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Release 6.44

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Overview

Enhancements and fixes to Aria functionality for this release are described below.

Production Release Date

3/2/2016

System Requirements

Supported Browsers

  • Firefox 39
  • Chrome 44
  • Internet Explorer 9, 10, 11

Java Settings

Java 7.0​​

Screen Resolution

1024 x 768 or higher

Application

Features

Fixes

API

Features

Fixes

Application Features

Automatic Application of Discount for Early Payment (DEV-5894)

This feature allows clients to configure a discount for their customers who pay the total balance on their bill early. Clients can define an early payment period and the discount on the bill when payment is received within that period. The discount appears on the bill as a "prompt payment discount" and is implemented as a cash credit transaction.

This feature also replaces the Net Terms payment method. Now, when a client is setting up an account, they can choose between payment methods, which are used for electronic payments such as credit card and ACH, and payment terms, which are used for non-electronic payments.

This feature is only available to users with the Finance role enabled in the Security section under Configuration.

Getting Here: Click Finance > Payment Terms > New

Values for this screen are as follows:

  • Name: Client-defined name for this payment term.
  • Description: Description of the payment term to be presented on customer-facing documents.
  • Account Group: Select one of the following from the drop-down menu.
    • All Accounts (default): Payment term applies to all accounts.
    • A group of accounts: Payment term applies to accounts in a specific payment group. If you select this option, a data entry window opens that allows you to specify a functional account group.
    • No accounts: Payment term is not applied to any accounts.
  • Days Until Due: Number of days from the invoice date when the payment is due. Allowable values are 0 to 999.
  • Discount: The percentage discount a customer receives for prompt payment. Allowable values are 1.0 to 100.
  • Discount Period (Days): Number of days after the invoice date when the customer is eligible to receive a discount. If you enter a value in the Discount field, then you must enter a value in this field. This value cannot be greater than the value in the Days Until Due field.

After you have saved a payment term, you can update only the Name, Description, and the functional account group to which it is assigned.

When assigning payment methods to a plan, you now see the following options, which allow you to specify either a payment method or payment terms.

This option is visible within an account's billing group and when creating a new plan, if the payment terms are available to a functional account group that is assigned to the billing group.

Backward Compatibility for Net Terms Payment Method (DEV-6595)

This feature allows clients who were previously using Net Terms payment methods to continue using them instead of the newly implemented Payment Terms. A client parameter, ALLOW_NET_TERM_PAY_METHOD can be set by Aria Customer Support that allows clients to continue using Net Terms as a payment method.

Map Unapplied Service Credits to GL Codes (DEV-5639)

This feature introduces client configurable reason codes for service credits. This allows you to assign specific general ledger codes per reason code and to limit the scope options available to the CSR when providing service credits to end customers. This is implemented with a new page that allows you to map reason codes for service credits to general ledger accounts. Unapplied service credits are shown in the Account Overview screen.

This feature is only available to users with the Finance role enabled in the Security section under Configuration.

Getting Here: Click Finance > Reason Codes > New

Values for this screen are as follows:

  • Name: Name of the reason code
  • Type: Type of credit associated with the reason code
  • Reason Code: The reason code you enter here, when used to apply a credit, determines the general ledger (GL) code(s) used. If you enter a debit GL code for the reason code, for example, it is used while the credit GL code is derived as the Accounts Receivable code from the invoice line item for the transaction. If you do not enter a specific debit GL code for the reason code, then the system derives both the debit and credit transactions from the invoice line items and earned/deferred revenue in revenue recognition.
  • Enable for CSRs: If checked, you can enable the following options for customer support representatives.
    • Allow time-based restrictions: If checked, the CSR sees choices for expiry, number of uses, or months.
    • Allow plan or service scope restrictions: If checked, the scope of individual plans and services are visible to the CSR in the create service window if this choice is selected.

Apply Service Credit to an Account

As part of this enhancement, the way you apply a service credit to an account has changed. Service credits and cash credits each have their own separate screen within an account.

Getting Here: Click Accounts > Search for and select an account > Payments & Credits > Service Credit > New

 

  1. Select the Master Plan Instance to which you are applying the credit.
  2. Enter the Credit Amount that you want to issue to the customer.
  3. Select the reason why you are issuing the credit to the customer from the Reason Code drop-down.
  4. Enter any additional information about the credit in the CSR Comments field (optional).
  5. Click the calendar icon next to the Initial Credit Date field to select the first date to issue the first credit to the customer.

    If you select Once for the Frequency field, this is the only date the credit is issued to the customer.

