Mobile Connections

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The ICE Connections Module – provides a tracking system for the connection of Mobile Phone that enables the dealer to report on sales activity, reconcile payments received from Telstra (the Funds Provider) against services connected and report on connections with outstanding amounts owing to the dealer.

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The Connections Module provides the ability to create a sales job for customers with one or more Mobile Phone connections. All connections are created via Point of Sale (POS) and when the POS transactions are updated at end of day the mobile connection is also updated and considered delivered to the customer and the relevant commission amount for admin, incentive, rebate or reimbursement, owed by Telstra, is generated as an accounting entry and the connection is deemed outstanding. The dealer can then track the connection and reconcile payments received from Telstra against individual service numbers to ascertain the exact remuneration owing to the dealer by Telstra for Mobile Phone commissions.

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The Connections Module provides the dealers with a tracking system that is integrated into their accounting system within ICE, together with reconciliation and reporting tools that can quickly determine the amount outstanding for Mobile Phone connections. The module provides a quick method of generating a claim for outstanding connections prior to the expiry of the valid claim date.

•	The 2.25 release of ICE provides the functionality required to record the revenue associated with the new remuneration model. Listed below are details on the changes:

1.	New Program - has been created for NRM+. The effective date is triggered when the activation upgrade has been applied to the database, allowing you to trade on version 2.25 prior to changing over to NRM+.

2.	Contract Parameters – a new contract parameter called Upfront Incentive has been added as well as the Admin Fee hidden for the NRM+ program.

3.	Premise Codes – the existing premise codes are manually changed over to the new program when required. Note: A new premise code should not be added.

4.	Point of Sale – utilising the previous contract expiry date the new upfront revenue (incentive) will be generated where the recontract is outside of the recontract expiry period.

Payment Processing – it has been identified that if the import option is normally used you may like to change the program back to NRM
(whilst no one is logged into system) to complete the import where the majority of the connections fall outside of NRM+.
Our services team would be pleased to assist you with this task as required.

7.	Schedule Management – your store will be moved over to the 2.25 SIF distribution list. The best method to receive the SIF is automatically, although emailing is still available.

•	In the Net Profit by Contract Type Report, when selecting Subsidy, Service or MRO, the report will no longer list "No Service" Contracts.

•	The currently active remuneration program based on the program's start and end dates becomes the default program when entering the schedule maintenance and contract parameter screens:

•	When selling mobile phone products in POS, ’Additional Service’ products can now be added to Prepaid or Outright connections as well as Contract connections.

•	Connections are entered by the user when the customer completes the necessary Telstra paperwork and the request is submitted to Telstra via Mobile Net Connect (MNC) or National Activation Centre (NAC).

•	Telstra provides the dealer with a Remittance Advice which indicates commission funds for the specific period have been deposited into the dealer's bank account.

•	The Remittance Advice can be entered into the Connections Module as a Banking Advice so that the accounting system and bank reconciliation can be kept up to date.

•	Telstra also provides detailed reports and downloadable files on the Channel Commissions Web site. These detail advices indicate the individual commission payments (and clawbacks) included in the total of the banked amount.

•	The Remittance Details Advice can be imported (or manually entered) into the Connections Module so that the payments of commissions can be reconciled against the delivered outstanding connections for the services listed on the advice.

•	Once all Banking advices and Remittance Details advices have been processed, reconciliation reports can be printed to review outstanding commission payments.

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The reconciliation process allows the dealer to either process adjustments to clear the outstanding amounts or claim the outstanding amounts still owing by Telstra. The Claim processing allows users to generate claim based on the date of the original connection to ensure all outstanding connection commissions can be claimed within the contracted expiry period for valid claims.

The processing of Connections enables a sales job to be created per customer. Each job can have one or more products connected to the same service number (phone number). Alternatively, multiple service numbers can be included on the same sales job. This function enables you to track the progress of the sales job based on the Telstra advice details provided throughout the life of the job.

•	A Banking Advice is received from Telstra indicating a payment has been made to your bank account. This Banking Advice is processed and a General Ledger receipt is created which reflects the amount that has been paid into your bank account - in your bank reconciliation.

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A Remittance Invoice Details Advice is available from Telstra's Channel Commissions web site which itemises the service numbers and products that have been paid as part of the banking advice. This allows identification of the connection payments that are outstanding. Banking Advices can be processed to the bank account seperately to the remittance advices, allowing them to be entered in a timely manner and bank reconciliations to be performed as required. The Remittance Invoice Details Advice is not linked to the GL receipt and can be processed at any time. However, this should be processed as soon as possible to identify any remaining connection payments outstanding.

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As income falls due for payment on a sold product, a General Ledger journal is created. Any outstanding balances that remain unpaid from Telstra can easily be displayed in the Claims processing facility; ensuring claims can be processed for the outstanding balances. The process of claiming for outstanding balances produces a file that can be submitted to Telstra advising of commission on connections that remain unpaid, the claim trigger investigation and/or payment.

•	From time to time adjustments are required to correct outstanding commissions from Telstra. These outstanding balances can be the result of:

•	Sales Activity - provides a sales history of the sales jobs and connections based on different variables such as Activation type, Contract Type, Network Type, and sales staff.

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Payment Activity – reconciliation reports for each month, with details on the banking advices and the remittance details advices that have been processed and their outstanding amounts – these reports should be checked prior to processing claims to Telstra for outstanding amounts. Most reports are also included in a monthly format to show progress throughout the year.

•	Data maintenance for the connection module is required in order to set up the remuneration (payment) details and product schedules. These will be used throughout the connection module when processing sold products and payments. The following areas are required to be set up: