• The tariffs agreed with the customer, if they differ from the customer’s defaults
• The date usage billing should start
• Any recurring charges, such as line rental, that start with the number

Search for the number with SmartSearch first. A number entered twice on different customers causes calls to match the wrong record, or to appear as billing errors.

Add a single number

1. Open the customer who owns the number.
2. Go to Add menu > Number.
3. If you have saved default values for this type of service, load them from Default Values > Load. See Managing Default Values.
4. Enter the Number as it should appear on invoices.
5. Set the Number Type. For UK numbers, “Auto Detect” works out the type from the number. Choose the type yourself for international numbers.
6. Check the tariffs. Any left blank use the customer’s defaults.
7. Set the Calls Start Date if usage billing should start on a date other than the Date Sold.
8. Add up to two recurring or one-off charges in the charge section, or turn on full feature entry for up to ten.
9. Click Save.

The platform creates the number, its call plan and any charges you entered, then shows the number’s page.

The Calls Start Date decides which calls the number picks up. Set it to the date the service goes live with the carrier, not the date you enter the number. Calls before that date do not match the number, which keeps test calls off the invoice. Calls that arrive before the date are reported under Out of Date Call Plans, where you can bill them if they should be charged.

Add a range of numbers

Use bulk entry for several similar numbers on the same customer, such as a DDI range.

1. Open the customer and go to Add menu > Number.
2. Load default values if you have them, and set the shared details: type, tariffs, dates and charges. These apply to every number in the batch.
3. Leave Number blank.
4. Set Bulk Number Addition Mode to match what you are entering, for example “Number only” or “Number and Description”.
5. Enter one number per line in the Numbers box. Separate extra columns with commas or tabs, so you can paste from a spreadsheet.
6. Click Save.

The platform lists every number it created. Open two or three to confirm the tariffs, dates and charges before the first billing run.

For example, with Bulk Number Addition Mode set to “Number and Description”:

02012345600,Main Reception
02012345601,Accounts
02012345602,Sales

To add numbers across several customers, or with different settings per number, use a bulk import file instead.

Changing a number

Open the number and click Edit. Use the Update Reason dropdown and Update Details field to record why you made the change, so it shows in the number’s history.

Some changes have their own action because they affect charges already raised:

• Number type: use Actions menu > Switch Number Type (Expert Mode, Low level or above). It changes the type and recalculates feature charges from the Feature Change Date. It also re-rates calls on unapproved invoices from the Call Change Date. Leave a date blank to apply the change to all unapproved invoices.
• Status: use the actions in Stopping and restarting billing, not the Status field.

Changing a number’s tariffs sets the rates used for calls rated from then on. To re-rate calls that have already been rated, use the Process Retail button on the billing error reports.

You cannot change which customer a number belongs to. To move it, see Moving a number to another customer.

Moving a number to another customer

A number’s Customer cannot be changed on the edit form. To move numbers, for example after a business sale, use a bulk import file with the Number Migrate file type. It works for one number or many.

Each row names the number and the two accounts:

Column	Contains
From Account	The losing customer’s account number
Number	The number to move. Add an Extension column if needed.
To Account	The gaining customer’s account number
Call Charges Switch Date	The first day calls bill to the gaining customer
Service Charge Switch Date	The first day recurring charges bill to the gaining customer
Notes	Optional text for the note added to the new number

Use Switch Date instead of the two switch date columns if both dates are the same.

For each row, the platform:

• Creates a copy of the number on the gaining customer
• Copies the number’s call plan and features to the new number, starting on the switch dates
• Ends the originals on the day before each switch date
• Drops the old number with the status reason “Number Transferred To Different Account”
• Adds a “Migrated Number” note to the new number

Calls and charges before the switch dates stay with the losing customer, and the old number keeps its history. Check the gaining customer’s tariffs after the move: the copied number keeps its own tariff settings, while any tariff left blank now inherits from the gaining customer’s defaults.

Stopping and restarting billing

Each of these actions is on the number’s Actions menu. The Numbers reference has the full form for each.

