Setup of destinations
When you upload a CDR, Billingbooth will attempt to match each line item to a destination you have set up.
In Billingbooth, a destination handles the cost from your supplier, whilst also allowing you to set a base rate sell price.
The easiest to manage way of setting up destinations is to first create a fallback destination, and then create some headline destinations you have specific pricing for.
INFO
Alternatively, you may want to import all your destination pricing into Billingbooth in bulk. For this, see the Importing destinations section below. However, it's worth noting this would be for niche scenarios, for most resellers setting up destinations manually will mean less upkeep in the long run (see below).
Fallback destination
To charge a customer for voice, data or SMS, Billingbooth first and foremost needs to match a CDR line item to a destination you have set up.
When it comes to voice, a telecoms reseller in the UK will have customers that predominantly call UK landlines and UK mobiles, which we can set up specific destinations for easily enough, but what about the thousands of remaining voice destinations their supplier covers? For those, Billingbooth has fallback destinations.
The idea of a fallback destination is when Billingbooth is looking at a CDR line item, Billingbooth will check if the line item matches any of your specific destinations first and if it doesn't, it will match it to a corresponding fallback destination for the supplier if one exists.
To create one, simply check the Fallback option during the creation of a destination (see below).
Adding a destination
To get started setting up destinations, click the Voice, Data & SMS menu item in the left-hand navigation, then under the Destinations sub-menu click Voice, Data or SMS depending on the type of destination you wish to create.
This will take you to the corresponding listing screen which shows you all your current destinations for the selected type.
Click the Create Destination button at the top-right of the screen to proceed.
Step 1 - Details
General
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | The name of the destination, this will feature in any itemised statements you send to your customers. |
| Destination Type | The type of record this destination will match against. Either Voice (call records), Data (kilobytes/megabytes) or SMS (text messages). |
| Fallback | Checking this option will mean this destination will match anything from the supplier you select below, unless there is an exact charge code match with another destination from the supplier. |
Supplier
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Supplier | Select the supplier you wish to assign this destination to. |
| Use CDR description | When checked, if the supplier includes a name for the matched destination from the CDR, that name will be used instead of the configured destination name on this screen. |
Pricing
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Format | Select whether you wish to work with pounds or pence for this destination. |
Step 2 - Buy Price
Buy Price
TIP
If you're creating a fallback destination, leave Use Supplier Pricing checked as the fallback will cover too many variable costs to allow for one manually entered value.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Use Supplier Pricing | If checked, instead of specifying the cost prices to use for this destination, Billingbooth will use the costs from the CDR line item instead. |
Cost Per Call/Connection Fee
INFO
This option only appears if Use Supplier Pricing is unchecked and if Destination Type is Voice.
These fields detirmine the one-off cost a call will make at Peak, Offpeak, Weekend Peak and Weekend Offpeak times.
When a call successfully connects, this fee is charged by your supplier to you, the reseller.
Cost Per Minute/Megabyte/Message
INFO
This option only appears if Use Supplier Pricing is unchecked.
These fields determine the per unit (minutes/megabyte/message) cost at Peak, Offpeak and Weekend Peak/Offpeak times.
This is the per-minute cost from your supplier to you, the reseller, for this destination.
Non-Geographic Call Service
INFO
This option only appears if Use Supplier Pricing is unchecked and if Destination Type is Voice.
These options are only for NGCS destinations.
NGCS destinations will feature a per minute fee comprised of two parts: Access Per Minute and Service Per Minute.
They will also feature a Service Per Call fee, which you can think of as a connection fee.
WARNING
The Service Per Minute and Service Per Call fees are fixed by Ofcom. These values should always be left as is from your supplier.
Other
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Minimum Charge (if Destination Type is Voice) | Should the overall call cost less than the minimum charge amount specified here, the minimum charge will be applied instead of the overall cost. |
| Start Charging After (if Destination Type is Voice or Data) | After the specified amount of seconds have passed, the per minute values associated to this destination will kick in. |
| Round Up To | By default this is set to round up to the nearest second. If, for example, you wished to round calls up to the nearest minute, you'd enter 60 into this field. |
Step 3 - Sell Price
Sell Price
Step 3 allows you to specify sell prices for a destination.