  1. Select one of the following options from the Expiration drop-down.
  • Months (from initial credit date): A Maximum applicable months input field displays. Specify the number of months from the initial credit date after which the service credit automatically expires. For example, if a service credit has an initial credit date of 12/15/2015, and you input a value of 2 (months), the service credit automatically expires at the conclusion of the two-month period, and any unconsumed service credits are cancelled at 12AM on 2/15/2014. If 2/15/2016 is the account's billing anniversary date, the service credit is applied to the invoice line items and then expires.
  • Specific Date: A Credit Expiration Date input field displays. Provide an exact date after which the service credit automatically expires (any unconsumed service credits are cancelled).

A message under Recent Comments on the Account Overview page displays upon expiration of the service credits, notifying you of the expired credit amount, credit ID, and date of expiration.

Aria automatically cancels any unconsumed service credits when an account reaches an expiration setting. Cancelled service credits display in the UI and API responses with a cancelled status. A nightly batch process automatically expires any unconsumed service credits on an account once their expiration dates pass.

  1. Select one of the following options from the Apply Against options.
  • Any charge: This option applies the credit to any charge generated for the customer.
  • A specific type of charge: A Plan field displays. You must select a plan or you receive an error when attempting to create the credit.
  1. Select a plan from the Plan drop-down. A subset of the plan’s services populates under a Select Service(s) section.
  • To apply the service credit proportionately across all services, keep the All Services check box (default) selected.
  • To apply the service credit to one or more specific services, check all applicable services under the Select Service(s) section.
  1. Add another plan (optional) by clicking the Add Plan hyperlink.

    You can remove a selected plan from this list at any time by changing the plan selection back to Select a Plan in the Plan drop-down.

  • A specific service type(s): An Eligible Service Types field displays. You must select at least one service type  or you receive an error when attempting to create the credit.
  1. Select a service code to which to apply the credit from the Service Code drop-down.

    If you do not select a service code, the credit is applied to any service in the selected plan.

  1. Select one of the following options from the Generation Frequency field.
  • Once: This option generates a single credit for the customer. This single credit remains in effect until it is fully consumed by future charges.
  • Multiple: This option generates multiple credits for the customer. When selecting this option, you can specify the number of credits and a time interval between credits.
    • Number of credits: Enter the number of times the credit should be applied to the customer's invoices.
    • Months between credits: Enter the number of months that should elapse between each time that the credit is applied to the customer's invoices. 
  1. Click Create Credit. A confirmation screen displays.
  2. Confirm your entry, then click Create Credit.

    The service credit will be applied to the customer's future invoices.

New Contract Expiry Account Notification Events (DEV-6186)

This feature adds new events and email templates for when a contract ends.

The following are the contract end actions and the corresponding event.

  • Account Message Type "Contract End: Terminate Service and Billing" Requires Sending: System determination that account message type "Contract End: Terminate Service and Billing" (message class "CET") requires sending
  • Account Message Type "Contract End: Terminate Service and Billing (Proration)" Requires Sending: System determination that account message type "Contract End: Terminate Service and Billing (Proration)" (message class "CETP") requires sending
  • Account Message Type "Contract End: Continue Service" Requires Sending: System determination that account message type "Contract End: Continue Service" (message class "CEC") requires sending
  • Account Message Type "Contract End: Renew Automatically" Requires Sending: System determination that account message type "Contract End: Renew Automatically" (message class "CER") requires sending
  • Account Message Type "Contract End: Rollover" Requires Sending: System determination that account message type "Contract End: Rollover" (message class "CERO") requires sending
  • Message Type “Contract End: Terminate Service and Billing" Sent to Account Holder: Account message type "Contract End: Terminate Service and Billing" (message class "CET") was sent to account holder.
  • Message Type "Contract End: Terminate Service and Billing (Proration)" Sent to Account Holder: Account message type "Contract End: Terminate Service and Billing (Proration)" (message class "CETP") was sent to account holder.
  • Message Type "Contract End: Continue Service" Sent to Account Holder: Account message type "Contract End: Continue Service" (message class "CEC") was sent to account holder.
  • Message Type "Contract End: Renew Automatically" Sent to Account Holder: Account message type "Contract End: Renew Automatically" (message class "CER") was sent to account holder.
  • Message Type "Contract End: Rollover" Sent to Account Holder: Account message type "Contract End: Rollover" (message class "CERO") was sent to account holder.

The following email template classes have been created for each contract expiry event. The default email template for each of the following template classes is created by copying the "Generic Contract expiry warning" template.

  • Contract End: Terminate service and billing: Notify account holders of an impending expiry of an existing service plan contract, when service and billing will be terminated.
  • Contract End: Terminate Service and Billing (Proration): Notify account holders of an impending expiry of an existing service plan contract, when service and billing will be terminated and the final invoice is prorated.
  • Contract End: Continue existing service without contract: Notify account holders of an impending expiry of an existing service plan contract, when service will continue without a contract.
  • Contract End: Renew automatically: Notify account holders of an impending expiry of an existing service plan contract, when the contract will be automatically renewed.
  • Contract End: Rollover automatically: Notify account holders of an impending expiry of an existing service plan contract, when the contract will rollover to a different Plan and/or a Rate Schedule.

API Live Incorporated into Aria UI (DEV-6144)

This feature moves API Live to the Aria UI. It has been removed from Developer Central.

Getting Here: Click Configuration > Utilities > API Live

  1. From the API Live screen, click the name of the API you want to execute. The data entry screen for the API you selected opens.
  2. Enter the API's parameters. If a parameter has a default, the value is pre-populated in the data entry field. Because API Live is now only accessible by logging on to the Aria UI, it is no longer necessary to enter the Auth Code, as it defaults to your client code. If you have multiple Auth Codes stored, you can select one from a drop-down menu. The first Auth Code in the list is the default.
  3. Click Agree & Execute. The API executes against the environment in which you are authenticated. Note that previously, you selected the environment to execute against. The results display on the screen.

TNS Payment Gateway Added to Aria UI (DEV-6027)

This feature adds the TNS payment gateway to the Aria UI.

Supported payment methods include:

  • Credit Card
    • Visa, MasterCard, American Express
  • Tokenized credit cards

TNS supports transactions using US dollars.

Getting Here: Click Configuration > Payments > Payment Gateways > New

Select TNS from the Payment Gateway drop-down menu.

You must have values for the following fields before setting up this payment gateway:

  • Merchant API URL: The URL provided by TNS to use as an endpoint.
  • API Password: To generate your API Password you must log in to TNS Merchant Administration and follow these steps. You must obtain your Merchant Administration login credentials from TNS before setting up this payment gateway.
  1. Log into Merchant Administration (MA) and navigate to Admin > Operators and create a new Operator with the May Configure Integration Settings privilege.
  2. Log in to Merchant Administration with your new operator and select Admin from the top menu.
  3. Select API Integration Settings from the left menu.
  4. Click Edit under the API Authentication section.
  5. Select the Enable API Access via password check box for Password 1.
  6. Click Generate New for Password 1.
  7. Click Submit to save the configuration.
  • Merchant ID: Obtain your Merchant ID from TNS before setting up this payment gateway.

Fail Test Payment Gateway in Stage Future Supports Tokenized Credit Cards (DEV-6536)

This feature adds enhances the Stage Future Fail Test Payment Gateway so it now supports tokenized credit cards. This enhancement applies only to the Stage Future environment.

Paymetric Payment Gateway Modified for Discover Cards (DEV-6457)

This feature enhances the Paymetric payment gateway. When using Discover cards with the Paymetric payment gateway, the TR_TRANS_RECURPMNT field will no longer be required or applied.

Application Fixes

  • Some contract end actions were not working for some plan statuses (TICKET-9220)
  • Issues modifying multiplan contracts UI (TICKET-10659)
  • Inventory item units did not display as expected (TICKET-10667)
  • When a master plan with mandatory supplemental plans was replaced, an invalid assignment directive error was sometimes generated (TICKET-10672)
  • Negative balance on invoices occurred when adding a discount bundle to a taxable master plan (TICKET-10839)
  • Net Terms dunning notices sent with null value for balance due (TICKET-10860)
  • Created credit was a service credit instead of a cash credit (TICKET-10928)
  • Prorated invoice was not generated while updating the supplemental plan unit fulfillment (TICKET-10929)
  • Not able to generate invoice by providing <client_acct_id> (TICKET-11000)
  • Various issues in fulfillment services (TICKET-11035)
  • When INCLUDE_USAGE_CHARGES_ON_FIRST_INVOICE was set to True it was not rating the usage in the first invoice (TICKET-11102)
  • Invoices were not created correctly after roll over of plans and rate schedules with multi plan contracts (TICKET-11015)
  • Reports CSV includes HTML in first column (TICKET-11017)
  • After plan rollover, supplemental plan services were not getting billed (TICKET-11051)
  • Aria showed incorrect full balance on overview page (TICKET-11125)
  • Usage recorded on the child account with responsibility level 3 was not showing in the parent account (TICKET-11127)
  • Usage accumulation reset counter is resetting the usage count to 0 after each anniversary invoice (TICKET-11131)
  • Default values of disabled fields were not honored on Create New Account page (TICKET-11139)
  • Amount paid and balance wrongly displayed for acct with discount bundle (TICKET-11324)

API Features

Automatic Application of Discount for Early Payment (DEV-5894)

This feature adds new APIs to create payment terms, and also includes modifications to existing APIs to support the use of payment terms.

New APIs

  • create_payment_terms_m - Creates new payment terms.
  • get_payment_terms_m - Returns payment terms configured for an account. If no account is provided, all payment terms for the client are returned.

