2016-12 Julius Erving Release Notes

Overview

As we approach the end of the year, the PTT team wanted to squeeze in one last iteration for our Clients. We have had a very busy year building out the framework for our new Tasks system (coming in 2017!) as well as making large leaps in closing the gap between Traditional products and Integrated Products. As we look back and reflect, we also wanted to provide our Clients with better tools to monitor TBS activities including CDR and Billing growth. Be sure to check out the new Data Insight Charting Dashboards described below to learn more about the new visual tools we are rolling out to help keep your team and system running smoothly!

 

General TBS - Enhancements & Bug Fixes

Data Insights

It is amazing how much stored information it takes for our clients to successfully service their customers needs. It is imperative that our system store and supply the preferences and activities for each account so that clients can offer up the best service possible. The TBS system is backed by a robust database engine that house upwards of 600 GB of data for a single client that is used to fuel the system and generate invoicing. While this data is used on a daily basis for customer support and service, it can also provide greater meaning and lead to a "bigger picture" that can sometimes not be viewed when looking at individual accounts or even an individual bill run.

PTT has been working over the last year to analyze this stored data and work with the clients to better understand how we can offer greater insight to our clients. With this release, we have rolled out new Dashboards available from the Home screen that will hopefully provide your team with greater insight into the daily activities of data processing the system is providing. This is also an excellent way to spot trends (good or bad) and bring to light any issues (i.e., missing CDR files) early on so they can be remedied immediately.

The Data Insights – CDRs tab shows usage related information that is updated daily after the import process is finished. The charts offer looks into what is going on from a usage perspective within the client’s data.

Usage By Carrier

This chart shows how much revenue your usage has within our Daily Call Data database aggregated by Carrier.

Imported Call Records By Date

This chart shows how many call records were imported on that date. This is not the time of the calls within the file itself, but rather, information on how many call records were imported by TBS on a given date.

Files Imported By Date

The Files Imported by Date chart shows how many files per day TBS imports in our daily process. This chart is primarily for those clients who receive daily feeds to be able to identify eronious import amounts and get information on how many files TBS is importing.

Both the Call Records by Date and Files Imported by Date charts pull from the TBS file manager and reset after each bill run.

Call Records by Status

This shows the amount of minutes we have for each status within our process. If there is a rating issue, TBS designates an alternate status that explains what the issue was with the given call record. This charts goal is to give an overall summary of how many are currently rating versus how many could potentially rate.

Unbilled Calls By Date – Past 30 Days

This shows an amount of calls per day within the past 30 days of today’s date. The dates given are the dates the actual call was made by the end user. This pulls from our Daily Call Record table and may have fluctuations based upon when a bill run was as this chart shows only unbilled calls.

55163 - Security Code on the Customer Portal

There are two methods that can optionally be used to verify a customer's identity when they call customer service: a security code or security questions. Previously, only the security questions displayed on the Customer Portal to be maintained by a customer. This has been changed to now allow one or both of these options to display on the Customer Portal.

There are two new settings at the customer Base level: Use Security Questions and Use Security Code. These drive which section will display on the customer portal to be managed by the Customer.

The Security Code appears on the Customer Information screen and the Security Questions & Answers appear on the Custom Fields screen. Internal users will always see both security question/answer and security code sections. Additionally, if a customer has a security code, a notification will always appear for internal users when pulling up that customer. This used to be driven by a custom application setting that no longer exists and now applies to all Client instances. Please note: Neither of these are used by TBS as part of the web login authentication process.

85712 - Add "Agent Director" dropdown list

A new drop down list was added to the Agents maintenance screen to indicate the internal user that is in charge of overseeing that agents activity.

Agent Director Field on Agents:

The drop down list is filled with any Users marked with the new "AgentDirector" user type. Other than showing up in the new drop down list the new "AgentDirector" user type will work the same as the existing "Employee" user type.

New Agent Directory User Type:

100895 - Toll Free Call Surcharge

A toll-free database surcharge field has been added to Long Distance rate plans. This new field will allow clients to charge a surcharge for any incoming calls made to an 8XX phone number tied to this plan. This will act as a per call surcharge and not consider any duration.

103498 - Invoice Viewer Taxes & Fees - Remove Priority column

The Invoice Viewer, Taxes and Fees section included a internal-use field (Priority) that caused confusion for clients and end users. This field has been removed from the Invoice Summary display for all users.

96477 - Customer Forms: Now Available on the Customer Portal

Within the Download Forms toolset, Clients can make documents (aka Forms) available on the customer portal. This is useful for ACH Authorization forms, or other types of documents that customers should be able to download themselves. Clients can make these forms available on the customer portal by making the Form visible in the Customer Forms Submenu Item. Additionally, these documents/forms can be setup to only show for a particular Customer Group if desired.

This setting will cause a new Forms menu to show on the Customer Portal for any files set to show in the Customer Forms section name. The menu will dynamically build based on the Page Headings setup.

100062 - Terms Admin Screen Development

The administrative screen to manage Terms has been upgraded. This admin screen can be found on the Setup Menu -->Customer Settings -> Terms.

Terms are currently used on the Customer Information screen and at the Product level.

Terms Grid - Shows all sets of Terms available for Customers or Products.

Add New Terms - Add a new set of terms to be used on the Customer Information or Products screen.

98310 - Bug Fix: Transaction Posting Search by Invoice Number Not Working on Subs

The Transaction Posting page allows users to find accounts by using Invoice Number.

A minor bug was fixed that caused the Invoice Number search to fail for Corporate Sub Account Invoices.

105054 - Bug Fix: Trouble Ticket Tree Cut Off Date

The Trouble Ticket Tree has a Cut Off date to help filter old/closed tickets from the Tree View. A bug causing TBS to not display old, open tickets has been corrected.

In the Tree View, all "Open" tickets are displayed along with an"Closed" tickets with an entry date after the Cut Off Date filter.

102579 - Bug Fix: Download Forms File Manager IE Issues

The Download Forms File Manager Administration tool would not allow some Internet Explorer (IE) users to upload files. The issue was caused by the way IE provides the source file path and name to TBS. A small code change has been made to address this situation.

Traditional Products - Enhancements & Bug fixes

63648 - Adding Location to All Product Grids

Location Code and Location Description have been added to many traditional product grids that didn't have one or the other previously.

Integrated Products - Enhancements & Bug Fixes

98908 - Add Wireless to Integrated Product

Initial support for Wireless services has been added for Integrated Product clients. This product type will still use the underlying Voice Auxiliary information, however a Line Type selection of "Cellular" will provide access to additional Wireless auxiliary information such as Mobile Identification Number, Electronic Serial Number, Name, Make & Model and PIN.

103554 - Add Code Table Index field to Voice Aux

An Account Code Table ID field has been added to the Products_AuxVoice table for voice type products and backfilled from the LongDistance table when appropriate.

Additional Data Insight Charts & Reports

Billed Amount Per Category

This chart shows the amount billed per invoice category for the past month of billing. The chart looks at the last month of billing and records results for any bill runs within that same month. Per example, if you had a 1st of the month bill run and a 20th of the month bill run, after the 20th run is completed the chart will show a combined summary for both bill runs. The list view shows more detail by showing every bill run TBS has data for filtered by customer.

Average Growth – Past 3 Months

This chart takes the average growth over the span of 3 months and averages it out to show an overall trend in company growth. An example of the logic is as follows:

  • January to February Growth = 1%
  • February to March Growth = 3%
  • March to April Growth = 5%
  • Average Percent Growth = 1% + 3% + 5% = 9% Divided by the 3 month span = 3%

A green up arrow will be presented if this number is positive or 0. A red down arrow will be presented if this number is negative.