TIP
If you're creating a fallback destination, leave Use Supplier Pricing checked as the fallback will cover too many variable costs to allow for one manually entered value. We can adjust sell prices using, which you can learn about with our Price Adjustments article.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Use Supplier Pricing | If checked, instead of specifying the sell prices to use for this destination, Billingbooth will use the costs from the CDR line item instead. |
Cost Per Call/Connection Fee
INFO
This option only appears if Use Supplier Pricing is unchecked and if Destination Type is Voice.
These fields detirmine the one-off cost a call will make at Peak, Offpeak, Weekend Peak and Weekend Offpeak times.
When a call successfully connects, this fee is charged by you, the reseller, to your customer.
Cost Per Minute/Megabyte/Message
INFO
This option only appears if Use Supplier Pricing is unchecked.
These fields determine the per unit (minute/megabyte/message) cost at Peak, Offpeak and Weekend Peak/Offpeak times.
This is the per-minute cost from you, the reseller, to your customer for this destination.
Non-Geographic Call Service
INFO
This option only appears if Use Supplier Pricing is unchecked and if Destination Type is Voice.
These options are only for NGCS destinations.
NGCS destinations will feature a per minute fee comprised of two parts: Access Per Minute and Service Per Minute.
They will also feature a Service Per Call fee, which you can think of as a connection fee.
WARNING
The Service Per Minute and Service Per Call fees are fixed by Ofcom. These values should always be left as is from your supplier.
Other
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Minimum Charge (if Destination Type is Voice) | Should the overall unit cost less than the minimum charge amount specified here, the minimum charge will be applied instead of the overall cost. |
| Start Charging After (if Destination Type is Voice or Data) | After the specified amount of seconds have passed, the per minute/megabyte values associated to this destination will kick in. |
| Round Up To | By default this is set to round up to the nearest second. If, for example, you wished to round voice calls up to the nearest minute, you'd enter 60 into this field. |
Step 4 - Charge Codes
INFO
If you're creating a fallback destination, you don't need to enter any charge codes and can simply continue by creating the destination.
In most scenarios, charge codes will be how you tell Billingbooth to match a CDR line item to a destination you've created. In rare cases, a supplier may use dialling prefixes instead.
You can think of a charge code like a unique ID that your supplier assigns each destination. Due to the fact it's supplier specific, the format of a charge code will also be specific to that supplier. Some suppliers may re-use the plain-text description of the destination, others may use a numerical ID.
TIP
It's always worth asking your supplier if they can send you a full rate sheet. This will likely be in CSV format and contain the costs for every single destination they cover, including the charge code.
To add a charge code, you can use the charge code field to the top-left of the charge code listings table followed by the Add button.
To add multiple charge codes, you can click the Add Multiple button, then in the modal window that pops up, enter one charge code per line. Once done, click the Add charge codes button.
The filter field at the top-right of the listings, allows you to filter the list of charge codes you have for this destination.
To delete the entirety of added charge codes against this destination, click the Delete All button.
Once you're done, all that's left is to click Create destination, which will create the destination and take you back to the listings screen or click Create destination & edit, which will create the destination and then go to the corresponding Edit screen for the destination.
Importing destinations
When you upload a CDR, Billingbooth will attempt to match each line item to a destination you have set up.
In Billingbooth, a destination handles the cost from your supplier, whilst also allowing you to set a base rate sell price.
The easiest to manage way of setting up destinations is to first create a fallback destination, and then create some headline destinations you have specific pricing for. To learn how, follow our Adding a destination guide
Alternatively, you may want to import all your destination pricing into Billingbooth in bulk. However, it's worth noting this would be for niche scenarios, for most resellers setting up destinations manually will mean less upkeep in the long run (see below).
Downloading the destination import template
To get started setting up destinations, click the Voice, Data & SMS menu item in the left-hand navigation, then under the Destinations sub-menu click Voice, Data or SMS depending on the type of destination you wish to create.
This will take you to the corresponding listing screen which shows you all your current destinations for the selected type.