Action	Use it when	Effect on charges
Drop Number	The customer no longer needs the number	Drops all its features. Charges up to the drop date are billed; anything billed beyond it is refunded.
Reinstate Number	A dropped number comes back	Reinstates the features dropped with it from the Reinstate Date, adding back-dated charges if that date is in the past.
Suspend Number	Service is paused	Stops recurring charges. Usage charges still apply.
Unsuspend Number	The pause ends	Back-fills the recurring charges missed while suspended.
Make Number Non-Billable	The number should not be invoiced for now	Automated billing runs skip the number. Charges still build up.
Make Number Billable	Billing should resume	Back-fills missed recurring charges.

These actions change billing only. Ceasing or reconnecting the line with your carrier is a separate step, unless your carrier is connected through a provisioning API (see Carrier actions).

Reinstate Date defaults to the date billing stopped, which bills the customer for the whole gap. If the line was genuinely out of use, move the date forward to the day it came back. The features reinstated with the number start from the same date.

If the whole customer is leaving, drop the customer instead. That drops every number and feature on the account in one action. See Managing Customers.

Carrier actions

Two actions send instructions to your carrier rather than changing billing. They appear only when the number’s line carrier is connected through a provisioning API, and only in Expert Mode.

• Divert Number sets where the carrier routes calls to the number. Enter the destination in Divert To and choose a Divert Reason. You need Expert Level Standard. Diverting to an international number (starting 00) needs High.
• Allocate Number asks the carrier to allocate the number to your account. You need Expert Level High.

Neither action changes the number’s charges. Bill any diversion charge as a feature.

How calls match a number

When the platform imports CDRs, it matches each call to a number before pricing it. If a call does not match, it does not reach an invoice. It appears in the billing error reports instead.

The number itself. The number in the CDR must match the Number field. Spaces and hyphens are ignored, so “020 1234 5678” matches “02012345678”. Other differences are not: “+442012345678” does not match “02012345678”.

Alternate CDR numbers. If a carrier sends the number in a different format, add that format as an Alternate CDR Number. A number can hold up to four. This lets you keep a readable number on the invoice while matching the carrier’s format. It also covers a number that arrives from two carriers in different formats.

Extensions. With the extension billing module active, a number with an Extension matches only calls carrying that extension. A number with the extension left blank is a catch-all: it picks up every extension that is not on another number. To itemise some extensions and group the rest, add the itemised extensions as their own numbers and leave one catch-all for the others. The extension must match the CDR exactly, so “201” does not match “x201”.

Dates. A call matches only if it falls within the active dates of the number’s call plan. These run from the Calls Start Date (or Date Sold) to the drop date.

Traffic you do not bill

Some calls on a number are expected but never billable, such as the leg of a call your carrier does not charge for. The ignore traffic actions add the number to the ignore list, so those calls stay out of the error reports:

• Ignore Traffic on Unbilled Legs appears when a number or alternate CDR number bills only one leg of a call (A or B). It ignores traffic on the other leg.
• Ignore Traffic on Unbilled Carriers appears when the number’s call allocation restricts billing to one carrier. It ignores traffic from the other carrier.

You can also choose an Ignore Traffic Number Type when you drop a number, for calls that keep arriving after the line has gone. Ignore traffic number types are set up in Call Configuration.

How calls are priced

The platform prices each matched call using the first tariff it finds: on the feature, then the number, then the customer’s defaults, then a default tariff for the carrier and number type. See the tariff resolution chain for the detail.

For example, a customer agrees 1.5p per minute for UK national calls, but 1p on their main switchboard. Set 1.5p in the customer’s default tariffs, and set the 1p tariff on the switchboard number only.

Where a tariff has no rate for a call type, Per-Class Markup prices the call as a percentage over cost. Fallback Markup catches anything still unpriced at billing time. Both can be set on the customer and overridden on the number. See Rating priority.

Discount plans apply on top of the tariff, for inclusive minutes or percentage discounts.

How numbers appear on invoices

Description appears next to the number on invoices and in the portal. Keep it short, such as “Main Reception”, because long descriptions wrap on the invoice.

Site groups numbers on the invoice, with a subtotal for each site. Use it for offices, departments or cost centres that the customer recognises. Numbers with no site appear together in one section.

Expected Spend records the monthly spend you expect from the number. It is for reference: the platform does not raise an alert when usage exceeds it.

Troubleshooting

Calls are missing from the invoice

1. Open the billing error reports and find the number.
2. Check which section it appears in:
   • Unrecognised Numbers or Loose Matches: the number is not in the platform, or is in a different format. Add the number, or add the carrier’s format as an Alternate CDR Number.
   • Out of Date Call Plans: the calls fall outside the call plan’s dates. Correct the Calls Start Date if it was wrong, or bill the calls from the report.
   • Unbillable Numbers: the number belongs to a customer whose account is closed.
   • Unmatched Calls: a carrier or call-direction restriction on the number stopped the match.
3. After correcting the number, click Process Unallocated to reprocess the calls.

If a carrier changes its number format for many numbers at once, add the new format as an alternate with a bulk update rather than one number at a time.

Calls are on the wrong number

This usually involves extensions. Check that:

• The specific extension exists as its own number and its call plan covers the call dates. If not, the catch-all number picks the calls up.
• The Extension value matches the CDR exactly.

Features did not end when the number was dropped

Drop Number drops every active feature on the number. A feature that is still billing was usually changed separately: its end date was edited by hand, or it was added after the drop. Open the feature and drop it with its own Drop Feature action. See Managing Features.

Calls are priced at the wrong rate

1. Open one of the calls and note which tariff priced it.
2. Work through the tariff resolution chain: feature, number, customer, default tariff. The first tariff found is the one used, so a tariff set on the number overrides the customer’s.
3. Check whether a discount plan should have applied.
4. Correct the tariff at the right level, then re-rate the calls with Process Retail on the billing error reports.

For charges already on an approved invoice, raise a credit. See Credits and Refunds.

Recalculating a number’s charges

Two actions recalculate all the recurring charges on a number at once, for example after correcting dates or prices:

• Reset and Rebill clears and recalculates unbilled charges. It is only available while none of the number’s active features has a charge on an approved invoice.
• Refund and Rebill refunds approved charges and rebills them. It needs Expert Mode, Low level or above.

Deleting a number

Delete a number only if it was entered by mistake, such as a duplicate. Deleting removes the number and its history permanently.

You cannot delete a number that has charges on an approved invoice, or calls waiting to be billed. Drop it instead: a dropped number keeps its history for reports and queries.

See Deleting a Number for the steps.

Advanced users only: manual operations

Caution

Use the actions above wherever one exists. They update the number’s features and charges together. Editing the Status field directly in Expert Mode changes the number only, and leaves you to correct the features by hand.

Manual dropping

1. Edit the number.
2. Change Status to a dropped status.
3. Set the Dropped/Reinstated Date.
4. Click Save.
5. Check each feature on the number and drop any that are still active.

Manual reinstatement

The Reinstate Number action is the right way to bring a dropped number back. It sets the reinstate date, reinstates the features dropped with the number, and updates the status in one step.

If you must reinstate by hand:

1. Edit the number.
2. Change Status back to an active status.
3. Leave the Dropped/Reinstated Date filled in. Set it to the date billing and features should resume from.
4. Click Save.
5. Check each linked feature, and reinstate any that are still ended.

Caution

Do not clear the Dropped/Reinstated Date. The platform uses it to decide whether, and from when, to reinstate the features dropped with the number. If it is empty, the number shows as active but its line rental and other features stay ended, with no warning.

Moving the date forward is fine, and is the way to avoid billing for the time the number was out of use.

If features were missed because the date was cleared, run the Reinstate Feature action on each one with the correct start date.

Related guides

• Numbers reference: every field and action in full
• Managing Features: recurring and one-off charges
• Understanding Tariffs: how calls are priced
• Supplying CDRs: getting usage data into the platform
• Managing Customers: customer accounts