Companies and Account Onboarding (FT-1005.001)

About this document

Scope

This document provides background information as well as a functional description of the FT-1005.001 Companies and Account Onboarding standard feature. The described feature is supported from the release version 4.0 onwards.

Note

Companies and Account Onboarding is a standard feature and does not require a special license.

This feature is part of the Account Onboarding & Provisioning functionality with number FN-1021.

Feature Availability

Feature Version	Available from	Summary of changes
v1	CMP Release 4.0	Initial release
v2	CMP Release 5.2.1	Project introduced
v3	CMP Release 5.2.5	Company Lookup Tool introduced Invoice Net Cost Threshold added Invoice Periodicity added

Feature overview

Goals

The aim of the Companies and Account Onboarding feature is to allow the creation of Companies and Accounts in CMP and prepare them to start IoT business operations in the CMP by provisioning resources to the Account that are necessary for it.

Functionality of the feature

Companies, Accounts, and Sub-Accounts

Company: A Company is a legally required base from which all other billable entities can be created.
Account: An Account belongs to a Company. Generally, Accounts represent the whole or a sub-division of a Company.
Sub-Account: A Sub-Account belongs to a Parent Account. The form and function of a Sub-Account are identical to an Account and share the Billing Profile of the Parent Account, however, they are often reduced in the scope of operations and possess fewer Access Rights.

Difference between Sub-Accounts and Groups (Org. Units)

Sub-Accounts

are set and controlled by the Service Provider,
share the same billing details as the Parent Account,
can have a subset of the resources (APN Groups, Price Plans, etc.) assigned,
can have SIMs moved between Account and Sub-Account, and
can have Users assigned only to the Parent or Sub-Account.

Example use: Service Provider wants to structure an Account in order to limit resources to specific Sub-Accounts (e.g. “East Coast” SIMs can’t be put onto “West Coast” Price Plans).

Groups (Org. Units)

are created by the Enterprise and are out of the control of the Service Provider,
share all the resources assigned to the Account (APN Groups, Price Plans, etc.),
can have SIMs moved between Groups, and
can have Users assigned only to a specific Group.

Example use: Enterprise is a reseller and each Group aligns to one of their customers.

Account Status

Accounts can be transferred between different statuses throughout their lifecycle in the CMP.

The table below describes the dependencies between the Account’s current status and its Sub-Accounts’ allowed status.

Account Status	Sub Account - Allowed Status	Notes
Draft	Draft
Lead	New, Lead
Active	New, Lead, Active, Suspended, Terminated	Once the (Parent) Account is in the Active state, Sub-Accounts can progress through the Account Lifecycle independent of the Parent Account
Suspended	New, Lead, Suspended, Terminated	When the Parent Account is Suspended, all Active Sub-Accounts have to be suspended. Sub-Accounts in other status do not change, however they cannot be made Active.
Terminated	Terminated	All Sub-Accounts are also terminated.

Account Onboarding - Stages

Create Company

As the first step of onboarding an Account into CMP, a Company has to be created. Creating a Company is quick and simple so Users can easily move on to the creation of more detailed Accounts.

Either an existing Company can be assigned to the Account or details of a new Company can be defined during the Account creation process.

Minimum details required to create a Company:

Name
Type
Phone Number
Address (Country, City, Street, Number)

There are a number of optional fields including email, homepage, and so on. Typically the Company Registration Number, VAT Number, and/or Tax Number are also entered for every Company.

Company Lookup Tool

Note that the Company Lookup Tool is only available in case the CMP instance is configured accordingly.

CMP can integrate into external regulatory and/or governmental services to request Company sensitive but publicly available details.

The Company Lookup Tool allows Users to look up Company details from regulatory and/or governmental services so those details can be automatically entered into specific GUI fields, preventing issues caused by incorrectly provided Company information.

By using the regulatory and/or governmental services, the user who is using those services through CMP accepts any regulatory and service level agreements and confirms that CMP is authorized to use them in his name.

CMP is acting as a proxy only and MAVOCO AG is not responsible for any issues caused by using those services. Found data are presented “as is” and provided with best knowledge on the given service format.

Create Project

Note:

Projects are only available in case the related configuration is enabled in the CMP instance.

A Project is an additional layer between a Company and an Account in the CMP.

One Company can have multiple Projects, each with multiple Accounts. If a Project is a Single Bill Project, all its Accounts will be Single Bill Accounts.

Create Account

Users can either create

a standard Account, or
a Reseller Account.

Reseller Accounts have the ability to create their own Customers, Price Plans, and Products, as well as invoices for each Customer.

Note that the creation of Reseller Accounts is only possible in case the respective feature is enabled in the CMP instance.

A standard Account can be either

a Master Account with full billing details, or
a Sub-Account with shared billing details inherited from the Parent (Master) Account.

Note that Sub-Accounts can only be created in case a (Parent) Account already exists in CMP.

The following tables list all the details that can be defined for an Account at creation. Information that is mandatory is marked by an asterisk.

Account Profile

Name	Name to identify the Account.
External Account Number	For use in reference to the Account outside of the CMP context. Any combination of alpha and numerical characters is accepted.
Report Retention	Retention period for CMP generated reports.
Application Types	Application Types are a group of labels that can be applied to an Account as a description of the manner in which this Account and its subscriptions will be used.
Device Types	Device Types can be applied to Accounts as a description of the physical devices in which the Account's subscriptions will be used.
Additional Options	Custom Account Support Blacklisted
Additional Notes	Any additional information regarding the Account.
Account Custom Field	Account Custom Fields can be created for a specific CMP instance deployment.
Invoice Net Cost Threshold	Defines the minimum net summary costs an Account has to serve in a Billing Cycle in total to trigger an Invoice generation. Note: The specified value has to be positive and not zero, in order to trigger the threshold. Any negative (i.e., smaller than zero) summary of all costs within a Billing Cycle always trigger an Invoice, regardless of its amount.

Contacts & Shipping

Contacts & Shipping tab allows Users to

define a Primary and optionally an Alternative Shipping Address of the Account, or assign an already existing Address (e.g. Company Address), and
define or assign already existing Contacts to the Account.

Billing Profile

Billing Profile includes

Billing Details,
Payment Details,
Billing Address, and
Invoice Details.

Billing Details

Accounting Group	Defines currency, tax, invoice template, and invoice number (range). Additionally, the Accountin Group defines the Invoice Periodicity of the Account. The Invoice Periodicity is the periodicity of issuing any costs for related Accounts, where any costs from nonissue month will just be moved forward to the next month. The available options for Invoice Periodicity are Monthly, Quarterly, Half-Yearly, and Yearly.
Billing Cycle	Defines on which day billing starts each month (1-28).
Billable	Defines whether the Account is to be billable. For example, demo Accounts can be set to non-billable.
Expected Activations
Maximum Credit Limit	User-defined Credit Limit, which applies as an Account limit for the whole Account hierarchy and can be changed during the life of the Account. A Sub-Account will inherit its Parent Account's Credit Limit.
Cost Center	Information (number) on an invoice to help sort charges and enter the invoice into a financial system/software.
Generate Invoice with zero VAT	Defines whether invoices are created without VAT included.

Payment Details

Note that the following information is only relevant in case the CMP is being used for invoice generation and payment processing.

Payment Method	Pay Slip: Payment will be handled manually by the customer. Direct Debit: Payment will be issued automatically by the provided international Bank Account details. SEPA: Payment will be issued automatically by the provided (SEPA) Bank Account details. SEPA is the Single Euro Payments Area.
Payment Target	Defines when the invoice shall be paid.

Billing Address

Billing Address section allows Users to define a Billing Address of the Account or assign an already existing Address (e.g. Company Address).

Invoice Details

Note that the following information is only relevant in case the CMP is being used for invoice generation and payment processing.

