Models

View Existing Rate Units

1. Click on the Usage switch (Usage/Account toggle switch) in the navigation pane.
2. Click on the Configurations menu option in the navigation panel. This will expand the sub-menu for Configurations in the Navigation Pane.
3. Click on the Models menu option in the navigation pane.
4. Click on the Rate Unit tab in the Activity Pane.
5. This will fetch the existing set of rate units configured for the client and show a line for each resource on the table.

Filter Attributes for the Multi-rate Usage Type

1. Code: Search based on the code associated with the rate unit. This is a case-insensitive partial match filter.

Sort Attributes for the Multi-rate Usage Type

1. Code: Ascending or descending sort based on the code associated with the rate unit.

This is shown in the following screenshot:

View Details of a Specific Rate Unit

1. Navigate using "To view existing rate units"
2. Select and click the rate unit ID link. This will open the drawer and allow you to view and modify the data

Add a New Rate Unit

1. Navigate using "To view existing rate units"
2. Click the Add Rate Unit button at the top-right corner. This opens a drawer to add the new rate unit. System configurations set default values for many UI attributes. Enter data as follows:
   1. In the first field, type the Code (mandatory). Keep it short and consistent, using underscores or hyphens if needed. For example, METER_READ
   2. In the second field for Unit, select a value from the pre-configured drop-down list.
   3. In the next field Status, select a status from the drop-down list. Usually, this defaults to ACTIVE.
   4. In the next field Expression, refer to the Expression builder for Rate Units.
   5. In the Function name field, enter the database function name. For complex rules, Aria Allegro allows using a database function to determine usage quantity. The function must return a decimal quantity.
   6. Select the Quantity Scalable checkbox to indicate if the rate unit quantity scales with the monetization model. If true, Allegro rating engine will round the input/derived quantity to the next integer value.
   7. Select the Meter Read checkbox for utility verticals where meter reads provide only the current value, not previous and current reads to determine usage. Note:
      1. This enables Allegro's usage processing engine to log each meter read in a database. Subsequent reads fetch the previous read to calculate usage between reads for monetization.
      2. The first meter read typically occurs at utility meter activation and may not start at zero. Aria Billing Cloud must capture this read and call an Allegro API to save it. Without this, the initial read assumes zero and may overcharge for the first meter read after activation.
      3. The Meter Read has an Info icon with the following information:
         1. If the rate unit applies to meter reading use cases (e.g., water, electricity), quantity is calculated from the current and previous meter reads.
   8. Select the Recurring Rate Unit (future use) checkbox for a recurring price offer fee, set this flag. The process will then derive the quantity using this configuration while applying the recurring fee. The fee applied will be the price configured in the recurring price offer, times the quantity derived using this rate unit configuration.
   9. Note that expression, database function, and Meter Read are mutually exclusive; the UI permits only one selection.
3. Click the SAVE button at the bottom right of the drawer to save changes via the backend API.
4. Click the CANCEL button at the bottom right to cancel and return to the main activity pane.

Modify Existing Rate Unit

1. Navigate using "To view existing rate unit"
2. Click the Id link button with the ID highlighted in the Aria Blue color to open the drawer to modify some attribute of an existing allowance resource. 
3. Modify the attributes (the ID field cannot be modified) inline as required.
4. Click on the SAVE button at the bottom right corner of the drawer. This will push the changes to save the configuration using the backend API.
5. Click on the CANCEL button at the bottom right corner of the drawer to cancel all the data entry and go back to the main activity pane for the currency resources.

Delete a Rate Unit for the Client

A delete of rate unit is not allowed. However, you can modify and update the status of the rate unit.