Customer Churn

The customer churn chart takes advantage of TBS data to show a company how many customers they’ve had signup and disconnect within the past 30 days. This will then give them a difference of a positive or negative number and produce an appropriately facing arrow.

Customer Retention

This report simply shows the average time a customer will stay with your company’s services before disconnecting.

Products Per Location and Revenue Per Location – Top 5

Both of these charts show information divided by state. If the company has international customers, the X axis will show ‘International’ instead of a state abbreviation. The products per location chart shows the 5 highest product counts for each state. The revenue per location looks at the last month of billing and shows the top 5 states with the highest revenue. The list view for both of these reports shows all locations.

97902 - Carrier Term Dates

Three new fields to contain carrier term information have been added to the carrier section on Charge and Plan records.

103553 - REST Service date comparison bug

TBS enforced date constraints on Customers, Products, and Charges. For example a Charge cannot have an Active Date before the Product (or Customer) Active Date. Likewise, a Charge cannot have a Disconnect Date after the Product (or Customer) Disconnect Date.

I minor bug with this logic has been corrected in the REST Service.

Release Database Changes

Database Changes

These are the differences that will be made to your existing database when upgrading to version 30.00.

TBS Database

IMPORTANT: The following database names will change

  • CallData will be phased out. Please use [CompanyName]CallData for any data lookups

 

The following fields will be dropped:

  • DropDownGroupItems.DropDownItemsKey
  • DropDownGroupItems.ItemValue
  • DropDownGroupItemsView.DropDownItemsKey
  • DropDownGroupItemsView.ItemValue
  • FileTransferGroupJobs.FileTransferGroupMembersKey
  • rtWirelessDataPlans.Modified
  • rtWirelessDataPlans.ModifiedBy
  • rtWirelessDataPlans.ModifiedDate
  • rtWirelessDataPlans.DeletedFlag
  • rtWirelessMMSPlans.Modified
  • rtWirelessMMSPlans.ModifiedBy
  • rtWirelessMMSPlans.ModifiedDate
  • rtWirelessMMSPlans.DeletedFlag
  • rtWirelessMobileToMobile.Modified
  • rtWirelessMobileToMobile.ModifiedBy
  • rtWirelessMobileToMobile.ModifiedDate
  • rtWirelessMobileToMobile.DeletedFlag
  • rtWirelessNWPlans.Modified
  • rtWirelessNWPlans.ModifiedBy
  • rtWirelessNWPlans.ModifiedDate
  • rtWirelessNWPlans.DeletedFlag
  • TaskPriority.TaskTypeGroupsKey
  • TaskPriorityView.TaskTypeGroupsKey
  • TaskPriorityView.TaskTypeGroup
  • Tasks.ShortDescription
  • Tasks.ShortResolution
  • TaskTypeAssignmentGroups.TaskTypeGroupsKey
  • TaskTypeAssignmentGroupsView.TaskTypeGroupsKey
  • TaskTypeAssignmentGroupsView.TaskTypeGroup
  • TaskTypeGroups.LkStatusGroupsKey

 

The following fields will be altered:

