ok, next question....how do those of you who DON'T do unlimited compete with AOL and their unlimited package? Do you try to beat them on price, service, or availability (ie they're not in your area yet)? Matthew Stainforth || Technical Services Manager || BrunNet Inc.
-----Original Message----- From: Lon R. Stockton, Jr. [mailto:lon@moonstar.com] Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2000 2:09 PM To: usr-tc@lists.xmission.com Subject: Re: (usr-tc) billing software
On Tue, 25 Jan 2000, Stainforth, Matthew wrote:
I'm half following this discussion about unlimited access offerings and wondering what billing software those who don't do "unlimited" actually use.
Radius stop records get stuck in PostgreSQL database on a linux box. Monthly queries done and imported into *cough* Quicken accounting software. Statements exported into email.
Warning: do not try this at home. Using Quicken was a 'quick and dirty' thing I did at the very beginning to get it done when I wasn't really expecting to get this large....and boy, is it dirty now. It officially can't handle all of the accounts, so we've gotta do some mighty strange things to make it work. I can't complain at the hair-pulling and tons of extra work it causes, since it's rather like running a furniture moving company and the only vehicle you have is a '86 Chevette.
Anyway, all the billing/accounts stuff is being moved into the same PostgreSQL database that currently holds the call details, with a few perl scripts to work the magic. Customers will access the data directly as well with their web browsers. Not only their accounting statements, but they'll be able to get their usage summaries as well as being able to drill down to individual call levels and see all the details. "It'll be cool", sez the guy who's writing the perl (me).
since normal people wouldn't typically use more than 150-200 hours a month.
Over 3 years, the average of all users (including the dedicated ones which, when they occasionally drop and show connect times of 45 days and such...but excluding the calls under 3 minutes) is about 32 hours per month. 32. That's something I point out to people when they're balking at my 150 hour limit.
Oh yeah, that reminds me....when I calculate people's monthly usage, I exclude any call that is under three minutes in duration. As far as line usage goes, the in-and-out-to-check-email calls don't matter much. And it excludes ones where the connection was problematic as well.
I've looked at a few packages but most of them seem to be based on radius accounting which doesn't seem to be completely reliable. On the other hand, if you guys are using radius accounting for billing data, do you also use it to limit concurrent logons?
I don't limit concurrent, but there is the issue about the reliability of radius. My solution to that is to overengineer the radius server so it can handle the load without dropping stuff, and then to simply eat the few that get dropped. I record accounting-stops only, so if I drop one, I've got no idea that the call ever happened. Occasional spot checks don't reveal the few that get away to amount to much. Well below what I'd call 'negligable'. (:
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