Overview #

A fixed charge in ISI represents a recurring cost that is applied to users on a regular schedule (typically monthly). These charges are commonly used to allocate predictable, ongoing telecom costs to users, departments, or cost centers. In ISI, fixed charges are scheduled and repeatedly applied as part of normal billing and chargeback reporting.

Typical examples include:

• Monthly phone or extension fees
• License costs (Teams, Webex, Cisco, etc.)
• Recurring service fees
• Fixed equipment costs per user

A one-time charge in ISI represents a non-recurring cost that is applied once and is not repeated in future billing periods. These charges are typically used to capture setup, change, or exceptional costs tied to a specific event, rather than ongoing service.

Typical examples include:

• Phone activation or provisioning fees
• Moves, Adds, or Changes
• Installation or setup charges
• One-off adjustments

Configuring Charges #

 

Creating the Pool #

The Fixed and One-Time Charge Pools contains a user-created list of information related to equipment or features and their respective charges.

An admin can add a new charge or edit an existing fixed charge by,

1. Navigate to the Infortel Classic dashboard. 
2. Select the Administration button at the top of the page. 
3. Select Directory from the resulting dropdown menu. 
4. In the top right corner of the Directory interface, click the gear icon to access the Configure Fixed Charge Pool, or Configure One Time Charge Pool, depending on the type of charge needing to be configured. 

Fixed Charges

To add a charge to the Fixed Charges Pool:

1. Click the Add button (+) at the top left of the page to add a new fixed charge.
2. In the Description text box, enter a description for the charge, e.g., Phone.
3. In the Code text box, add the code for the charge.
4. In the Amount text box, enter an amount for the charge.
5. In the Accrual Schedule section, indicate how the fixed charge will be accrued by selecting from the Monthly, Weekly, or Daily options.

One-Time Charges

To add a charge to the Fixed Charges Pool:

1. Click the Add button (+) at the top left of the page to add a new fixed charge.
2. In the Description text box, enter a description for the charge, e.g., Phone.
3. In the Code text box, add the code for the charge.
4. In the Amount text box, enter an amount for the charge.

Charge Pool Notes:

• The description and code must be unique and cannot be a duplicate of a previous entry.
• You can also add a charge as a credit by making the amount a negative number.

Editing a Charge #

To edit a Fixed or One-Time Charge,

1. Navigate to the applicable Charge Pool.
2. Click the Edit button in the row of the charge you want to edit. The Edit Fixed Charge dialog box will then appear.
3. Make the changes (all fields can be edited), and then click the save icon at the top right to save them.

Charge Assignments #

Once fixed charges and one-time charges have been added to their respective pools, they must be assigned to users. Charges are user-based only, meaning that charges must be assigned to a user to show in reports.

To assign a charge to a user,

1. Navigate to the Directory.
2. Locate the user you’d like to assign a charge to.
3. Select the Edit button.
4. Make appropriate assignments by following the instructions per charge type below.
5. Click the Save button to save the entry.

Fixed Charges:

1. From the Edit screen, find the Fixed Charges section with the Profile menu.
2. Press the Add button (+) to add the relevant charges.

Once a charge has been chosen from the Description list, it cannot be changed without deletion. Importantly, a charge must also have an Active-On date set for the charge to become active in the system. The Active On date determines when charges begin accruing.

• If you leave the text box blank, the charge will begin accruing from the beginning of its accrual schedule.
  • For example, if a charge has a monthly accrual schedule, and the charge is assigned in the middle of the month, the charge will still begin accruing from the beginning of the month.
• If you want to specify when the fixed charge will become active, enter the date in the Active On text box, or click inside the Active on field column and using the calendar that is displayed specify a date. The charge will be pro-rated for monthly and weekly charges the first time it is calculated.
  • For example, if a charge has a monthly accrual schedule, and the charge is assigned in the middle of the month, the charge is prorated and the person is charged only from when the charge is assigned. The person will be charged the full amount in subsequent months.

One Time Charges:

1. From the Edit screen, find the One Time Charges section within the Profile menu.
2. Press the Add button (+) to add the relevant charges.

When adding a One-Time Charge to a user, you can either enter custom charge information into the corresponding text boxes, or press the hamburger menu button to select a charge from the One-Time Charges pool.

If entering custom charge information manually, the following information should be filled out:

• Date: In this column, enter the date that the One-Time charge will take effect (required field).
• Description: In this column enter the description for the One-Time charge (required field).
• Code: In this column you can enter a code that is assigned to the One-Time charge (optional field).
• Quantity: In this column, enter the amount of the One-Time charge that will be assigned to the person (required field).
  • Click the up arrow to increase the amount of the charge assigned to the person
  • Click the down arrow to decrease the amount of the charge assigned to the person
• Unit Charge: In the Unit Charge column, specify how much the one time charge costs per item. The charge can be 0.
• Extended Charge (non-editable field): This column displays the cost per unit of the One-Time charge multiplied by the number of units assigned to the person.
• Comment: In this column you can enter a comment relevant to the One-Time charge, (optional field).

The bottom of the screen provides information pertaining to Total Charges.

Note: To assign additional one time charges to a person click on the Add One Time Charges button , and a new row will appear, at the top of the One Time Charges grid.

Deactivating a Charge #

Fixed Charges:

To deactivate a fixed charge for a user, you can do one of two things:

• Setting the Expires On date will deactivate a charge.
• If you set the charge Quantity to 0 and save the change, the charge will be removed from the user altogether.

One-Time Charges:

To deactivate a One-Time charge for a user, press the X button next to the charge you’d like to remove.

Note: You can also delete the Fixed/One-Time charges from their respective pools. However, doing so will remove that charge from every user that has that particular charge assigned to them. Exercise this option with care.

Reporting on Charges #

Found within the Infortel Classic reporting engine, there a few shipped report templates that allow reporting on Fixed or One-time charges.

Classic – Tenant Billing Report

This customizable report summarizes the total cost billed to each tenant or organizational entity. Upon selecting the report, you have the option to summarize the data by:

• Directory Organizational Level(s)
• Owner Names

Classic – Tenant Billing by Organization

This report appears as an invoices and provides a summary of calls and charges to tenants or organizational entity with multiple extensions and tenants per billing account.

Classic – Organizational Detail or Summary Report

This report identifies call summary by person or organization, providing the total count, duration and cost per call type. This report also includes Fixed Charges.

Classic – Projected Charges Report

This report is used to project the future cost of the fixed and one-time charges assigned to people. This report provides the following static fields:

• Charge Type
• Charge Code
• Description of the Charge
• Charge Date
• Quantity
• Unit Cost
• Total Cost