Add an Expression

1. Click on the expression field in the rate unit. This will open a sub-drawer from the right side of the screen.
2. The first field in the expression builder is the expression pane. There are two options for the user to build the expression. These are:
   1. Type the expression in the expression pane OR
   2. Use the operators, operands and fields below the expression pane to build an expression.
3. Tools available for expression builders are:
   1. Operators—These are multiply '*', divide '/', add '+', subtract '-', left bracket '(', right bracket ')', minimum operator 'min', maximum operator 'max', average operator 'avg'. These operators can take two or more operands as may be required.
   2. Usage container fields—When there are multiple sources of usage data ingestion, then the mediation mapping configurations allow homogenizing different forms of data into an Aria Allegro usage container model. This included up to 25 flexible fields that can be used for mapping. For the expression builder, the usage container model is available as dropdown list. This is supported by the following two fields:
      1. Select Record—For now, this dropdown will show a DETAIL record only with provisions for using custom records as well.
      2. Select Field—This will show all the fields that are included in the Aria Allegro usage container DETAIL record.
   3. Balance of Accumulator option. Please note that the Usage Container field and Balance of Accumulator for now are mutually exclusive. If a combination is required, then that can be looked at in the future. This is supported by two pieces of information:
      1. Balance operator
      2. Select Accumulator - Select the accumulator which is to be used in the expression from the dropdown list. This dropdown list is based on all the accumulators configured for the client.
4. Refer the expression builder with Accumulators for expressions that use the Allegro usage container fields. Here we will take the example of the new balance function. To build the expression both ways, let us take an example of an expression that gives us a difference in the value of two Accumulators
   1. MIN_SPEND that keeps track of the commitment value for the commitment term (e.g. 1Million Dollar commitment for a year or 5Million Units of usage commitment for a 6-month term)
   2. MIN_SPEND_CONTRIB an accumulator that keeps track of the usage towards commitment during the commitment term.
   3. Now to manage the expression,
      1. Typing the expression manually—This assumes that you know the exact fields from the usage container.
         1. In the expression pane type the following. Please note the use of spaces before and after each operator and operand. It is advisable to keep a space "bal<space>(<space>MIN_SPEND<space> ) <space> - bal<space>(<space>MIN_SPEND_CONTRIB<space> )". This can be prone to typos; hence it is advised you use the toolbox to build the expression.
      2. Using the operators and operands from the toolbox
         1. Select the Accumulator 'MIN_SPEND' from the dropdown list with the "Balance of"  from the toolbox. You will see the expression shows as "bal ( MIN_SPEND )" in the expression pane.
         2. Select the subtract operator from the toolbox. You will see the expression show as "bal ( MIN_SPEND ) - "  in the expression pane.
         3. Select the Accumulator 'MIN_SPEND_CONTRIB' from the dropdown list with the "Balance of"  from the toolbox. You will see the expression shows as "bal ( MIN_SPEND )—bal ( MIN_SPEND_CONTRIB )" in the expression pane.
5. Click on the SAVE button at the bottom right corner of the drawer. This will push the changes to save the expression to go back to the previous drawer.
6. Click on the CANCEL button at the bottom right corner of the drawer to cancel all the expressions and go back to the main activity pane for the accumulator resource.

The following screenshot shows the expression builder with Rate Units:

View Existing Rate Unit Maps

1. Click on the Usage switch (Usage/Account toggle switch) in the navigation pane
2. Click on the Configurations menu option in the navigation panel. This will expand the sub-menu for Configurations in the Navigation Pane.
3. Click on the Models menu option in the navigation pane
4. Click on the Rate Unit Map tab in the Activity Pane.
5. This will fetch the existing set of rate unit maps configured for the client and show a line for each resource on the table.

Filter Attributes for the Rate Unit Map

1. Rate Unit Code: Search based on the code associated with the rate unit. This is a case-insensitive partial match filter.
2. Service Type: Search for the rate unit map configurations for a given service-type by selecting the service-type from a dropdown list. This is an exact match filter.
3. Transaction Type: Search for the rate unit map configurations for a given transaction-type by selecting the transaction type from the dropdown list. For foreseeable future, this may not be required as the transaction-type associated for usage records is always 'USAGE'.

Sort Attributes for the Rate Unit Map

1. Rate Unit Code: Ascending or descending sort based on the rate unit code associated with the rate unit map configurations.
2. Service Type: Ascending or descending sort based on the service type associated with the rate unit map configurations.
3. Transaction Type: Ascending or descending sort based on the transaction type associated with the rate unit map configurations.

This is shown in the following screenshot:

View Details of a Specific Rate Unit Map

1. Navigate using "To view existing rate unit maps".
2. Select and click the rate unit map ID link. This will open the drawer and allow you to view and modify the data.

Add a New Rate Unit Map for a New Rate Unit Added

1. Navigate using "To view existing rate unit maps".
2. Click the Add Rate Unit Map button towards the top-right corner of the activity pane. This will open a drawer to add details of the new non-currency allowance resource. The system configurations allow us to set default values for many UI attributes. Please note that the same rate unit can be mapped to multiple services, if required. Add the data as follows:
   • In the first field, select the Rate Unit Code (mandatory attribute) from the dropdown list of configured rate units.
   • In the next field, select the Service Type (mandatory attribute) from the dropdown list of service-types configured. This maps the rate unit to the service type
   • The next field Transaction Type (mandatory attribute), select the transaction type to map the Rate Unit, Service Type to a transaction Type.
   • In the next optional field for Usage Class, type the usage class that can further map to specific usage attributes. We currently do not foresee the mapping to include other usage attributes. However, the configuration is easily extendible to add more attributes in the future.
3. Click on the SAVE button at the bottom right corner of the drawer. This will push the changes to save the configuration using the backend API.
4. Click on the CANCEL button at the bottom right corner of the drawer to cancel all the data entry and go back to the main activity pane for the rate unit maps.

Modify Existing Allowance Configuration

1. Navigate using "To view existing rate unit maps"
2. Click the Id link button with the ID highlighted in the Aria Blue color to open the drawer to modify some attribute of an existing rate unit map. 
3. Modify the attributes (the ID field cannot be modified) inline as required.
4. Click on the SAVE button at the bottom right corner of the drawer. This will push the changes to save the configuration using the backend API.
5. Click on the CANCEL button at the bottom right corner of the drawer to cancel all the data entry and go back to the main activity pane for the rate unit map.

Delete an Allowance Resource for the Client

This ideally should not be required at all and will be permission controlled. However, over a period if the configuration includes more noise than meaningful data, admins can use the delete option to delete the rate unit map. You need to be sure that the configuration is wrong or not required anymore before deleting the entry. To delete,

1. Navigate using "To view existing rate unit map"
2. Identify the rate unit map from the table that needs to be deleted.
3. Press the Trash container icon in the same row on the right-hand side. 
4. Press the Save button to save the deletion of the rate unit map. 
5. To cancel the deletion prior to Saving it, press the Cancel button to revert.

View Existing Time Unit Configurations

1. Click on the Usage switch (Usage/Account toggle switch) in the navigation pane
2. Click on the Configurations menu option in the navigation panel. This will expand the sub-menu for Configurations in the Navigation Pane.
3. Click on the Models menu option in the navigation pane
4. Click on the Time Unit tab in the Activity Pane.
5. This displays the existing time units. Typically, only one row appears.

The following screenshots illustrate this.

An existing time unit configuration with one holiday configuration:

For the Day of the week configuration for weekday and weekend:

For time of the day configuration:

View Details of a Time Unit

1. Navigate using "To view existing time unit".
2. Select and click the rate unit map ID link. This will open the drawer and allow you to view and modify the data.

Add a New Rate Unit Map for a New Rate Unit Added

This will only be required if you do not see a single entry on the table. If there is an entry, then you will not see the Add option. For most Allegro deployment, you will see a default time unit configured which you can modify as per the client requirements.

1. Navigate using "To view existing time unit"
2. Click the Add Time Unit button towards the top-right corner of the activity pane. This will open a drawer to add details of the new non-currency allowance resource. 
3. Refer the "To modify an existing time unit" for changes required.
4. Click on the SAVE button at the bottom right corner of the drawer. This will push the changes to save the configuration using the backend API.
5. Click on the CANCEL button at the bottom right corner of the drawer to cancel all the data entry and go back to the main activity pane for the time unit.

Modify Existing Time Units

1. Navigate using "To view existing time unit"
2. Click the Id link button with the ID highlighted in the Aria Blue color to open the drawer to view and modify the time unit configuration. 
3. There is a slider bar at the top of the drawer that allows you to use the start time from the usage data or the end time from the usage data for time unit analysis. For now, the split of the time unit is not allowed. Work with the Allegro team by opening a ticket if a split configuration is required. 
   • For example, a voice call starts at 16:45:00 and ends at 17:15:00 with a peak or working hours configured as 9:00 to 5:00, then based on the slider, the call may be considered as a peak call or an off peak call depending on how the Use Start time or End time slider is used.
   • The same can apply to day end boundary with day of the week Vs. Weekend or holiday start/end boundaries.
4. You will see 3 Minimize/Maximize bar in the Drawer. 
5. To manage Day-of-Week configuration, maximize the 'Day of Week Configuration' bar
   • Select the check boxes for each weekday that make up the work week for the client setup. The weekdays selected become the WEEKDAY and the ones not selected become part of the WEEKEND. This is shown in the screenshot below
     
6. To manage Time-Of-Day configuration, maximize the 'Time of day Configuration' bar
   • You can use this subset to define Peak hours, off-peak hours, premium hours and any other time slot configuration required for the client.
   • If there are timeslots already configured, then you will see a table of Time-of-day rows. 
     1. To modify an existing time slot row,
        • Modify inline the Start Time, End time in line. You can type the time in "HH:MM:SS" format or use the dropdown for Time input. 
        • For the Type field in the row, select a value available from the dropdown list OR type a simple type in capital letters to associate the Type. This value will show up in the monetization model.
     2. To remove an existing time slot row,
        • Press the X mark at the end of the row to remove the row from the UI view. Use of the SAVE button only will save your changes
     3. To add a new row for a time slot
        • Press the Add Row button
        • Type or use the Time input for the Start time for new time slot
        • Type or use the Time input for the End time for new time slot
        • Type a new value for Type field for your new time slot or select the value from the dropdown list. Please note that the TYPE field has to be unique across the rows in the configuration.
          
          The following screenshot shows the Time-Of-Day configuration,
          
          
7. To manage Holiday configuration, maximize the 'Holiday Configuration' bar
   • You can use this subset to set your holiday calendars. The holiday, 
     1. be a one-day holiday (e.g., Memorial Day) or 
     2. OR it can span a few days. For example, a Christmas special that can start from Christmas Eve to the day after New year. The name against the holiday is important as that can be used in the Monetization models. Please note that for holiday schedule, midnight hour (00:00:00) is assumed.
     3. Please note that the Monetization models will allow the use of HOLIDAY (type) or the name you provide.
   • If there are holidays already configured, then you will see a table of Holiday rows. 
     1. To modify an existing holiday row,
        • Modify the Start Date, End Date in line. You can type the date in "yyyy-mm-dd" format or use the dropdown for Date input. 
        • For the Name field in the row, type a name that you want associated with the holiday. It is advised that you do not use spaces in the name.
        • For the Type field, Allegro UI by default sets a read-only HOLIDAY value.
     2. To remove an existing holiday row,
        •  Press the X mark at the end of the row to remove the row from the UI view. Use of the SAVE button only will save your changes
     3. To add a new row for a holiday entry
        • Press the Add Row button
        • Type or use the Date input for the Start Date for new holiday.
        • Type or use the Date input for the End Date for new holiday.
        • Type a new value for Name field for your new holiday. Please note that the NAME field has to be unique across the rows in the configuration.
        • Allegro UI will automatically set the next field Type as Holiday
          
          The following screenshot shows the Holiday configuration 
          
          
8. Click on the SAVE button at the bottom right corner of the drawer. This will push the changes to save the configuration using the backend API and take you back to the activity pane
9. Click on the CANCEL button at the bottom right corner of the drawer to cancel all the data entry and go back to the main activity pane for the time unit.

View Existing Zone Units Configured

1. Click on the Usage switch (Usage/Account toggle switch) in the navigation pane
2. Click on the Configurations menu option in the navigation panel. This will expand the sub-menu for Configurations in the Navigation Pane.
3. Click on the Models menu option in the navigation pane
4. Click on the Zone Unit tab in the Activity Pane.
5. This will fetch the existing set of zone units configured. You should only see one row on the table.

Filter Attributes for the Zone Unit

1. Name: Search based on the name associated with the zone unit configuration. This is a case-insensitive partial match filter.
2. Service Type: Search for the zone unit configurations for a given service-type by selecting the service-type from a dropdown list. This is an exact match filter.
3. Status: Search for the zone unit configurations based on the status of the zone map configuration by selecting the status value from the dropdown list. This is an Exact match filter.
4. Zone Type: Search for the zone unit configurations based on the zone Type configured by selecting the value from the dropdown list. This is an Exact match filter.

Sort Attributes for the Zone Unit

1. Name: Ascending or descending sort based on the name of the zone unit configurations.
2. Service Type: Ascending or descending sort based on the service type associated with the zone unit configurations.
3. Zone Type: Ascending or descending sort based on the zone type associated with the zone unit configurations.

This is shown in the following screenshot:

View Details of a Zone Unit

1. Navigate using "To view existing zone unit"
2. Select and click the zone unit ID link. This will open the drawer and allow you to view and modify the data.

Add a New Zone Unit

1. Navigate using 'To view existing zone unit'
2. Click the Add Zone Unit button at the top-right corner of the activity pane. This opens a drawer to add details of the new non-currency allowance resource.
3. In the first field ID (optional), enter an ID if you wish to provide your own. It is free text. If not provided, Allegro assigns an ID. Avoid spaces in the ID.
4. In the next field Name (mandatory and unique), type a short, precise name for your zone unit configuration. Avoid spaces.
5. In the next field Zone Type, select the zone type from the drop-down list. Allowed types are:
   1. Standard Zone—based on call origin and destination (e.g., US call to Australia)
   2. Geographical Zone—based on distance between two points (e.g., caller and called party; for B2B office voice service, distance between two data centers)
6. In the next field Service Type, select the service type from the drop-down list of configured client service types. Typically, this is VOICE or VOIP.
7. In the next field Status, the UI defaults to ACTIVE for new configurations.
8. In the next field Description, add a free-text description for your zone unit configuration.
9. Based on the selected zone type,
   1. If Zone Type is 'Standard', UI enables the Origin and Destination fields and disables the Distance field.
      1. Select the field as the Origin from the drop-down list. This maps to the Allegro usage container to identify the origin. For Telecom and standard zone, the A-Party number (caller) is the Origin.
      2. Select the field as the Destination from the drop-down list. This maps to the Allegro usage container to identify the destination. For Telecom and standard zone, the B-Party number (called party) is the Destination.
   2. If Zone Type is 'Geographic', UI enables the Distance field and disables Origin and Destination fields.
      1. Select the field as the Distance from the drop-down list. This maps to the Allegro usage container to identify the distance. For Telecom and geographical zone, distance may be provided or enriched by Allegro mediation rules.
   3. To add zones, press the Add Zone button on the right side, below the description field.
      1. This adds a new row in the table.
      2. Please note,
         1. If Zone Type is Standard, UI disables the Distance value field, and enables the Origin Value and Destination value fields for each row.
         2. If Zone Type is Geographic, UI disables the Origin Value and Destination Value fields, and enables the Distance value fields.
      3. For the next field 'Origin value' (enabled for Standard Zone Type),
         1. Raw usage records may not have normalized A-party phone numbers. For example, a USA number 123-456-7890 may appear as '+11234567890', '0011234567890', '+1-123-456-7890', '001-123-456-7890', '+1-1234567890', or '001-1234567890'.
         2. More sources of raw VOICE or VOIP usage data increase possible combinations.
         3. Normalize these values using Mediation Enrichment rules and consider normalized values when setting zones. For example, all previous formats can normalize to '11234567890'.
         4. Zones usually require only the first few digits or a wildcard '*'. Examples:
            1. For any call from anywhere to the USA, set origin value to '*'.
            2. For all calls from India, set origin value to '91'.
         5. Set zones for each unique rate to minimize rows. For example, if calls to the USA from anywhere except Brazil share a rate, use two rows:
            1. One with origin value '*'.
            2. One with origin value '55' (Brazil).
         6. The Allegro engine matches the BEST MATCH first: calls from Brazil to the USA match the 2nd row; calls from other countries to the USA match the 1st row.
      4. In the next field 'Destination Value' (enabled for Standard Zone Type),
         1. Raw usage records may not have normalized B-party phone numbers. For example, a USA number 123-456-7890 may appear as '+11234567890', '0011234567890', '+1-123-456-7890', '001-123-456-7890', '+1-1234567890', or '001-1234567890'.
         2. More sources of raw VOICE or VOIP usage data increase possible combinations.
         3. Normalize these values using Mediation Enrichment rules and consider normalized values when setting zones. For example, all previous formats can normalize to '11234567890'.
         4. Zones usually require only the first few digits or a wildcard '*'. Examples:
            1. For any call from the USA to anywhere, set destination value to '*'.
            2. For all calls to India, set destination value to '91'.
         5. Set zones for each unique rate to minimize rows. For example, if calls from the USA to anywhere except Brazil share a rate, use two rows:
            1. One with destination value '*'.
            2. One with destination value '55' (Brazil).
         6. The Allegro engine matches the BEST MATCH first: calls from the USA to Brazil match the 2nd row; calls from the USA to other countries match the 1st row.
      5. The next field 'Distance Value' (enabled for Geographic Zone Type) activates only when the Geographical zone model is selected.
         1. Select the field in the usage container that holds the distance value from the drop-down list.
         2. For the next field 'Destination Value' enter the value to set a unique zone.
      6. In the next field Zone Unit, type a unique name (avoid spaces) to identify the zone.
      7. In the next field Pricing Zone, enter a pricing zone to associate with the zone unit entry. Note, 
         1. Telecom clients can configure zone units with thousands of zones, but usually only a few unique price points exist.
         2. For example, all European countries can be independent zone units in a zone model configuration but share the same Pricing Zone value. This allows a client host country to call any European country at the same price.
         3. The Monetization model (price-offer) setup in Aria Allegro now supports pricing using either a Zone Unit or a Pricing Zone, but not both simultaneously
      8. In the next field 'Description', type a relatable description for the zone.
      9. In the next field 'Start Date' set the zone's effective start date. Defaults to the current date.
      10. In the next field 'End Date' set the zone's end date. Defaults to blank (no end). Modify later if needed.
      11. To add more zones, repeat step 9 until complete.
10. Click the SAVE button at the bottom right of the drawer to save the configuration via backend API.
11. Click the CANCEL button at the bottom right of the drawer to cancel entry and return to the main zone unit activity pane.

Modify an Existing Zone Unit

1. Navigate using "To view existing zone unit"
2. Click the Zone Unit ID link. This will open a drawer to view and modify the zone model configuration. 
3. Allegro UI will control what attributes are not modifiable. Otherwise, perform in line edits and refer the "To add a new zone unit" for each attribute or row.
4. To remove a row from the zone unit configuration, click the X icon on the right-hand side of the row to remove the row from the view. Please note a SAVE button is required to Save your edits.
5. To change the status of a zone unit configuration, change the status field at the top of the drawer by selecting a value from the dropdown list. The possible values are ACTIVE, INACTIVE, CLOSED. Allegro Usage processing engine will only consider zone units that are in ACTIVE status.
6. To add a new row in the zone unit configuration, refer the Add row sub-section in "To add a new zone unit"
7. Click on the SAVE button at the bottom right corner of the drawer. This will push the changes to save the configuration using the backend API.
8. ​​​​​​​Click on the CANCEL button at the bottom right corner of the drawer to cancel all the data entry and go back to the main activity pane for the zone unit.

The following screenshot shows:

• the zone model configuration for create or modify using Zone Unit or Pricing Zone (new attributes).
• It also shows the pagination option for modify, as zone model configurations may contain thousands of entries.

View and Export Zone Model Configuration

This section allows users to:

• view details of a zone unit configuration
• search zone units within a zone unit configuration, which may contain thousands of entries
• export zone model entries as EXCEL or PDF files