Accounts

Your customers will send you VoIP calls for you to terminate to your carriers using DUAL Softswitch. All customers must hold a Account on DUAL Softswitch. You can manage these accounts using the links in the Accounts box on the left side bar of the Administration System. The following links are available:

•	Active accounts This shows a brief summary of all active accounts on DUAL Softswitch, including the account holder, the password and the available funds. Click on an account number to edit the account.

•	Account search You can find a particular account by entering an account number; an email address or a partial name. Click on an account number to edit the account.

•	Create an account This link takes you to a form that you can use to create a new account. There is an option to send your new customer their account details by email.

You can change many aspects of an account, and these are organised into various sections on an account page. Detailed information on each option is available on the account page. Most importantly, you can change the following features:

•	Tariff You can change the tariff allocated to the account. This defined their per-minute rates to each destination and, to a certain extent, the routing that their calls will follow.

•	Rating steps You can define the rating steps that will be used when calculating your customers' call charges. Examples are 1/1 (per second) and 60/60 (per minute).

•	Password You can view and change the passwords for the account. One password is used for the CDR Control Panel and call authentication. The other password provides limited operator access to the Call Shop Billing System.

•	Authentication details You can specify whether an account is allowed to authenticate from dynamic IP address or specify the fixed IP address and/or technical prefix for the account.

•	Geographical options You can define the caller's international access code, country code and area code. These can be used to customise the calling pattern required by the customer.

At the top of the Account page there are several links to pages that offer further information and control.. These include:

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Call records
This is a series of pages that summarise monthly and daily calls for the account and allow individual call records for each day to be inspected. The summaries are never removed from the softswitch. The individual call records are available for three months. The format of these pages is exactly the same as your customers' experience at their CDR Control Panels.

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Special rates and routes
An account's per-minute rate and, optionally, its routing are determined by the tariff associated with that account. This page allows the account to deviate from that tariff. You can set non-standard rates for particular destinations, specify non-standard call routing for a destination, or even move particular destinations to different tariffs.

•	Record a payment, credit or charge This page is used to record financial activity on an account. When payments are recorded, an invoice is generated for your customer to view at their CDR Control Panel.

•	Payments This page shows a list of payments that a customer has made, with a link to view an invoice relating to each payment.

•	Call shop booths This matches the Advanced Billing page at this customer's Call Shop Billing System. It allows you to define the booths at a customer's call shop.