  • -- DropDownGroups.Description CharacterMaximumLength (2000 -> 100), IsNullable (False -> True)
  • -- DropDownGroupsView.Description CharacterMaximumLength (2000 -> 100), IsNullable (False -> True)
  • -- DropDownGroupsView.TaskTypeGroup IsNullable (False -> True)
  • -- lkTerms.Description IsNullable (True -> False)
  • -- lkTerms.YearsToAdd IsNullable (True -> False)
  • -- lkTerms.MonthsToAdd IsNullable (True -> False)
  • -- rtIntraRates.State IsNullable (False -> True)
  • -- rtIntraRatesView.State IsNullable (False -> True)
  • -- rtLDPlans.MexicoMinIncr IsNullable (False -> True)
  • -- rtLDPlans.MexicoAddIncr IsNullable (False -> True)
  • -- rtLDPlansView.MexicoMinIncr IsNullable (False -> True)
  • -- rtLDPlansView.MexicoAddIncr IsNullable (False -> True)
  • -- rtPackages.RBOC CharacterMaximumLength (1 -> 6)
  • -- rtPackagesView.RBOC CharacterMaximumLength (1 -> 6)
  • -- rtWirelessDataPlans.RateCode IsNullable (True -> False)
  • -- rtWirelessDataPlans.Description IsNullable (True -> False)
  • -- rtWirelessMMSPlans.RateCode IsNullable (True -> False)
  • -- rtWirelessMMSPlans.Description IsNullable (True -> False)
  • -- rtWirelessMobileToMobile.RateCode IsNullable (True -> False)
  • -- rtWirelessMobileToMobile.Description IsNullable (True -> False)
  • -- rtWirelessNWPlans.RateCode IsNullable (True -> False)
  • -- rtWirelessNWPlans.Description IsNullable (True -> False)
  • -- rtWirelessSMSPlans.RateCode IsNullable (True -> False)
  • -- rtWirelessSMSPlans.Description IsNullable (True -> False)
  • -- rtWirelessVoicePlans.RateCode IsNullable (True -> False)
  • -- rtWirelessVoicePlans.Description IsNullable (True -> False)

 

The following tables will be added:

  • CommissionsElements
  • CommissionsHeirarchyView
  • CommissionsMethods
  • CommissionsPlanDetails
  • CommissionsPlans
  • CommissionsPlanSelectors
  • CommissionsPlanTiers
  • CommissionsSetDetails
  • CommissionsSets
  • CommissionsTransactions
  • CustomersToAgents
  • FileTransferGroupJobsView
  • FileTransferGroupsView
  • FileTransferJobsView
  • lkNPANXXOverrides
  • TaskPriorityGroups
  • TaxSafeHarborOverrides

 

The following fields will be added:

