Searching for Customers and Provider Orders and Creating New Provider Orders

You can search for existing provider orders for an account, using appropriate search criteria. However, you need to identify the account first. As well as the regular search criteria such as first name and last name, you can also search for an account using the contract ID, order ID, or telephone number.

Then select one of the provider orders found for further processing, as far as it is editable.

From the search screen, you can create a new provider order, or even a new customer.

Order Entry and Entry of Additional Technical Data

As well as customer data and product data, you can enter additional information in the provider order that is necessary for the sale and subsequent operation of the service. You can determine what additional information should be entered with the provider order, and adapt it to the requirements in your company. In the telecommunications industry, technical connection data such as telephone number or SIM card number is entered in the provider order. The entry of such data enables you to perform a simple search for provider orders in the interaction center, using a telephone number, for example.

Entering Product Data

In a provider order, you can use products and services that are modeled for the special sales process of provider services. The following interlinkage types are available for this product modeling:

These interlinkage types supplement the previous options for product modeling, which is based on the relatively complex modeling of configurable products, among other things. They therefore offer enhanced functions for product determination within order management and contract management. The interlinkage types are defined in the processing of the respective product, and you can assign appropriate components. In this way, products such as activation fees or accessories can be assembled in an enhanced product model for a product bundle. They can also be automatically included in the appropriate documents in all order processing and contract processing.

This means that you can assemble flexible packages, and yet design fixed product sets. The simplest form of this new product model is a package, which can consist of a service contract (rate plan), required hardware, and (for strategic marketing reasons) added extras. This product set is realized using the sales component interlinkage type.

The package is only relevant in the order entry process. In a provider contract, which results from a provider order created with the package, only contract-relevant parts of the package are transferred. As a rule, only the service contract (rate plan) is transferred. You can influence the explosion of the package in order entry, using appropriate attributes of the interlinkage types. The interlinkage type dependent component enables you to define product relationships via attributes, in which you can formulate conditions that control the explosion of products in the provider order. The product is only created in the provider order when all conditions are fulfilled. You use this interlinkage type for fees that accrue due to contract changes for products in the provider contract, for example. You can also use the rate plan combination interlinkage type. This involves a set combination of rate plans without further dependencies. If they are sold combined, and you want to offer additional products in a package as incentives, you can then offer a special price for rate plans. The individual rate plans result in a provider contract with individual document items.

Enhanced Status Management

Provider order processing is controlled using appropriate system statuses. These inform you of the processing status of the respective provider order items or provider contract items. You control the subsequent processes in the processing of provider orders and provider contracts, for example, the distribution of data to external systems, or contract change processes. Each status informs you, at main item level and subitem level, that a certain status has occurred, and determines which step can be performed next.

Only one status is active at a time. If a subsequent status is set, the previous status is deleted. The higher-level status is used for the processes in the provider order and provider contract, to determine permitted follow-up transactions. Appropriate actions can only be executed when the provider sales transactions have certain statuses.

You can save the provider order. It then has the status Open. You can still change the provider order when it has this status.

When you confirm the provider order in the dealer application or submit it in the interaction center, the system automatically creates a provider contract, based on the information in the provider order. All contract-relevant data from the provider order is copied to the provider contract. The provider order simultaneously receives the status In Activation, which means that the provider order is distributed to the external systems. You can no longer change the provider order when it has this status.

If the provider order was distributed, that is for example, if an external system returns the message that the SIM card was activated, the provider order has the status Completed.

These statuses are also available for subitems. Even if only one of the subitems has the status In Activation, you can no longer change the provider order.

At main item level, a higher-level status is also displayed, which is determined depending on the status of the subitems. A higher-level status is always determined for the different statuses of the individual subitems. This higher-level status gives you information about the general activation process.

The following functions are also available in status management:

Further functions supported by the provider order include: