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Allocating Equipment
Costs with GCAS
In addition to supplying Web reporting
for the Telecom Billing System, one of the benefits
to having the Enhanced package of the OTM TBS is access
to the General Cost Allocation System and the Consolidated
Reports System. The GCAS package allows the user to
allocate additional charges other than the standard
Nortel CDR that is processed in the TBS. Examples include
equipment costs, Internet charges, cell phone and pager
charges, and rent monies. The CRS package provides additional
reports to combine the phone charges in the TBS with
the extra charges defined in the GCAS. Figure
1 shows GCAS and CRS as they appear in the
OTM System window tree. Note that these features
are not included with the General package of TBS.
Figure 1.
The text below details how to define
an equipment cost charge in GCAS, and how to run the
CRS report that will combine it with the standard TBS
charges.
1. From the System window as shown
in Figure 1, open the GCAS module.
There are three types of billing methods that appear
in the main GCAS window. They are: Quantity-Based
Billing, Time-Based Billing, and Destination-Based
Billing. Quantity-Based Billing has quantitative
amounts and unit charges such as equipment costs. Time-Based
Billing has start times and duration such as Internet
usage. Destination-Based Billing has direction, route,
source and destination information for items such as
cellular phones or pagers. Each billing method is similarly
configured.
The example uses Quantity-Based
Billing as shown in Figure 2. Highlight
it and right-click. Then, select New Bill Type.
In the Properties tab, rename the Billing
type as shown in Figure 3. Then, in
the Identify Bill Party by box, choose
a Billing Key as shown in Figure
4. The default is by extension number. Click
on the ellipsis to view other options. The extension
number is a good key because it directly relates to
the entries in the Employee Directory which is common
to the TBS, Station Administration and GCAS modules.
When finished, click the Save button.
Figure 2.
Figure 3.
Figure 4.
2. After saving the Billing Type
definition, a Records tab will appear
as in Figure 5. Create Equipment Cost
records for extensions by right-clicking and choosing
Add.
Figure 5.
By clicking on the Apply/New
button in the Record Editor as
shown in Figure 6, you can add many
records quickly. Use the Total Cost box
for adding the Equipment Cost. When finished, click
OK.
Figure 6.
3. Provided that you have a properly
configured and working TBS module, with records collected
and costed, return to the System Window as shown in
Figure 1 and launch the CRS to run
a report that will include all charges. When opened,
the following screen in Figure 7 will
appear.
Figure 7.
In the left pane, you can choose
between a detail and summary report. The example selects
the Entity Detail Report. Highlight,
right-click, and proceed to Select Subreport(s).
The screen in Figure 8 will appear.
The Available Applications pane will
show the applications that have available data. Use
the arrows to move the applications over to the Selected
Applications pane. Then click the OK
button to take you back to the main CRS screen.
Figure 8.
Next, click on the ellipsis next
to the Filter box in the Entity
Detail Report File section
to create a filter for the report as in Figure
9. Many times this will be a monthly report
so click on the Bill Date tab and enter
a range of dates in the From and To
sections. Also, use the Organization
tab to select the departments that you want to have
included in the report. The example shows an entire
division, Schaumburg, as being selected.
When finished configuring the
filter, click the OK button, and return
to the CRS screen in Figure 10. Use
either the Print or Schedule icon to run the report.
Figure 9.
Figure 10.
The figures below show a sample
of the report for extension 7800. Figure 11
shows the GCAS Equipment Cost of $25.00 while
Figure 12 shows the TBS portion for
$9.00. Figure 13 shows the combined
CRS total cost of $34.00.
There are many other ways to configure GCAS to allow
you to define and assign extra costs. With a little
practice it is easy to adapt the software to meet your
requirements.
Figure 11.
Figure 12.
Figure 13.
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