  • AccountCodesView.LocationDescription
  • Agents.ParentAgentsKey
  • Agents.AgentID
  • Agents.CommissionsPlansKey
  • Agents.AgentDirectorT4UsersKey
  • AgentsView.AgentDirectorT4UsersKey
  • AgentsView.AgentDirector
  • BillingDefinition.ParentBillingDefinitionKey
  • CommentsView.AssociatedID
  • CommissionsElements.CommissionsElementsKey
  • CommissionsElements.CommissionsMethodsKey
  • CommissionsElements.Name
  • CommissionsHeirarchyView.AgentsKey
  • CommissionsHeirarchyView.CustomersKey
  • CommissionsHeirarchyView.LocationsKey
  • CommissionsHeirarchyView.ProductsKey
  • CommissionsHeirarchyView.DetailsKey
  • CommissionsHeirarchyView.lkdetailskey
  • CommissionsHeirarchyView.PlanKeyToUse
  • CommissionsHeirarchyView.CommissionsMethodsKey
  • CommissionsHeirarchyView.ProductClass
  • CommissionsHeirarchyView.accountnumber
  • CommissionsHeirarchyView.corpaccountnumber
  • CommissionsHeirarchyView.Name
  • CommissionsHeirarchyView.ProductID
  • CommissionsHeirarchyView.DetailID
  • CommissionsMethods.CommissionsMethodsKey
  • CommissionsMethods.Name
  • CommissionsPlanDetails.CommissionsPlanDetailsKey
  • CommissionsPlanDetails.CommissionsPlanTiersKey
  • CommissionsPlanDetails.CommissionsSetsKey
  • CommissionsPlanDetails.FlatAmount
  • CommissionsPlanDetails.PercentAmount
  • CommissionsPlans.CommissionsPlansKey
  • CommissionsPlans.CommissionsMethodsKey
  • CommissionsPlans.Name
  • CommissionsPlanSelectors.CommissionsPlanSelectorsKey
  • CommissionsPlanSelectors.CommissionsPlansKey
  • CommissionsPlanSelectors.CommissionsSetsKey
  • CommissionsPlanSelectors.Name
  • CommissionsPlanSelectors.NewRevenue
  • CommissionsPlanSelectors.NewRevenuePeriod
  • CommissionsPlanSelectors.Priority
  • CommissionsPlanTiers.CommissionsPlanTiersKey
  • CommissionsPlanTiers.CommissionsPlanSelectorsKey
  • CommissionsPlanTiers.CommissionsSetsKey
  • CommissionsPlanTiers.Name
  • CommissionsPlanTiers.LowerRevenueBoundary
  • CommissionsSetDetails.CommissionsSetDetailsKey
  • CommissionsSetDetails.CommissionsSetsKey
  • CommissionsSetDetails.CommissionsElementsKey
  • CommissionsSets.CommissionsSetsKey
  • CommissionsSets.Name
  • CommissionsTransactions.CommissionsTransactionsKey
  • CustomersToAgents.CustomersKey
  • CustomersToAgents.AgentsKey
  • CustomersToAgents.CommissionsPlansKey
  • Details.CommissionsPlansKey
  • Details.CarrierTermStartDate
  • Details.CarrierLkTermsKey
  • Details.CarrierTermEndDate
  • DropDownGroupItems.DropDownGroupItemsKey
  • DropDownGroupItems.Disabled
  • DropDownGroupItemsView.DropDownGroupItemsKey
  • DropDownGroupItemsView.Disabled
  • DropDownGroups.TaskTypesKey
  • DropDownGroupsView.TaskTypesKey
  • DropDownGroupsView.TaskType
  • FileTransferGroupJobs.FileTransferGroupJobsKey
  • FileTransferGroupJobsView.FileTransferGroupJobsKey
  • FileTransferGroupJobsView.FileTransferGroupsKey
  • FileTransferGroupJobsView.FileTransferJobsKey
  • FileTransferGroupJobsView.GroupName
  • FileTransferGroupJobsView.JobDescription
  • FileTransferGroupJobsView.Host
  • FileTransferGroupsView.FileTransferGroupsKey
  • FileTransferGroupsView.GroupName
  • FileTransferJobsView.FileTransferJobsKey
  • FileTransferJobsView.JobDescription
  • FileTransferJobsView.LocalFolderFullPath
  • FileTransferJobsView.RemoteFolderFullPath
  • FileTransferJobsView.MatchRegularExpression
  • FileTransferJobsView.GetFiles
  • FileTransferJobsView.SendFiles
  • FileTransferJobsView.DeleteFilesAfterTransfer
  • FileTransferJobsView.Recursive
  • FileTransferJobsView.UseModifiedFiles
  • FileTransferJobsView.OverwriteFiles
  • FileTransferJobsView.MoveSentFiles
  • FileTransferJobsView.EarliestModifiedDate
  • FileTransferJobsView.Testing