Click the Import Destination button at the top-right of the screen to proceed.
See below for a breakdown of the columns:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Dialling Prefix/Charge Code | The unique ID for this destination. Commonly this will be a charge code rather than a dialling prefix. Ask your provider for a full rate sheet, which should indicate if they use charge codes or dialling prefixes. |
| Group (Optional) | If you've created Destination Groups within Billingbooth, you may choose to assign this destination to one of them via this drop-down menu. |
| Description | The customer-friendly description of the destination. e.g. UK Geographic |
| Buy Price Uses Supplier Pricing | If you want Billingbooth to use the buy prices from CDR files for this destination, select Yes from the drop-down list. |
| Buy Price Minimum Charge (£) | If there's a minimum charge from your supplier for this destination. |
| Buy Price Connection Fee (£) | If there's a connection fee from your supplier for this destination. |
| Buy Price Peak Per Minute (£), Buy Price Offpeak Per Minute (£), Buy Price Weekend Peak Per Minute (£), Buy Price Weekend Offpeak Per Minute (£) | These fields cover the costs from your supplier for the associated time periods for this destination. |
| Buy Price NGCS Access Charge Per Minute (£) (Optional) | The buy price for the first component of an NGCS number. |
| Buy Price NGCS Service Charge Per Minute (£) (Optional) | The buy price for the second component of an NGCS number. This value is fixed by Ofcom. |
| Buy Price NGCS Service Connection Fee (£) (Optional) | The buy price for the third component of an NGCS number. This value is fixed by Ofcom. |
| Buy Price Start Charging After (seconds) | If your supplier waits an amount of seconds before charging for this destination, enter the amount of seconds here. |
| Buy Price Round Call Up To (seconds) | If your supplier rounds up the call to a specified amount of seconds (e.g. rounding up to a minute would be 60 seconds), specify the seconds here. |
| Sell Price Uses Supplier Pricing | If you want Billingbooth to use the buy prices from CDR files as the sell prices for this destination, select Yes from the drop-down list. |
| Sell Price Minimum Charge (£) | If you wish to specify a minimum charge for a CDR line item utilising this destination or increase the minimum charge from your supplier for this destination. |
| Sell Price Connection Fee (£) | If you wish to specify a connection fee for a CDR line item utilising this destination or increase the connection fee from your supplier for this destination. |
| Sell Price Peak Per Minute (£), Sell Price Offpeak Per Minute (£), Sell Price Weekend Peak Per Minute (£), Sell Price Weekend Offpeak Per Minute (£) | These fields cover the sell prices for the associated time periods for this destination. |
| Sell Price NGCS Access Charge Per Minute (£) (Optional) | The sell price for the first component of an NGCS number. |
| Sell Price NGCS Service Charge Per Minute (£) (Optional) | The sell price for the second component of an NGCS number. This should match the buy price as it is fixed by Ofcom. |
| Sell Price NGCS Service Connection Fee (£) (Optional) | The sell price for the third component of an NGCS number. This should match the buy price as it is fixed by Ofcom. |
| Sell Price Start Charging After (seconds) | If you wait an amount of seconds before charging for this destination, enter the amount of seconds here. |
| Sell Price Round Call Up To (seconds) | If you round up a call to a specified amount of seconds before charging for this destination, enter the amount of seconds here. |
Uploading the destination import template
Once you've filled it in and saved the file, you're then able to either drag the file onto the File field on the Bulk import destinations screen or instead click the File field and browse to the file on your computer.
Specify the relevant supplier using the Supplier dropdown menu.
You can use the Aggregate by description field to consolidate destinations in your import file that have the same description. This will merge the line items into one singular destination for that description, which uses all the relevant charge codes/dialling prefixes.
Once done, click the Upload button, doing this will have Billingbooth first take a look at your file.
If any errors are picked up with your file, Billingbooth will cancel the upload process and inform you what the errors are. You'll need to ensure your file is error-free to upload the destinations.
Otherwise, if all is clear, you'll get a modal window pop up to let you know the upload was successful before being taken back to the Destinations listing screen.