Invoice Delivery	Determines the delivery method of the Account's invoices. Email Hardcopy Email & Hardcopy E-Invoice
Email	Email address to which the invoice shall be sent.
Invoice Format	Defines if the invoice should be standard or formatted to service a Reseller.
E-Invoice Format	Format of e-Invoice. Note that the field is only visible in case Invoice Delivery method E-Invoice is selected and the available options might vary, beased on the integration of the given platform.
Invoice Language	Defines the language used in the Invoice. Currently supported languages: English Spanish Portuguese Note: CMP supports English as a default language, any additional language is available as an optional feature. Only languages licensed on the CMP instances will be available for selection as the language of the invoice.

Account Settings

General Account Settings

Rating Type	Retrorated: When Price Plan subscriptions are added after the beginning of a Billing Cycle, MRC will be adjusted and added to an invoice at the end of a Billing Cycle. Prorated: MRC will be adjusted and immediately added to an invoice when Price Plan subscriptions are added after the beginning of a Billing Cycle.
Prepaid Renewal Mode	Defines if any Prepaid Price Plan should automatically renew (either once Expired or Usage is consumed).
Default Billing Status	Initial Billing Status for all SIM, when assigned to the Account. Possible values: Customer Inventory In Testing In Billing Suspended
Suspend Expiry Behavior	Determines whether the SIM transitions into In Billing, Retired, or Suspended after the Suspension Period is over. If Suspension Expiry Transition is set to Not Applicable, the Suspension Period is unrestricted and the Suspension Period (days) field remains invisible.
Maximum Suspend Period	Defines how many days a SIM Card can remain in Suspended state before transitioning to the next predefined state. The maximum length of the Suspension Period is 120 days. The field is only visible if Suspension Expiry Transition is set to In Billing or Retired.
MRC Charge Type	Defines how the MRC (Monthly Recurring Charge) should be charged. In Advance: Charge the MRC already for the current Billing Cycle. In Retrospect: Charge the MRC with the next Billing Cycle.
Usage Limit Override Behavior	Defines the SIM behavior, when the SIM reaches the monthly data limit, which is defined at the Platform. Note that a Usage Limit Override configured on SIM level overrides this Account setting. Disabled: Usage Limit applies according to the Price Plan configuration. Permanent: Usage Limit does not apply, even if configured at the Price Plan. Current Cycle: Usage Limit does not apply, even if configured at the Price Plan. Is reset automatically to Disabled when the next Billing Cycle starts.
Activation Charge Trigger	Determines when to apply an Activation Charge, which is only applied once per SIM. On Account Assignment: The fee is charged on assignment, regardless of the configured default SIM state (see field Default Subscription Status). On Subscription Activation: The fee is charged if SIM is assigned In Testing, In Billing, Billing Ready or Suspended, or if SIM transitions from Customer Inventory to In Testing. In Billing: The fee is charged when a SIM first reaches status In Billing. Note: Activation fee would never be applied if a SIM is moved from Customer Inventory to Retired and the Charge type was On Subscription Activation.
In Testing Next Status	Determines whether the SIM transitions into In Billing or Suspended after the test quota is used or the test time limit is passed.

The SIM Lifecycle configuration (i.e. Default Billing Status, Suspend Expiry Behavior, Maximum Suspend Period, and In Testing Next Status) determined by the General Account Settings defines a flow of statuses that describe the different stages of a SIM Card’s lifespan in CMP. Once assigned to an Account, the SIM will start in the SIM Billing Status defined in the Account settings, and the other SIM Lifecycle settings of the Account described above also have an effect on the behavior of the SIM.

The following diagram shows a simplified view of the SIM Lifecycle.

Remote Storage

Remote Storage allows Users to specify a remote location and access credentials to which CMP can push information, such as invoices or reports. Additionally, a mechanism to determine whether the Account will support Report Push via FTP is provided.

Create Contract

In case the Account Contract feature is enabled on the CMP instance, a Contract has to be created for each Account in CMP.

A Contract regulates the terms and conditions that apply between the operator and the customer; it serves as a framework for settings that have a commercial impact on the Account. After the Contract has been created the usable network resources and products are assigned to the Contract divided into Network Entitlements and Product Entitlements.

Assign & Create Resources and Set Up Defaults

To transfer out of LEAD status an Account must possess one default of each of the following resources.

