provided by Star2Billing S.L.

Hi all,
It is possible to do the following callback charging with A2Billing 1.3.2 and Asterisk 1.2.X:
1. 1 leg charging - This mean when a2billing callback to the caller it will not charge. Only when the 2nd leg is connected, then the call is being charged at the 2nd leg connection cost. This mean in the whole call only the 2nd leg will being charge but the 1st leg is not chargable.

2. 2 legs charging with different rate table - This would be charging different rate in 2 different legs using different rate table.

3. Multi-layer reseller capabilities?

If the above mention can be done, how to enable it in the a2billing?

Regards

Hi

In respect of 1, this is a setting within A2Billing.conf within the agi-conf

2. no, you generally put the rates in the same callplan, but you can force the rate card on the basis of LCR or LCD.

3. Not in this version.

Joe

Hi Jroper,
Thanks for your fast response, below is what i find from the a2billing.conf within the agi-conf:

; Define if you want to bill the 1st leg on callback even if the call is not connected to the destination
callback_bill_1stleg_ifcall_notconnected = YES

In the comment it only mean if the 2nd leg is connected then it will not charge the 1st leg. If the call is being connected at 2nd leg, will the 1st leg still being charge?

2. How do I can force 1st leg to use LCD or LCR while maintaining the 2nd leg to use the normal rate plan? This mean I need to create 2 rate plan? How can I assign the 2 rate plan to the same batch of card? Is this system wide setting or I can set on per reseller level?

3. Is the multi level reseller in any of the future roadmap for a2billing?



Regards

Hi

Point 1 means: -

either bill the A leg to the customer from the time of receiving the callback, and add the time on the bleg to it.

or

Bill the Aleg for the duration of the call on the B leg, which I think is what you want.

In terms of billing, the easiest way to do this is to set the rates in the one callplan. This prevents confusion and complicating things. The trunk, and rate applied will depend on the destination being called. I don't know how you plan to market your service, but normally you know with some accuracy as to where the origin is.

You may want to experiment wilh calling different AGI-Confs, and forcing the callplan, but I have never doen this, so you may have to test, and see what you get.

Yes, reseller support is definitely on the road map. However, development is often slowed by virtue of the fact that we have to do real jobs unrelated to A2Billing in order to eat.

Basically, the more donations we get, or the more consultancy work that A2Billing enjoys, the faster we can push in these new features.

Yours

Joe

Hi,
Point 1, I don't want A leg call charges to be included in the final time on the B leg. For example:
A leg started accept the call at 00:00 for China. Then it enter the Taiwan number and B leg connected at 00:30. The call end at 10:30 mins.
In my case, I only want the billing for B leg Taiwan only which in this case is 10mins. A leg of 10:30mins to China will not be billed for.

So in my requirement, I only want 1 leg to be billed and calculated in this case which is B leg.

I am working on some reseller modules. I am thinking can this been add into the existing code. It is a bit dirty work.

Regards

Hi

The calulation of costs for a callback is going to be: -

(A Leg Cost x Duration of A leg) + (B Leg Cost x Duration of B Leg)

The calculation I imagine for your callback is usually:-

(A Leg Retail x Duration of B Leg) + (B leg Retail x Duration of B Leg)

This is the usual way of billing call back, as the customer does not expect to be charged unless the call connects.

We have the ability in A2Billing to charge with the following formula: -

(A Leg Retail x Duration of A leg) + (B Leg Retail x Duration of B Leg) controlled via A2Billing.

By making no charge for the A Leg, you are exposing yourself to fraud. With my carrier, I can manipulate the caller ID delivered to your platfrom, and have a premium rate number set up to receive the call. In that case, you would be paying me for the pleasure of calling someone.

So I would advise against this form of charging.

However, you can do this in FreePBX + A2Billing, which is a common setup for many people. You simply set up a callback in FreePBX, and pass the call into A2Billing in the normal way via a custom context.

If you are making alterations to the code, particularly if you decide to release that code, you have to put in your name and date of change, and leave the original code in place, commented out.

If you distribute your modified code by say selling it on to other people, you must provide a public download site where any and all third parties can download and view your source code.

I just wanted to make this clear to save embarrassment and upset later if you have spent money and time developing a feature for A2Billing, only to find after the event that you are contravening the rules of the GPL.

In terms of reseller capability, you can of course install multiple virtual or real A2Billing servers, so each reseller has their own system. There are some posts and instructions on how to build a VPS on this forum.

Joe

Hi Jroper,
OK. I understand about the GPL. In this case that mean I need to work with FreePBX for the 1 legs charging.

Understand on the fraud for billing only the B leg.

Regards

Hi

There are other ways of doing this in Asterisk, whether you want to research them or not is up to you, and will depend on the presence of FreePBX in your installation.

Joe

Hi Jroper,
I would want to do this in Asterisk with Centos. I am currently looking into this area. Any pointer or area that can help me to kick start this research?

It is the market here that they want 1 leg charging.


Regards