  • FileTransferJobsView.MonthsOfLogsToKeep
  • FileTransferJobsView.FileTransferCredentialsKey
  • FileTransferJobsView.Host
  • FileTransferJobsView.Port
  • FileTransferJobsView.Username
  • FileTransferJobsView.Password
  • FileTransferJobsView.FileTransferMethod
  • FileTransferJobsView.Passive
  • FileTransferJobsView.ExtendedPassive
  • FileTransferJobsView.PreventClearControlChannel
  • IntegratedCareCodesView.PathFileName
  • IntegratedCareCodesView.CustomerAccountNumber
  • lkBaseInfo.UseSecurityCode
  • lkBaseInfo.UseSecurityQuestions
  • lkNPANXXOverrides.NPANXX
  • lkNPANXXOverrides.OCN
  • lkNPANXXOverrides.OCNNAME
  • lkNPANXXOverrides.CITY
  • lkNPANXXOverrides.STATE
  • lkNPANXXOverrides.SWITCH
  • lkNPANXXOverrides.ZONE
  • lkNPANXXOverrides.MSA_NAME
  • lkNPANXXOverrides.Local_RBOC
  • lkNPANXXOverrides.LD_RBOC
  • Locations.CommissionsPlansKey
  • MetricActions.ConditionalParameter
  • MetricActions.ConditionalParameterValue
  • MetricActions.ConditionalParameterOperator
  • MetricActionsView.ConditionalParameter
  • MetricActionsView.ConditionalParameterValue
  • Notes.EscalationLevel
  • NotesView.EscalationLevel
  • ProductCombinedView.CommissionsPlansKey
  • ProductCombinedView.FirstBillingDate
  • ProductCombinedView.LastBillingStartDate
  • ProductCombinedView.LastBillingEndDate
  • ProductCombinedView.AccountCodeTableId
  • ProductCombinedView.MobileIdentificationNumber
  • ProductCombinedView.ElectronicSerialNumber
  • ProductCombinedView.WirelessPIN
  • ProductCombinedView.MakeAndModel
  • ProductCombinedView.WirelessName
  • ProductForms.TaskTypesKeyForTroubleTickets
  • Products.CommissionsPlansKey
  • Products.FirstBillingDate
  • Products.LastBillingStartDate
  • Products.LastBillingEndDate
  • ProductsAux_Voice.AccountCodeTableId
  • ProductsAux_Voice.MobileIdentificationNumber
  • ProductsAux_Voice.ElectronicSerialNumber
  • ProductsAux_Voice.WirelessPIN
  • ProductsAux_Voice.MakeAndModel
  • ProductsAux_Voice.WirelessName
  • ProductsView.TaskTypesKeyForTroubleTickets
  • ProductsView.CustomerName
  • rtLDPlans.TollFreeDatabaseSurcharge
  • rtLDPlansView.TollFreeDatabaseSurcharge
  • T4CompanyMaster.SMTPServer
  • T4CompanyMaster.SMTPServerPort
  • T4CompanyMaster.SMTPServerSupportsSSL
  • T4CompanyMaster.SMTPUsername
  • T4CompanyMaster.SMTPPassword
  • T4CompanyMaster.SMTPDefaultFromAddress
  • T4CompanyMaster.SMTPRedirectAddress
  • T4CompanyMaster.SMTPRequestDeliveryNotifications
  • TaskPriority.TaskPriorityGroupsKey
  • TaskPriorityGroups.TaskPriorityGroupsKey
  • TaskPriorityGroups.Description
  • TaskPriorityView.TaskPriorityGroupsKey
  • TaskPriorityView.PriorityGroup
  • Tasks.CarrierAssignedID
  • Tasks.ShortDescriptionDropDownGroupItemsKey
  • Tasks.ShortResolutionDropDownGroupItemsKey
  • TasksView.ShortDescriptionDropDownGroupItemsKey
  • TasksView.ShortResolutionDropDownGroupItemsKey
  • TaskTypeAssignmentGroups.TaskTypesKey
  • TaskTypeAssignmentGroupsView.TaskTypesKey
  • TaskTypeAssignmentGroupsView.TaskType
  • TaskTypes.TaskPriorityGroupsKey
  • TaskTypes.LkStatusGroupsKey
  • TaskTypes.EnableLocationsTab
  • TaskTypesView.AssociatedTableName
  • TaskTypesView.StatusGroup
  • TaskTypesView.TaskPriorityGroupsKey
  • TaskTypesView.PriorityGroup
  • TaskTypesView.EnableContactInfoSection
  • TaskTypesView.EnableLocationsTab
  • TaskTypesView.EnableAux_QuoteRequests
  • TaskTypesView.SuccessfulAddMessage
  • TaskTypesView.EnteredBy
  • TaskTypesView.EnteredDate
  • TaxSafeHarborOverrides.TaxSafeHarborOverridesKey
  • TaxSafeHarborOverrides.SafeHarborType
  • TaxSafeHarborOverrides.OriginalValue
  • TaxSafeHarborOverrides.OverrideValue
  • TraditionalProductsView.ProductTableCodeAndKey