APN Group: APN Groups are virtual entities that contain one or many APNs of any kind, i.e. there can be multiple static and/or dynamic APNs within an APN Group.
Service Profile: Service Profiles define the set of services that a SIM is authorized to use when it connects to a network.
Roaming Profile: Roaming Profiles encompass the permissions a SIM has to operate on networks other than its home subscriber network, therefore a SIM cannot connect to a mobile network that is not authorized by its Roaming Profile.
PricePlan: Price Plans define the prices and rates for network usage, that are applied in subscriber contracts with a Price Plan. Zone Price Plans define prices in a specified geographic Zone. Multiple Zones can be included in a Zone Price Plan, and the set of Zones is referred to as the Zone Model.
SIM Sales Product: SIM Sales Products represent a SIM Product with its defined size, technical aspects, optional branding, and the addition of a per-piece sales price.

Once the resources have been assigned to the Account, the assignments have to be activated and one resource of each category has to be set as default.

In addition, Security Profiles may be defined for the Account.

Security Profile: Security Profiles define a set of policies that are used to determine whether a specific network service is allowed or not for the SIM. The use of Security Profiles allows customers to prevent their SIMs from using data in unauthorized devices, sending/receiving SMS, and making/receiving voice calls to/from unwanted MSISDN.

Time Slice Configuration

Time Slices are predefined periods of a 24-hour day outlined by “from” and “to” timestamps (hours and minutes). Time Slice Configuration consists of one or multiple Time Slices.

Only Accounts that possess a default Price Plan, SIM Sales Product, APN Group, Service Profile, Roaming Profile, and have a Time Slice Configuration defined can transition into ACCOUNT status.

Restricted Access Control for Entitlements

Product and Network Entitlements can be configured to be available either at the Account and CSP level or restricted to CSP Users only. When changing entitlements (i.e., APN Groups, Service Profiles, Roaming Profiles, and Price Plans) or purchasing Supplemental Price Plans in the Enterprise Portal, CMP verifies the User's Context level to ensure compliance with these restrictions.

If a User has a Context Access Level of CSP, all active and available Entitlements are available, regardless of their configured Context Access Restriction.
If a User has a Context Access Level of ACCOUNT (or ACCOUNT-GROUP), all active and available Entitlements with a Context Access Restriction of Account are available only.

These rules also apply to batch updates and API changes, ensuring consistent enforcement across all platforms.

Assign Add Ons

On top of Price Plans, Add On products can be assigned to the Account. Add Ons cover extra services that fall outside of the scope of Price Plans.

CMP supports two types of Add On products:

Account Level Add On: Service and price apply to the entire Account (e.g. VPN fee, private APN fee).
SIM Level Add On: Service and price apply as an additional charge for each SIM in the Account (e.g. security package, optional support service).

Activate Account

Once the Account possesses all the resources required (as described above) to transfer out of LEAD status, it may be activated and begin IoT business operations.

Account Resource Provisioning

CMP allows Users to associate APN Groups, Service Profiles, Roaming Profiles, and Price Plans to an Account in order to

determine SIM settings when assigned to an Account and
control what the Account is allowed to use for example for self-care.

To begin IoT business operations in CMP, an Account must possess one default of each of these resources.

APN Group: APN Groups are virtual entities that contain one or many APNs of any kind, i.e. there can be multiple static and/or dynamic APNs within an APN Group.
Service Profile: Service Profiles define the set of services that a SIM is authorized to use when it connects to a network.
Roaming Profile: Roaming Profiles encompass the permissions a SIM has to operate on networks other than its home subscriber network, therefore a SIM cannot connect to a mobile network that is not authorized by its Roaming Profile.
Price Plan: Price Plans define the prices and rates for network usage, that are applied in subscriber contracts with a Price Plan. CMP supports two fundamentally different Price Plan models:
- Zone Price Plans define prices in a specified geographic Zone. Multiple Zones can be included in a Zone Price Plan, and the set of Zones is referred to as the Zone Model.
- Network Price Plans allow prices to be defined per Network for the usage of services over that Network.