Updated APIs

  • get_payments_on_invoice_m - Returns reason_code and reason_description for cash credits only.
  • create_acct_complete_m, update_acct_complete_m, create_billing_group_m and update_billing_group_m -
    • <pay_method_type> no longer permits entry of any Net Terms values.
    • <payment_method> and <payment_terms> cannot both be valued.
    • Payment method information is included in the APIs' return values.

Map Unapplied Service Credits to GL Codes (DEV-5639)

This feature adds new APIs to support reason codes, and enhances one API to support mapping unapplied service credits to general ledger codes.

New APIs

  • create_reason_code_m - Creates a new reason code and associated attributes.
  • update_reason_code_m - Updates reason codes and associated attributes.
  • get_reason_codes_m - Returns reason codes and associated attributes.

Updated API

create_advanced_service_credits_m - Can now pass <reason_code>.

Plan Instances Sort Order When Using Certain APIs (DEV-6095)

This feature modifies how plan instances are sorted.

  • Plan instances are sorted by master plan instance, followed by supplemental plan instance when using the following APIs.
    • get_acct_plans_m
    • get_acct_plan_history_m
  • Plan instances are sorted by billing group number when using the <billing_errors array> with <billing_group_no> in create_acct_complete_m.
  • Plan instances are sorted by master plan instance when using get_acct_details_all_m.
  • Plan instances are sorted by billing group number when using get_acct_billing_group_details_m.

Additional Fields Added to Get_account_details_m API (DEV-6202)

This feature adds the following fields to the get_account_details_m API:

  • <primary_pay_method>
  • <primary_pay_method_name>
  • <secondary_pay_method>
  • <secondary_pay_method_name>

API Fixes

  • Edit_plan_m API displayed error while passing an item number which was not bundled in the given plan (TICKET-9632)
  • Get plan APIs continued showing contract plan rollover information after the rollover (TICKET-10294)
  • Update_acct_plan_unit_instance_m returned invoice line items with incorrect proration invoice timing (TICKET-10827)
  • Assign_acct_plan_m did not generate a correctly prorated invoice (TICKET-10836)
  • Cancel_queued_acct_plan_change_m API did not cancel the queued plans (TICKET-10858)
  • Create_acct_complete_m was not correctly honoring <nso_bill_immediately> (TICKET-10882)
  • Void_invoice_m generated an unexpected error (TICKET-10905)
  • Assign_acct_plan_m incorrectly assigned supplemental plan on account anniversary (TICKET-10932)
  • Update_acct_plan_unit_instances_m did not have <fulfillment_directive> available in request at RPC literal (TICKET-10933)
  • Replace_acct_plan_m plan status not updated after replacing master/supplemental plan (TICKET-10941)
  • Create_acct_complete_m API returned payment processor field values in response for Net Terms pay method (TICKET-10958)
  • Assign_acct_plan_m was creating empty orders (TICKET-10962)
  • Update_acct_plan_m was not updating the dunning degrade_date (TICKET-10985)
  • Replace_acct_plan_m API was not honoring <alt_proration_start_date> while replacing a master plan (TICKET-10992)
  • Assign_acct_plan_m did not generate an expected error message (TICKET-10997)
  • Update_acct_plan_unit_instances_m did not generate an expected error message when removing mandatory fields (TICKET-11028)
  • Update_acct_plan_status_m did not display current dunning step with the date (TICKET-11054)
  • Assign_acct_plan_m did not prevent assignment of a previously assigned coupon (TICKET-11093)
  • Create_order_m displays an unexpected error while assigning master plan instance coupon to the supplemental plan (TICKET-11105)
  • Create/update_account_complete_m input parameter lengths incorrect (TICKET-11122)
  • Usage recorded with bulk_record_usage_m for multiple usage types on the same MPI was not getting invoiced (TICKET-11129)
  • Modify_acct_plan_unit_instances_m allowed duplicate <new_client_plan_unit_inst_id> and did not create a unit instance (TICKET-11159)
  • When replacing a master plan with another plan having multiple levels of mandatory child plans using replace_acct_plan_m API with assignment directive 4, the plan was not getting replaced (TICKET-11160)
  • Get_acct_plan_history_m returned the response array without any changes (TICKET-11176)
  • <Currency_cd> field was not present in create_inventory_item_m and update_inventory_item_m response (TICKET-11181)
  • Apply cash credit_m was returning error “Cash credit amount cannot exceed account balance” (TICKET-11208)
  • Update_acct_plan_m generated unexpected error while changing Dunning step (TICKET-11209)
  • <Contract_rollover_plan_no> parameter not displayed in get_plan_details_m response (TICKET-11214)
  • Get_unbilled_usage_summary_m returned unexpected results (TICKET-11223)
  • Gen_one_invoice did not generate other MPIs when passing only one MPI (TICKET-11316)
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